John Heath (18 January 1922 – 6 July 1987)

FRES Fres () is a village and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Apokoronas, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of . The ...

was an English

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

, specialising in

lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

. He helped to established data banks as a tool for conservation policy, both at a national and local level; was chief editor of ''

The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland ''The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland'' (abbreviated to ''MBGBI'' or ''MOGBI'') is a multi-volume reference work on the Lepidoptera of the British Isles. The original publisher of this series was Curwen Books who published vo ...

''; and helped to develop the Heath Trap, a portable moth light used for recording

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

s at light.

Personal life

Born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

on 18 January 1922, his father Frederick Heath had been an officer in the Indian Army, who had taken a teaching job in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and became the head of an elementary school in

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

. John attended

King Edward VI School, Southampton King Edward VI School (also known as King Edward's, or KES) is a selective co-educational private day school founded in Southampton, England, in 1553. The Senior and Sixth Form site is on Hill Lane, Southampton whilst the Preparatory School is ...

. His interest in entomology developed as a youth spent in and around the Hamble estuary,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. An intention to go to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

to study electronics did not happen because of army service during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. While employed by the Nature Conservancy at Merlewood he married Joan Broomfield in 1955; their son was born a year later.

Career

Following service in the army during the war, Heath was employed by the Biological Research Department of Pest Control, near

from 1947 – 1952. In 1953 Heath joined the

Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

and was based at the Merlewood Research Station in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

(at that time part of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

). In 1967 Heath moved to Monkswood Experimental Research Station where he worked until his retirement in 1982 where he was head of the

Biological Records Centre The Biological Records Centre (BRC) established in 1964, is a national focus in the United Kingdom, UK for terrestrial and fresh water species recording. The term "biological records centre" is also used in the context of local centres, now frequ ...

. Heath described the now eponymous portable trap in 1965. A founder member and vice-president of the Society of European Lepidopterology, Heath was particularly interested in the

Micropterigidae Micropterigoidea is the superfamily of "mandibulate archaic moths", all placed in the single family Micropterigidae, containing currently about twenty living genera. They are considered the most primitive extant lineage of lepidoptera (Kristense ...

and bequeathed his specimen collection to the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

. John Heath was chief editor of the '' Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland'' series, published by

Harley Books Britain has a number of specialist entomological publishers: * Amateur Entomologists' Society (http://www.amentsoc.org/) publishes various entomological handbooks, as well as the ''Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society''. * British Wild ...

.apparently no longer obtainable

References

External links

Obituary

Autobibliography
1922 births 1987 deaths English lepidopterists Fellows of the Royal Entomological Society People educated at King Edward VI School, Southampton 20th-century English zoologists British Army personnel of World War II {{UK-entomologist-stub