Kenneth Gloyne Blair (22 December 1882 – 11 December 1952) 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 ...

and

coleopterist Coleopterology (from Coleoptera and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''-logy, -logia'') is the scientific study of beetles, a branch of entomology. Practitioners are termed coleopterists and form groups of amateurs and professionals for business and pleasu ...

. He was president of the

Royal Entomological Society The Royal Entomological Society is a learned society devoted to the study of insects. It aims to disseminate information about insects and to improve communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological S ...

in 1940 and 1941 and has two portraits in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

Early life

He was born in 1882 at Nottingham to William Nisbet Blair and Annie Elizabeth Gloyne and educated, in London, at

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is a co-educational, fee-charging, private day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate Pre-Preparato ...

and

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' ...

Career

In 1910 he joined 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 ...

as an assistant and became deputy keeper of entomology in 1932. He received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1936 and was appointed president of the Royal Entomological Society in 1940 and 1941. Dr Blair retired to

Freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

, in 1943 where he discovered three moths which bear his name. He published a number of papers on

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

and

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 ...

including lists of beetles and moths for the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

which greatly added to the knowledge of the natural history of the islands. The three moths which bear his name are, # Blair's mocha (''Cyclophora puppillaria'') – a rare immigrant to Britain, Blair found the moth on the Isle of Wight in 1946 and it was thought to be a first for Britain. There are two specimens in the Cockayne Collection (Natural History Museum) with the label ″Scilly Isles. E. D. Wheeler″ which were wrongly identified as the

false mocha ''Cyclophora porata'', the false mocha, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species can be found in southern Europe and England to Denmark, southern Sweden and the Caucasus. Description The wingspan is . The fore wings are reddish, warm oran ...

(''Cyclophora porata''), then known as ''Ephyra porata'' and purchased by the museum in 1925. # Blair's shoulder-knot (''Lithophane leautieri'') – first recorded in Britain, by Blair, in 1951 and has now spread north into Scotland and Northern Ireland. # Blair's wainscot – first discovered in 1945, at Freshwater Marsh where it was recorded annually until 1951–52, when the marsh was drained, cut and burned and never seen there again. Five individuals (suspected immigrants) were record in southern England between 1952 and 1996 and since October 1996 several populations have been recorded on Dorset rivers. ;Publications * Blair, K G (1925). "The Lepidoptera of the Isles of Scilly". ''Entomologist''. 58: 3–10;38. * Blair, K G (1931). "The beetles of the Scilly Islands". ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London''. 4: 1211–1258.

World War I

Blair enlisted in 1914 and served in France with the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, the Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service ...

. He was invalided twice before being discharged in 1917.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Kenneth 1882 births 1952 deaths People educated at Highgate School Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London English entomologists English coleopterists Fellows of the Royal Entomological Society Seaforth Highlanders soldiers People from Nottingham 20th-century English zoologists British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Nottingham