Robert Herbert Carcasson (5 December 1918 in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, UK – 23 September 1982 in Victoria, B.C., Canada) 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 ...

who specialised in

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

, but also authored two field guides to tropical fishes. He joined the Coryndon Museum,

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, as senior entomologist in 1956. He then became its director, under the museum's new name of the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

from 1961 to 1968. During this time, he was awarded a PhD for his studies on African hawkmoths. From 1969 to 1971 he was Chief Curator of the Centennial Museum,

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Canada. In 1972 he travelled in

Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

and East Africa for production of two field guides to coral reef fish of the Indo-Pacific region. From 1973 to 1979 he was Curator of Entomology at the Museum of British Columbia. He died of cancer. Somewhat of a

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

, he was fluent in a number of languages, and produced the illustrations to a number of his works, culminating in hundreds of colour and line drawings of fishes for his reef fish field guides.

Works

*(1961) "The

Acraea Acraea (Ancient Greek: means 'of the heights' from ''akraios'') was a name that had several uses in Greek and Roman mythology. * Acraea, the naiad daughter of the river-god Asterion near Mycenae, who together with her sisters Euboea and Prosy ...

butterflies of

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

(Lepidoptera, Acraeidae)". ''Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society'' Special Supplement No 8 *(1963) "The Milkweed butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Danaidae)". ''Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society'' volume XXIV No.2 (106) *(1964) "A preliminary survey of the zoogeography of African butterflies". ''East African Wildlife Journal'' 2: 122-157. *(1968) ''The

Sphingidae The Sphingidae are a family of moths commonly called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as hornworms. It includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, but species ar ...

(Hawk Moths) of Eastern Africa''. PhD thesis. pp. 233. Nairobi: University of East Africa. *(1975) ''The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)''. E. W. Classey Ltd
pdf
*(1976) ''Revised Catalogue of the African Sphingidae (Lepidoptera) with Descriptions of the East African Species''. Second edition. Faringdon, Oxen: E.W. Classey Ltd. *(1977) ''A field guide to the reef fishes of tropical Australia and the Indo-Pacific region''. London: Collins. *(1977) ''A field guide to the coral reef fishes of the Indian and West Pacific Oceans''. London: Collins. *(1980) ''Collins Handguide to the Butterflies of Africa''. Collins: London A furthe
collection of Carcasson's works
may be found in the

Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open-access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as a worldwide consortium of natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working ...

online.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carcasson, Robert Herbert English lepidopterists 1918 births 1982 deaths 20th-century English zoologists British expatriates in Canada

Works

Further reading

References