Frederic Moore FZS (13 May 1830 – 10 May 1907) was a British entomologist and illustrator. He produced six volumes of ''Lepidoptera Indica'' and a catalogue of the birds in the collection of the East India Company. It has been said that Moore was born at 33

Bruton Street Bruton Street is a street in London's Mayfair district. It runs from Berkeley Square in the south-west to New Bond Street in the north-east, where it continues as Conduit Street. Notable residents have included Field Marshal John Campbell, 2n ...

, but that may be incorrect given that this was the address of the menagerie and office of the Zoological Society of London from 1826 to 1836. Moore was appointed an assistant in the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

Museum London from 31 May 1848 on a "disestablished basis" and became a temporary writer and then an assistant curator at the East India Museum with a pension of £330 per annum from 31 December 1879. He had a daughter Rosa Martha Moore. He began compiling ''Lepidoptera indica'' (1890–1913), a major work on the butterflies of the

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

in 10 volumes, which was completed after his death by

Charles Swinhoe Colonel Charles Swinhoe (27 August 1838, in CalcuttaAlthough many published sources give 1836, the India Office Records note it as 1838 (), the other year being that of his brother Robert Swinhoe, Robert. – 2 December 1923) was an England, Engli ...

. Many of the plates were produced by his son while some others were produced by E C Knight and

John Nugent Fitch John Nugent Fitch (24 October 1840 – 11 January 1927) was a British botanical illustrator and lithographer, best known for his contribution of 528 plates to ''The Orchid Album'', a landmark work of eleven volumes published between 1872 and ...

. Many species of butterfly were described by him in this work. "Moore entered the doors of entomology by way of his artistic abilities. Dr. T. Horsfield (1777–1859), long associated with the East India Museum, required someone capable of doing natural history drawings and, through an introduction, Frederic Moore obtained the post. Thus began a lifetime association with Indian Lepidoptera" Moore's son F. C. Moore was also an artist and prepared many of the plates in '' Lepidoptera Indica''. Moore's brother T. J. Moore was a curator at the

Liverpool Museum World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...

for forty years and his son Thomas Francis Moore was an

osteologist Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, funct ...

at the National Museum at Melbourne. The colours of Indian butterflies, based on the plates in the ''Lepidoptera Indica'' were studied by J.C. Mottram in 1918. Moore was an associate of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

, a member of the

Entomological Society of London The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of Londo ...

, a corresponding member of the

Entomological Society of Stettin The Entomological Society of Stettin (german: Entomologischer Verein zu Stettin) or Stettin Entomological Society, based in Stettin (Szczecin), was one of the leading entomological societies of the 19th century. Most German entomologists were membe ...

and of the Entomological Society of the Netherlands. His other works included ''A Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum of the East-India Company'' (1854–58, with

Thomas Horsfield Thomas Horsfield (May 12, 1773 – July 24, 1859) was an American physician and naturalist who worked extensively in Indonesia, describing numerous species of plants and animals from the region. He was later a curator of the East India Company ...

) and ''The Lepidoptera of Ceylon'' (1880–87).

References

External links

* *
''Scientific Results of the Second Yarkand Expedition''
* ''Lepidoptera Indica''. Scanned volume
12345678910Works by Frederic Moore online at Biodiversity Heritage Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Frederic 1830 births 1907 deaths British lepidopterists Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Zoological Society of London Naturalists of British India