George Charles Champion (29 April 1851 – 8 August 1927) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

specialising in the study of

beetles Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

. He was born in

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

, South London, and the eldest son of George Champion.

Biography

Encouraged by J. Platt-Barret, G. C. Champion began collecting beetles when he was 16. Champion's initial work was mainly in the

Home Counties The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often inc ...

. Recognized as a serious coleopterist, he accepted a post as collector for

Frederick DuCane Godman Frederick DuCane Godman DCL FRS FLS FGS FRGS FES FZS MRI FRHS (15 January 1834 – 19 February 1919) was an English lepidopterist, entomologist and ornithologist. He was one of the twenty founding members of the British Ornithologists' Un ...

and

Osbert Salvin Osbert Salvin FRS (25 February 1835 – 1 June 1898) was an English naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist best known for co-authoring ''Biologia Centrali-Americana'' (1879–1915) with Frederick DuCane Godman. This was a 52 volume encyc ...

to work on ''

Biologia Centrali-Americana The ''Biologia Centrali-Americana'' is an encyclopedia of the natural history of Mexico and Central America, privately issued in 215 parts from 1879 to 1915 by the editors Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin, of the British Museum (Natural ...

''. Champion left England in February 1879 for

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

, where he arrived on 16 March into Puerto San José on the Pacific. He then commenced several years of journeying with intensive specimen collecting, until 7 April 1881 when he travelled by boat to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. On 20 April 1881 he left

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

for Chiriqui Province, where he stayed journeying and collecting until early 1883 before traveling back towards Panama City on 18 March 1883, then visiting a few places before leaving Panama on 21 May 1883. The collections are described in a series of articles he wrote to the ''

Entomologist's Monthly Magazine ''Entomologist's Monthly Magazine'' is a British entomological journal, founded by a staff of five editors – T. Blackburn, H. G. Knaggs, M.D., R. McLachlan, F.L.S., E. C. Rye and H. T. Stainton – and first published in 1864.Wale, Matthew ...

'', plus a route summary in '' Entomologica News'' (1907, Vol. XVIII, p. 33–44). He successfully returned to England in 1883 with around 15,000 species of insects, many arachnids, and likely other diverse specimens. A former watchmaker, he was employed by Godman and Salvin as a secretary, and he saw through the press the 52 volumes of the ''

''. Champion also prepared the Coleoptera sections for publication and wrote the volumes and parts covering the

Heteromera ''Heteromera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family described as a genus in 1874. ''Heteromera'' is native to North Africa. ; Species * ''Heteromera fuscata'' (Desf.) Pomel - Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya * ''Heteromera macroca ...

, the

Elateridae Elateridae or click beetles (or "typical click beetles" to distinguish them from the related families Cerophytidae and Eucnemidae, which are also capable of clicking) are a family of beetles. Other names include elaters, snapping beetles, spr ...

and Dascillidae, the

Cassidinae The Cassidinae (tortoise and leaf-mining beetles) are a subfamily of the leaf beetles, or Chrysomelidae. The antennae arise close to each other and some members have the pronotal and elytral edges extended to the side and covering the legs so as ...

, and the

Curculionidae The Curculionidae are a family of weevils, commonly called snout beetles or true weevils. They are one of the largest animal families, with 6,800 genera and 83,000 species described worldwide. They are the sister group to the family Brentidae. T ...

. He described more than 4,000

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

new to science in this work. He published 426 articles, some in ''

Annals and Magazine of Natural History The ''Journal of Natural History'' is a scientific journal published by Taylor & Francis focusing on entomology and zoology. The journal was established in 1841 under the name ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'' (''Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist.'') a ...

'', which he also edited. Much of his work was with exotic

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

, but he also wrote faunistic papers, mainly on beetles from

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, where he lived. From 1871, he was a fellow of the

Royal 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 London ...

, and a member of the Entomological Society Council from 1875 to 1877. He was librarian from 1891 to 1920, and appointed vice president in 1925. He compiled the Catalogue and Supplement of the Library. He was a fellow of the

Linnean Society 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 ...

and of the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

. He also helped to found the South London Entomological and Natural History Society .

Collections

Champion's beetle collection, including over 150,000 specimens and a very large number of

types Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Typ ...

, is housed at 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 an ...

. His specimens can be found in other major collections, such as the

Hope Department of Entomology The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum or OUMNH, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It a ...

, Oxford.

Legacy

Champion is commemorated in the scientific names of a species of

nian snake, '' Geophis championi'' , and several species of beetle, including '' Clinidium championi''. (found in

), '' Zopherus championi'' (found in Central and North America), and a species in the genus '' Phaleria'', '' Phaleria championi'' .

References

External links

*
Gallery of eminent English coleopterologists of first half of XX century: Photo of G.C. ChampionDigital version of ''Biologia Centrali-Americana''
*Further information on G. C. Champion, and the journey of his great grandson James Champion can be found at:

{{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, George Charles 1851 births 1927 deaths English coleopterists Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Royal Entomological Society