Herbert Womersley (1889–1962) was an entomologist whose works were especially concerned with mites and ticks, silverfish and flies. His research into the diversity of Australian resulted in descriptions of new insect taxa.

Biography

Womersley was enlisted for wartime service in two English military sections, during 1915 to 1917 in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

and the Chemical Corps,

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. After volunteering to join the chemical engineers, Womersley was engaged to transport tanks of poisons toward the frontlines of battle and release

phosgene Phosgene is the organic chemical compound with the formula COCl2. It is a toxic, colorless gas; in low concentrations, its musty odor resembles that of freshly cut hay or grass. Phosgene is a valued and important industrial building block, espe ...

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...

and other weaponised gases when the prevailing wind became unfavourable to the enemy. Womersley was involved in the earliest chemical weapon attacks on German troops during the European conflict, including the first British use at the Battle of Loos. He served next at the munitions factory, H.M. Factory Gretna as a chemist until the end of the war. His later employment in Britain included a soap manufacturer and positions at the Entomological and

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 ...

. He left England for Australia in 1930 and began his life's work on insects of the Australasian region. The first position he held was for a division of the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

in Western Australia. His career included the role as resident entomologist and later honorary, and retroactively, Acarologist at the South Australian Museum and honorary positions and president of the Royal Society of South Australia.

Works

Around 200 publications by Womersley gave the results of his work on the taxonomy of several orders of insects, the Acarina (mites and ticks), Apterygota (silverfish) and

Diptera Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

(flies), around three quarters of which concerned his eventual speciality, the Acarina. Herbert Womersley was commemorated in the names of genera and species. The seven genera are '' Womersia'', '' Womersleyessia'', '' Womersleyia'' and '' Womersleyna'' of Acarina and '' Womersleya'', '' Womersleyella'' and '' Womersleymeria'' of the

Collembola Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Ento ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Womersley, Herbert 1889 births 1962 deaths Australian entomologists 20th-century Australian zoologists