John Henry Leech (5 December 1862 – 29 December 1900) was an English

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 ...

who specialised in

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

and

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 ...

. His collections from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

are in the Natural History Museum, London. These also contain insects from Morocco, the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, and

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

. He wrote ''British Pyralides'' (1886) and ''Butterflies from China, Japan and Corea'', three volumes (1892–1894). He was a fellow of the Linnean Society and of the Entomological Society of London, a member of the '' Société entomologique de France'', and of the Entomological Society of Berlin (''Entomologischen Verein zu Berlin''). He died at his home, Hurdcott House, near Salisbury, in 1900.

Legacy

John Henry Leech is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard, '' Enyalius leechii''.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael & Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Leech", p. 154).

References

Sources

*Anonymous (1901). "Leech, J. H." ''Entomologist's Monthly Magazine''. (2) 12 (37)(2): 49-50. *Anonymous (1901). "Leech, J. H." ''Entomologist''. 34: 33-38. *Gilbert, P. (2000). ''Butterfly Collectors and Painters. Four Centuries of Colour Plates from the Library Collections of the Natural History Museum, London''. Singapore: Beaumont Publishing Pte Ltd. * Inoue, H. (2005). "John Henry Leech (1862–1900)". ''The Pioneers of Moth-Fauna of Japan''. 1 Yugato. *Verrall, G. H. (1900). ''Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London''.

External links

NHM
Manuscript Collection.
Internet Archive
''Catalogue of the Collection of Palaearctic Butterflies Formed by the Late John Henry Leech, and Presented to the Trustees of the British Museum by His Mother, Mrs. Eliza Leech (1902)'' British Museum (Natural History.
Internet Archive
Leech, John Henry ''On Lepidoptera Heterocera from China, Japan, and Corea'' (1897?) an
BDH
Volumes 1 and 2 English lepidopterists 1862 births 1900 deaths Fellows of the Royal Entomological Society {{UK-entomologist-stub