John Traherne Moggridge (8 March 1842 – 24 November 1874) was a British botanist, entomologist, and arachnologist. A Fellow of the
Linnean Society of London, he was known as a keen naturalist with great observational skills, as well as his paintings and illustrations. He wrote several articles on the fertilisation of plants, and his paintings of plants of southern France appeared in ''Contributions to the Flora of Mentone''. His two volume study, ''Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders'', among other observations, confirmed that
harvester ants are present in Europe,
and was one of the first comprehensive treatments of the burrowing behaviour of
trapdoor spiders. He was a correspondent of
Charles Darwin,
who cited his work in his books ''
Fertilisation of Orchids'' and ''
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
''The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex'' is a book by English naturalist Charles Darwin, first published in 1871, which applies evolutionary theory to human evolution, and details his theory of sexual selection, a form of biolo ...
''.
Moggridge was born in
Swansea, Wales to a family already steeped in natural history. His father, Matthew Moggridge, was a naturalist and geologist, a Fellow of the Linnean, Geological and Zoological Societies, while his mother, Fanny Moggridge, was the daughter of
Lewis Weston Dillwyn, a naturalist and member of parliament.
John attended
King's School, Sherborne (now known as Sherborne School) in
Dorset and in 1861 enrolled in
Trinity College, Cambridge, but health problems interrupted his studies, causing him to relocate to the warmer climate of
Menton, France, in the
Provence region of southern France.
He died in Menton of
tuberculosis in 1874 at the age of 32, following a lengthy period of invalidity.
He was posthumously commemorated in the genus name ''
Moggridgea
''Moggridgea'' is a genus of spiders in the tree dwelling family, Migidae.
The genus was first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1875, who named the genus after naturalist John Traherne Moggridge.
The majority of the 32 species of the ...
'', a group of spiders named by
Octavius Pickard-Cambridge, who also named a species of
nemesiid spider (''Nemesia moggridgii'', now ''N. carminans'') after Moggridge.
__NOTOC__
Books
* ''Contributions to the Flora of Mentone''. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. 1864
''Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders'' London: Lovell Reeve & Co. 1873
* ''Supplement to Harvesting Ants and Trap-door Spiders''. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. 1874
* ''Contributions to the Flora of Mentone and to a Winter Flora of the Riviera, including the coast from Marseilles to Genoa'' 1874
Illustrations
Contributions to the flora of Mentone, and to a winter flora of the Riviera, including the coast from Marseilles to Genoa (1871) (20663892866).jpg, ''Anemone paviflora''
Serapias cordigera - Moggridge - Flora of Mentone pl. 16 (1871).jpg, ''Serapias cordigera
''Serapias cordigera'' is a species of orchids found from the Azores, south-central Europe to the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enc ...
''
Harvesting ants & trap-door spiders pl 09.jpg, A trapdoor spider (''Nemesia meridionalis'') and its burrow
Harvesting ants and trap-door spiders supp. plate 15 - Cteniza Californica.jpg, ''Bothriocyrtum californicum'' and burrow
Harvesting ants & trap-door spiders pl 01.jpg, Harvester ants and nest
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moggridge, John Traherne
1842 births
1874 deaths
British botanists
British entomologists
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
British arachnologists
19th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
People from Swansea
People educated at Sherborne School
Tuberculosis deaths in France