Merlin Owen Pasco (1892 – 6 August 1918) was a New Zealand

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 ...

. Pasco discovered several species of moth previously unknown to science and collected numerous specimens.

Early life and collecting

Pasco was born in

Kumara Kumara may refer to: Places * Kumara (Mali), a province * Kumara, New Zealand, a town * Kumara (New Zealand electorate), a Parliamentary electorate Other uses * Kumara Illangasinghe, an Anglican bishop in Sri Lanka * Kumara (surname) * The Four ...

and moved to Queenstown as a child. An amateur entomologist, Pasco created a significant collection of New Zealand

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 ...

in the early 1900s. His collection was particularly notable as it contained specimens collected in and around Queenstown and included

type specimens In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

of numerous moth species. Pasco was one of the most productive collectors of type specimens of beetle species described by

Thomas Broun Thomas Broun (15 July 1838 – 24 August 1919) was a New Zealand soldier, farmer, teacher and entomologist. He was born in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland on 15 July 1838. BibliographyDescriptions of new genera and species of coleoptera ''Bul ...

. Broun acknowledged the research assistance Pasco gave him and named the beetle species ''Pterostichus pascoi'' in Pasco's honour. However this species name was subsequently synonymised by Everard Baldwin Britton and this beetle is now known as '' Megadromus sandageri''. Pasco was the first entomologist to collect on Tooth Peaks, Wakatipu in

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

Species discovered by Pasco

*'' Aponotoreas dissimilis'' (Philpott, 1914) *'' Tatosoma fasciata'' Philpott 1914 *'' Chloroclystis magnimaculata'' Philpott 1915 *'' Declana sinuosa'' Philpott 1915 *'' Orocrambus cultus'' Philpott 1917

WW1 service and death

At the commencement of World War One, Pasco volunteered to serve in the New Zealand Armed Forces but was turned down. He then travelled to Australia and joined the

Australian 2nd Division The 2nd Division of the Australian Army commands all the Reserve brigades in Australia. These are the 4th in Victoria, the 5th in New South Wales, the 9th in South Australia and Tasmania, the 11th in Queensland, the 13th in Western Australia, a ...

. He served with the Division in Egypt, Gallipoli, and then in France. Pasco was killed in action near the village of Corbie in France on the 6 August 1918. He was 25 years old when he died. Pasco is buried at the La Neuville British Cemetery,

Corbie Corbie (; nl, Korbei) is a commune of the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The small town is situated up river from Amiens, in the département of Somme and is the main town of the canton of Corbie. It lies ...

Eponyms

Several species were named in honour of Pasco in recognition of his collecting efforts. These species include '' Scoparia pascoella'' and '' Meterana pascoei''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasco, Merlin Owen 1892 births 1918 deaths New Zealand entomologists Australian military personnel killed in World War I People from Kumara, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand zoologists