Marianne Horak (born 1944) is a Swiss-Australian

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 specialises in Australian

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 ...

, particularly the phycitine and tortricid moths. She also did important research on the

scribbly gum moth ''Ogmograptis'', the scribbly gum moths, is a genus in the family Bucculatricidae and was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1935, as a monotypic genus (consisting of one species only). They are found in the Australian Capital Territory, New ...

s, during which eleven new species of ''

Ogmograptis ''Ogmograptis'', the scribbly gum moths, is a genus in the family Bucculatricidae and was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1935, as a monotypic genus (consisting of one species only). They are found in the Australian Capital Territory, New ...

'' were discovered. Horak was born in

Glarus , neighboring_municipalities= Glarus Nord, Glarus Süd, Muotathal (SZ), Innerthal (SZ) , twintowns= Wiesbaden-Biebrich (Germany) } Glarus (; gsw, Glaris; french: Glaris; it, Glarona; rm, Glaruna) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in S ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

where she was inspired to study entomology from her childhood growing up in a valley in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

. She studied at the

Federal Institute of Technology (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

(ETH) in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, earning her M.Sc. in 1970 and Ph.D. in 1983. She did extensive field work in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

(1967–69),

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

(1971–73), and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

(1985) before settling permanently in Australia. She is the current

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''Monographs of Australian Lepidoptera'', chairperson of the Australian Lepidoptera Research Endowment, and honorary research fellow in Lepidoptera systematics at the

Australian National Insect Collection The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

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 ...

, where she works as Lepidoptera curator and was head of Lepidoptera research until her retirement in 2010. Horak has discovered several new species of Lepidoptera, including multiple species of ''

Cadra ''Cadra'' is a genus of small moths belonging to the family Pyralidae. The genus ''Ephestia'' is closely related to ''Cadra'' and might be its senior synonym. Several of these moths are variously assigned to one or the other genus, in particular ...

'', '' Heterochorista'', and ''

''. She also is the taxon authority for several

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

, including '' Aglaogonia'', ''

Atriscripta ''Atriscripta'' is a genus of moths of the family Tortricidae. Species *'' Atriscripta arithmetica'' ( Meyrick, 1921) *'' Atriscripta decorigera'' (Diakonoff, 1966) See also *List of Tortricidae genera This is a taxonomy of the moth family T ...

'', and '' Cnecidophora''. Horak was the first recipient of the J. O. Westwood Medal for excellence in

insect taxonomy Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

for "her outstanding monograph entitled ''The Olethreutine Moths of Australia (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)''". The moth species '' Coleophora horakae'', ''

Hilarographa mariannae ''Hilarographa mariannae'' is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found in Brazil. The wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boe ...

'', and ''

Myrtartona mariannae ''Myrtartona mariannae'' is a species of moth in the family Zygaenidae. It is only known from Milmerran in south-eastern Queensland. The length of the forewings is for males. The wings are elongate. The forewing is slender and somewhat triangula ...

'' are dedicated to her. Horak is considered one of the worldwide leading experts on the systematics of

Tortricidae The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the genu ...

. She was previously married to the Austrian

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

Egon Horak Egon Horak (born Innsbruck in 1937) is an Austrian mycologist who has described more than 1000 species of fungi, including many from the Southern Hemisphere, particularly New Zealand and South America. He was an executive editor of the scientific ...

References

Living people 1944 births People from Glarus Swiss emigrants to Australia Australian entomologists Women entomologists CSIRO people Date of birth missing (living people) Swiss entomologists {{Entomologist-stub