Richard South
FRES
Fres ( el, Φρες) is a village and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Apokoronas, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an ...
(July 1846 – 28 March 1932) was an
English
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Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
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entomologist who specialised in
Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), particularly the smaller moths.
Life and work
South was born at Cochran Terrace in
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...
, London, England and educated at a private school, in
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
.
He began publishing entomological notes from 1874 to 1878 on the moths of Mill Hill. He is best known for writing three important books on butterflies and moths of the British Isles.
After his death, these were updated by H. M. Edelsten.
Michael Salmon has described these as "innovative" and "a new kind of
ieldguide for the
wentiethcentury", noting their early use of colour photographs and eschewing of "Victorian prolixity and classical preciousness".
The moth volumes were reprinted as late as 1980.
South was editor of ''
The Entomologist''.
He also published many papers on the Lepidoptera of the Far East, including China and Korea, and an account of the butterflies collected by Captain
F.M. Bailey in western China, Tibet and South-Eastern and the Mishmi Hills.
Major parts of his collections of specimens survive, in the
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
and in the collection of
Birmingham Museums Trust.
Personal life
South was married twice, first in 1867 to his cousin Sarah Jane South (1846-1901), and in 1914 to Evelyn Urquhart (1871-1947) who survived him by 15 years. Her father had been a Mayor of
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...
.
By his first wife South had one daughter, Lucy Elizabeth (born 1868).
South lived all his life in London.
He died there in 1932 at his home after a period of poor health.
Books
*South R. (1906) ''The Butterflies of the British Isles'', Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., London & NY: 210 pp.
*South R. (1907) ''The Moths of the British Isles'', (First Series), Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., London & NY: 359 pp.
*South R. (1908) ''The Moths of the British Isles'', (Second Series), Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., London & NY: 388 pp.
*South R. (1923) ''Catalogue of the Collection of Palaearctic Butterflies'', (Publisher unknown) 240 pp.
*South R., Stokoe W.J. & Stovin G.H.T. (1948) ''The Caterpillars of British Moths including the Eggs, Chrysalids and Food-Plants'', Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., London & NY: 408 pp.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:South, Richard
Fellows of the Royal Entomological Society
English lepidopterists
1846 births
1932 deaths