Sydney Harold Skaife ('Stacey') D.Sc. FRSSAf. (12 December 1889 – 6 November 1976) was an eminent South African

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 ...

and naturalist. His career and educational publications covered a wide field.Skaife, S. H., "A Naturalist Remembers", Pub. Longmans, Cape Town, 1963 Especially in his later years his main research interest was in

social insects Eusociality (from Greek εὖ ''eu'' "good" and social), the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping genera ...

and the transitional phases in sociality, particularly in the

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

and

Isoptera Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...

.Skaife, S. H., "Dwellers in Darkness", Pub. Longmans Green & Co., London, 1956.Skaife, S. H., "The Study of Ants", Pub. Longmans, 1961 He was also a school inspector, prolific author of scientific and popular books, broadcaster, and conservationist. Of his many achievements his greatest was probably his leading role in the creation of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve between

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and

Cape Point Cape Point ( af, Kaappunt) is a promontory at the southeast corner of the Cape Peninsula, a mountainous and scenic landform that runs north-south for about thirty kilometres at the extreme southwestern tip of the African continent in South Afri ...

. He lived for most of his life in

Hout Bay Hout Bay ( af, Houtbaai, meaning "Wood Bay") is a harbour town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is situated in a valley on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, twenty kilometres south of Cape Town. The name "Hout Bay" can ...

on the

Cape Peninsula The Cape Peninsula ( af, Kaapse Skiereiland) is a generally mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean at the south-western extremity of the African continent. At the southern end of the peninsula are Cape Point and the Cape of ...

Early life

Skaife was born in London, England, to Katherine and John Skaife. He spent his boyhood in

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

and went to St Marks Grammar School. Educated at

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, England, he initially studied in the Arts, even though his passion lay with Biology. In 1911 he took the Intermediate BA examination of London University because Reading at that stage was not a university and could not confer a degree. He then studied for a Teacher's Diploma and passed it with distinction. In 1912 he went to the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

in Germany, at the urging of his uncle. He stayed with the Schober family. During this period he taught English to earn some extra money. In 1913 he went to Cape Town to teach biology at the Rondebosch Boys High School. When World War I broke out in 1914, he tried to enlist for service, but was turned down on medical grounds due to an irregular heart beat, which was later found to be harmless. He was then offered and accepted a post as entomologist at the Rosebank Research Station in Cape Town. Here he worked on insects that fed on stored grain. This was a particularly urgent issue at the time, since large quantities of grain were being stored at the Cape as part of the war effort.

Later career

On 29 September 1917 he married Elsie Mary Croft, a pianist. After his marriage he was transferred to the

Cedara College of Agriculture Cedara College of Agriculture is an agricultural college and research station near Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, founded partly by Thomas Robertson Sim. The foundation stone of the "School of Agriculture and Forestry" was laid on 28 April ...

in Natal where he worked on bees and wattle bagworm infestation. In 1918 he became the first South African to receive a Carnegie Grant for further study. In 1920 he received an MSc at the Natal University College. From 1921 to 1945 he was the Inspector of Science in the Cape Department of Education. In 1922 he received a PhD from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

for his research on

bean weevil The bean weevils or seed beetles are a subfamily (Bruchinae) of beetles, now placed in the family Chrysomelidae, though they have historically been treated as a separate family. They are granivores, and typically infest various kinds of seeds ...

s or the subfamily Bruchinae. Africa has a rich Bruchid fauna, many of them dependent on thorn trees and other indigenous leguminous plants. In the relaxed railway schedules of the time, he sometimes found opportunities to collect new species from thorn trees during halts. During this period he found time to edit Nature Notes (1924–1931) and become one of the first people to make a radio broadcast in South Africa, in which he talked on scorpions (1925). In 1929 he established the Wild Life Protection and Conservation Society (now called the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa, WESSA), largely as a result of his concern at the widespread destruction of game in Zululand as part of the

tsetse fly Tsetse ( , or ) (sometimes spelled tzetze; also known as tik-tik flies), are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus ''Glossina'', which are placed in their own family, Glo ...

control campaign. In his capacity as chairman, he helped to establish the Outeniqua Mountain Zebra Reserve, the Bontebok Park, and the Addo Elephant Reserve. During the period 1935–1945 he was director of the School Broadcasting Service. In 1939, largely through his efforts, the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve was established. He became president of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa in 1940, served as chairman of the newly created Fisheries Development Corporation from 1945 to 1951, and during this same period was a member of the Board of Governors of the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...

. In 1950 he was elected president of the

Royal Society of South Africa The Royal Society of South Africa is a learned society composed of eminent South African scientists and academics. The society was granted its royal charter by King Edward VII in 1908, nearly a century after Capetonians first began to conceive of ...

and from 1950 to 1957 he acted as vice-chairman of the board of Trustees of the

South African Museum The Iziko South African Museum is a South African national museum located in Cape Town. The museum was founded in 1825, the first in the country. It has been on its present site in the Company's Garden since 1897. The museum houses important A ...

. In 1951 he became chairman of the Fisheries Commission of Northern Rhodesia. In 1952 he retired to his home in

and did extensive research on the social behaviour of ants, bees and wasps which resulted in the publication of some books. In his book on termites, and other papers, he published ground-breaking work on the dynamics and ecology of termite mounds and the means of studying them. He also wrote a book on ants, and a number of scientific publications on various topics, including possible routes to sociality from primitive bees such as South African carpenter bees.Skaife, S. H. "The yellow-banded carpenter bee, Mesotrichia caffra Linn, and its symbiotic mite, Dinogamasus Braunsi Vitzthun", Journal of the Entomological Society of South Africa, vol. 15, pp. 63–76, 1952. In 1952 he was awarded the South African Medal and Grant for scientific research by the

South African Association for the Advancement of Science The Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science (S2A3 or S2A3) is a learned society, originally known as the South African Association for the Advancement of Science (SAAAS). Established in 1902, its principal aim is to increase th ...

. In 1953 he visited the UK where he spoke about his research work over the BBC and attended the Annual Congress of the British Association in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1957 he was awarded a D.Sc. (honoris causa) by the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-N ...

, and despite having retired became the president of the Zoological Society of South Africa in 1960. He also found time to lecture in

Medical Entomology The discipline of medical entomology, or public health entomology, and also ''veterinary entomology'' is focused upon insects and arthropods that impact human health. Veterinary entomology is included in this category, because many animal disease ...

at the University of Cape Town and serve as president of the then

. He was an entertaining and unpretentious speaker with a pleasant sense of humour and a fine command of his field, and many South African youngsters of that generation had reason to appreciate his kindly and generous response to intelligent questions. On 6 November 1976 he died at Hout Bay in the Cape Peninsula. A daughter and son were born from this marriage: *Mary Katherine Rowan "Bunty" d1986 – an eminent ornithologist and author *John Skaife b1927

Published works

*''Animal Life in South Africa'' (Miller, Cape Town 1920) *''The Strange Old Man'' (Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1930) *''South African Nature Notes'' (Maskew Miller, Cape Town, c1938) *''African Insect Life'' (Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1953) *''Dwellers in Darkness – an Introduction to the Study of Termites'' (Longmans Green & Co., London, 1956) *''Reminiscences of a Naturalist'' (1958) *''The Study of Ants'' (Longmans, 1961) *''The Weaker Sex'' – Brochure based on a series of six talks broadcast in the English Service of the SABC during Feb and March 1961. *''A Naturalist Remembers'' (Longmans, Cape Town, 1963) *''The Amazing World of the Ant'' (South African Broadcasting Corporation) *''The Outdoor World of Africa'' (Longmans, Cape Town) *''African Insect Life'' – revised edition by Ledger & Bannister (Struik, Cape Town 1979) *''Adriaan Hugo'' – series of Afrikaans detective novels under the pseudonym of ''Hendrik Brand''

References

*''Biography of Dr. SH Skaife'' by MK Rowan in revised ''African Insect Life''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skaife, Sydney 1889 births 1976 deaths Entomologists from London University of Natal alumni 20th-century South African zoologists South African entomologists South African naturalists Hymenopterists Alumni of the University of Reading University of Cape Town alumni Academic staff of the University of Cape Town Fellows of the Royal Society of South Africa British emigrants to South Africa