William Frederick Evans was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
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 worked on
Odonata
Odonata is an order of flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies. Members of the group first appeared during the Triassic, though members of their total group, Odonatoptera, first appeared in Late Carboniferous.
The two comm ...
and
Orthoptera
Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grassho ...
. Evans wrote ''British Libellulinae or Dragonflies'' (1845) which has 12 coloured plates. This seems to be a rare work of entomology. He also described a species of grasshopper from New South Wales.
[''Transactions of the Entomological Society of London''. 4(5): 300, pl. xxi, fig. c (1847).] Very little is known about Evans. He gave his address in 1857 as 'Admiralty' and was a sailor in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
. In 1848 he was Secretary of the
Entomological Society of London
The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists.
The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of London ...
. Between 1845 and 1847 he gave four gifts of
Coleoptera
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
to the
British Museum (Natural History)
The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...
(1845.132; 1846.113; 1847.45; 1847.85). Other insects were given at different times from various countries including
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
and in 1870 and 1875 he sold a collection of British and foreign insects, and his library through
James Francis Stephens
James Francis Stephens (16 September 1792 – 22 December 1852) was an English entomologist and naturalist. He is known for his 12 volume ''Illustrations of British Entomology'' (1846) and the ''Manual of British Beetles'' (1839).
Early li ...
.
Taxa described by Evans include:
* ''
Brachytron'' (1845)
* ''
Ephippithyta maculata'' (1847)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, William Frederick
English entomologists
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing