Meyrick, Edward

Edward Meyrick was born at Ramsbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, on November 24, 1854. Educated at Marlborough College and Trinity College, Cambridge, he went on to be a schoolmaster for 37 years. The early portion of his career (1877–1886) was spent in Australia and environs, but he served in a similar position in England from 1887 to 1914. Meyrick is well known for his contribution to the Lepidoptera fauna of Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific Islands, India and Southeast Asia, South Africa, South America, and England. A specialist on the smaller forms of the order, he was a prodigious worker, and described over 20,000 species, many new genera, and several new families. He made major contributions to “Genera insectorum,” “Lepidopterorum catalogus,” and “A handbook of British Lepidoptera.” He also published his own magazine, comprised of over four volumes totaling 2,500 pages, and important books: “Moths and their classification” (1898) and “Moths and their classification, a...