Roger Ward Crosskey

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Roger Ward Crosskey (29 January 1930 - 4 September 2017) was a British entomologist who worked at the Commonwealth Institute of Entomology and at the Natural History Museum in London specializing in blackflies (Simuliidae), Tachinidae and the hymenopteran superfamily Evanioidea.

Roger Crosskey was born in Croydon to Harold and Elfreda née Ward. His mother died of cancer when he was sixteen and after that spent a lot of his time outdoors collecting insects including butterflies and diving beetles. He studied at Whitgift School and his first publication was in 1951. He studied ensign wasps (Aulacidae and Gasteruptiidae) for his master's degree from the University of London. He married Margaret Eileen ("Peggy") née Godfrey with whom he studied at college. Peggy was also an entomologist and worked alongside him throughout his career. Crosskey joined as an entomologist in the service of the Government of Northern Nigeria to study sleeping sickness in 1951. He also studied onchocerciasis vectors and helped in monitoring and examining the effectiveness of control measures. Along with John B. Davies, he conducted studies on blackflies in the Galma valley. The work conducted over six years involved catching nearly 13,000 flies over an area of 1000 square miles and dissecting 1200 flies to check for larvae of Onchocerca volvulus . They found nearly 20% of the flies being infected in the rainy season and formulated a DDT spraying scheme to reduce the transmission of the parasite. The scheme has come to be called the Crosskey-Davies Experiment of 1954–1960. [1] He returned from Africa to London in 1959 and began to work as a dipterologist and specialized in the Tachinidae. [2]

Roger illustrated most of his publications by himself. Crosskey revamped the classification of the Simuliidae. Crosskey and Graham B. White used the biogeographical designation of "Afrotropical Region" as a more specific term than the previously used terms such as "Ethiopian region" or "Sub-Saharan Africa". He began to work along with Curtis Sabrosky and became a key member of the ICZN code committee. [2]

The tachinid genera Crosskeya and Crosskeyellum are named in his honour as are nearly a dozen species of flies with the epithet crosskeyi. Crosskey himself described a couple of hundred species and established a few new genera while revising the dipteran groups that he worked on. [2]

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A black fly or blackfly is any member of the family Simuliidae of the Culicomorpha infraorder. It is related to the Ceratopogonidae, Chironomidae, and Thaumaleidae. Over 2,200 species of black flies have been formally named, of which 15 are extinct. They are divided into two subfamilies: Parasimuliinae contains only one genus and four species; Simuliinae contains all the rest. Over 1,800 of the species belong to the genus Simulium.

<i>Simulium</i> Genus of flies

Simulium is a genus of black flies, which may transmit diseases such as onchocerciasis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simuliini</span> Tribe of black flies

The Simuliini is a tribe of black flies that contains over 2,000 species, with more than 1,800 in the genus Simulium. There are 19 living genera, and three genera only known from Cretaceous fossils.

<i>Austrosimulium</i> Genus of flies

Austrosimulium is a genus of 31 species of black flies that are distributed in Australia and New Zealand. There are 2 subgenera: Austrosimulium whose species are principally from New Zealand, and Novaustrosimulium which are exclusively Australian. Austrosimulium is a sister genus to the monospecific Paraustrosimulium of South America.

<i>Rutilia</i> Genus of flies

Rutilia is a large genus of medium to large (>20mm) flies in the family Tachinidae native to Australia and the Oriental region, though notably absent from New Zealand. Like the vast majority of tachinid flies, Rutilia species are parasitoids of other insects, specifically Rutilia are known to be parasitoids of late instar larvae of scarab beetles.

<i>Senostoma</i> Genus of flies

Senostoma is a genus of parasitoid tachinid flies in the family Tachinidae. Endemic to Australasia, the flies are medium-sized, bristly, and long-legged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exoristinae</span> Subfamily of flies

Exoristinae is a subfamily of flies in the family Tachinidae. Most species are parasitoids of caterpillars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blondeliini</span> Tribe of flies

Blondeliini is a tribe of parasitic flies in the family Tachinidae. Larvae are parasitoids of other insects, mostly beetles and caterpillars. Although nearly cosmopolitan, its greatest diversity is in the New World and especially in South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eryciini</span> Tribe of flies

Eryciini is a tribe of flies in the family Tachinidae

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exoristini</span> Tribe of flies

Exoristini is a tribe of flies in the family Tachinidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Henry Tyler Townsend</span> American entomologist

Charles Henry Tyler Townsend was an American entomologist specializing in the study of tachinids (Tachinidae), a large and diverse family of flies (Diptera) with larvae that are parasitoids of other insects. He was perhaps the most prolific publisher of new tachinids, naming and describing some 3000 species and genera. He made important contributions to the biological control of insect pests and he was the first to identify the insect vector of a debilitating disease in Peru. Townsend was also a controversial figure and criticism of his approach to insect taxonomy continues to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phasiinae</span> Subfamily of flies

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cylindromyiini</span> Tribe of flies

Cylindromyiini is a tribe of flies in the family Tachinidae. It contains about 17 genera and 200 species.

Acemyini is a small but cosmopolitan tribe of flies in the family Tachinidae. Like all tachinid flies, acemyiines are parasitoids of other invertebrates. Specifically, the acemyiines are parasitoids of Orthoptera in the families Acrididae and Eumastacidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tachininae</span> Subfamily of flies

Tachininae is a subfamily of flies in the family Tachinidae.

Anagonia is a genus of flies in the family Tachinidae.

Nikolay Ilyich Baranov was a Russian entomologist who specialised in Diptera. His collection of Palearctic Tachinidae is held by the Smithsonian Institution Washington D.C. Baranov described many new species. He worked as an entomologist at the Institute of Hygiene in Zagreb.

Françoise Beaucournu-Saguez was a French entomologist who specialized in blackfly research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rutiliini</span> Tribe of flies

Rutiliini is a tribe of flies in the family Tachinidae.

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References

  1. Bump, Jesse B. (2014-10-09). "The Crosskey-Davies Experiment and Onchocerciasis Control in West Africa". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 8 (10): e3223. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003223 . ISSN   1935-2735. PMC   4191949 . PMID   25299250.
  2. 1 2 3 Adler, Peter H (2018). "Roger Ward Crosskey—The Life and Contributions of an Entomologist par Excellence (1930–2017)". Zootaxa. 4455 (1): 35–67. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4455.1.2. PMID   30314220. S2CID   52975972.