S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 46/1. (Budapest, 1985)

FOLIA ENTOMOLOGICA HUNGARICA ROVARTANI KÖZLEMÉNYEK XLVI. 1 1985 p. 215-240 T. D. A. CockereU's scale insects (Homoptera: Coccoidea) in the British Museum (Natural History) By D. J. WILLIAMS (Received December 18, 1984) Abstract: T.D.A. COCKERELL described nearly 500 species of scale insects from many parts of the world. Although his original slide material is scattered, there is in the British Museum (Natural History) authentic slide material of 207 species and this is now listed. Each entry lists the data from the original description, followed by the data labelled on the slides and the current assignment of the species. Many biographies and obituaries of T.D.A. COCKERELL pay tribute to him as a great naturalist and biologist. According to ROHWER (1948), COCKERELL'

s interests ranged not only from botany, palaeontology, malacology and entomology but also to zoogeography, poetry and philosophy. He worked for a short period with Alfred Russell WALLACE and it is evident that WALLACE influenced COCKERELL'

s later thoughts on evolution. EWAN (1950) has written a report of COCKERELL' s everyday life in his later years and there is no doubt that COCKERELL was an accomplished scientist and his zeal influenced many who came in contact with him. WEBER (1965) has given an excellent account of COCKERELL and his methods and a bibiliography of his works listing 3904 articles written on a wide range of subjects. Describing how he took up the study of scale insects, COCKERELL (1935, 1938) explained how in 1891 he was appointed Curator of the Public Museum in Jamaica and chose the scale insects for special attention because they were excessively abundant in Jamaica and of economic importance. The end of the last century was a time when many zoologists thought it fashionable to study scale insects and COCKERELL was one who flung himself wholeheartedly into their study.His knowledge of them was prodigious and because he was regarded as an authority on the group, his help was sought from students and workers in many parts of the world. From 1899 to 1946, shortly before he died in 1948, COCKERELL described nearly 500 species of scale insects and, occasionally with other authors, wrote about 355 papers on many aspects of the group. Anyone attempting to identify COCKERELL'

s species of scale insects from his descriptions, however, is under some difficulty. By today's standards, and even by the best standards of his own time, his descriptions are inadequate, rarely occupying more than a few lines, discussing inessential characters of little use for the recognition of species. In an early article on COCKERELL' s work on scale insects, MARLATT (1899e) scathingly discussed the inadequacy of COCKERELL'

s descriptions, as did FERRIS (1957a), who additionally criticised COCKERELL'

s slide preparations, stating that an examination of his type slides is often entirely fruitless. Despite these criticisms, few of COCKERELL'

s names have so far been synonymised. The almost complete lack of illustrations to accompany his descriptions is surprising because