Person

Knight, Arthur Ian (Ian) (1930 - 2021)

Born
19 January 1930
Uitenhage, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Died
17 April 2021
Deloraine, Tasmania, Australia
Occupation
Architect and Lepidopterist

Summary

Ian Knight, an architect by training, was a keen collector from an early age. Everything from bottles to fossils drew his attention. He discovered new fossil species of giant marine mollusc of the genus Trigonia which was named after him. A formative experience was helping his father to raise butterflies on their citrus farm in South Africa. In 1978 he migrated to Queensland with his family. While working as an architect, he became a key figure in the network of local lepidopterists. His collecting activities took him to all the eastern states of Australia. As he had been with the South African butterfly fauna, he became similarly expert in Queensland butterflies. On retiring to Tasmania in 1995, Knight donated most of his collection to the Queensland Department of Primary Industries insect collection at Indooroopilly. The move gave him a new fauna to discover, the Tasmanian butterflies. One of his most significant contributions to the study of Australian butterflies was his work in the islands of Torres Strait, starting while he lived in Brisbane and continuing well into his retirement.

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Details

Chronology

1978
Life event - Migrated to Australia
1995
Life event - Retired to Tasmania

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Journal Articles

  • Lambkin, T. A.; and Knight, A. I., 'Butterflies recorded from the Torres Strait and northern Cape York Peninsula regions during July 1983', News Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Queensland, 11 (1983), 98-103. Details
  • Lambkin, T. A.; and Knight, A. I., 'Butterflies recorded from Murray Island, Torres Strait, Queensland', Australian entomological magazine, 17 (1990), 101-12. Details
  • Lambkin, T. A.; and Knight, A. I., 'New Australian butterfly records (Lepidoptera) from Saibai and Dauan Islands, Torres Strait, Queensland', Australian entomologist, 32 (2005), 49-54. Details
  • Lambkin, Trevor A., 'From South Africa to Torres Strait: the life and legacy of Arthur Ian Knight (1930 - 2021)', Australian entomologist, 48 (2) (2021), 119-30. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 5 July 2022

EOAS ID: biogs/P007051b.htm

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