Evans, John William (1906 - 1990)

Summary

John Evans was an entomologist who, having completed his degree at the University of Cambridge, came to Australia in 1926 to work on sharks. However, his employer having gone broke, he joined the CSIR Division of Entomology to work on the Prickly pear problem. Over the next few years, after training in economic entomology in New Zealand, he worked on Trichogramma (a wasp that attacks the eggs of the Codling moth) and thrips in the United Kingdom, Melbourne and Adelaide. Evans was a specialist in Hemiptera, particularly leafhoppers, with an interest in evolution and biogeography. For nine years from 1935 he was Entomologist (later Chief Biologist) for the Tasmanian Department of Agriculture before moving to London in 1944. He returned to Australia in 1955 on being appointed Director of the Australian Museum. Evans was prominent in entomological organisations. In the 1960s he was a member of the Permanent Committee of the International Congress of Entomology. He played a leading role in the establishment of the Australian Entomological Society in 1965, becoming an Honorary Member in 1970

Details

Chronology

1926

Life event - Moved to Australia

1926

Education - Graduated from University of Cambridge (Jesus College)

1926 - 1927

Career position - Junior Entomologist, CSIR Division of Economic Entomology

1927 - 1928

Career position - Training in economic entomology (noxious insects), Cawthron Institute, Nelson, New Zealand, Science and Industry Endowment Fund

1928

Career position - Entomologist, Imperial Bureau of Entomology, Farnham Royal, United Kingdom

1928

Career event - Travelled to the U.S.A. and Europe with Robin Tillyard

1935 - 1944

Career position - Entomologist (later Chief Biologist), Tasmanian Department of Agriculture

1945 - 1948

Career position - Entomologist, Imperial (later Commonwealth) Institute of Entomology, London

1948 - 1954

Career position - Senior Principal Scientific Officer, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, London

1949

Education - ScD, University of Cambridge

1955 - 1966

Career position - Director, Australian Museum, Sydney

1965 - 1970

Career position - Foundation Member, Australian Entomological Society

1970 - 1990

Career position - Honorary Member, Australian Entomological Society

Related entries

Archival resources

National Library of Australia Oral History Collection

• John William Evans - Records, 1930 - 1965, DeB 94; National Library of Australia Oral History Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Evans, J. W., Insect pests and their control (Hobart: Government Printer, 1943), 178 pp. Details
• Evans, J. W., The injurious insects of the British Commonwealth (except the British Isles, India and Pakistan): with a section on the control of weeds by insects (Farnham Royal, U.K.: Commonwealth Institute of Entomology, 1952), 242 pp. Details
• Evans, J. W., The Life and Work of Robin John Tillyard, 1881-1937 (St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1963), 32 pp. Details
• Evans, John: illustrations by Faith Evans, Insect delight: a life's journey (Canberra: Brolga Press, 1989), 212 pp. Details
• Musgrave, A., Bibliography of Australian entomology, 1775-1930: with biographical notes on authors and collectors (Sydney: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, 1932), 380 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Evans, J. W., 'Waterhouse, Gustavus Athol (1877-1950), entomologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 12: 1891 - 1939 Smy-Z, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1990), pp. 390-391. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/waterhouse-gustavus-athol-8992. Details

Journal Articles

• Evans, J. W., 'The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand (Homoptera: Cicadelloidea and Cercopoidea)', Australian Museum memoir, 12 (1966), 1-347. Details
• Evans, J. W., 'The leafhoppers and froghoppers of Australia and New Zealand (Homoptera: Cicadelloidea and Cercopoidea), part 2', Records of the Australian Museum, 31 (1977), 83-129. Details
• Evans, J. W., 'A review of present knowledge of the family Peloridiidae and new genera and new species from New Zealand and New Caledonia (Hemiptera: Insecta)', Records of the Australian Museum, 34 (5) (1982), 381-406. Details
• Fletcher, Murray J., 'Musings on bugs [Peloridiidae]', Myrmecia, 60 (3) (2024), 8-12. Details
• J. E. W. [ie John W. Evans], 'Robin John Tillyard, 1881-1937 (Memorial series, no. 11)', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 71 (5/6) (1946), 252-256. Details
• McDonald, F. J. D. and Fletcher, M. J., 'Obituary: John William Evans (1906 - 1990)', Australian Entomological Society News Bulletin, 26 (4) (1990), 187-9. Details
• Tillyard, R.J., 'Scientific papers from the Division of Economic Entomology published elsewhere than in the Council's publications', Journal of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (1932), https://hdl.handle.net/102.100.100/339951?index=1. Details
• Woodward, T., 'Retirement of Dr. J. W. Evans', Australian Entomological Society News Bulletin, 2 (1) (1966), 11-5. Details

Reports

• Tillyard, R.J., The work of the Division of Economic Entomology for the year 1928-29 (Melbourne: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (Australia), 1929), 19 pp. https://doi.org/10.25919/2k6y-h875. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q22108526. Details
• 'Evans, J W (1906-1990)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-465938. Details

See also

• Ashton, D. H.; Ducker, S. C., 'John Stewart Turner 1908-1991', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (3) (1993), 278-290. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9930930278. Details
• Smith, Susan and Spurling, Thomas H., 'The Science and Industry Endowment Fund: supporting the development of Australian science', Historical Records of Australian Science, 26 (1) (2015), 58-83, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR14027. Details