Person
Neboiss, Arturs (1924 - 2010)
- Born
- 30 November 1924
Riga, Latvia - Died
- 11 June 2010
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Entomologist
Summary
Arturs Neboiss was an entomologist who was considered a world authority on the classification of aquatic insects. His interest in insects was sparked in childhood when he collected butterflies. After completing his masters degree at the Baltic University of Hamburg, he migrated to Victoria in 1950. He joined the National Museum of Victoria in January 1954 following a short time studying blood-sucking insects which were vectors of myxomatosis for the Victorian Department of Crown Lands and Survey. He retired from the Museum in 1989 after 24 years, as Curator of Entomology. Neboiss' research focused on caddisflies (Tricoptera) and the Australian endemic stoneflies (Plecoptera). His Atlas of Tricoptera of the SW Pacific-Australian region (1986) was considered a major achievement and a key reference for Australian species. He regularly travelled to Tasmania for fieldwork, including to the Lake Pedder region in 1965 and 1966, when he collected over 3,000 specimens, often in company with artist and entomologist Charles McCubbin. Neboiss's work on Trichoptera resulted in the Museum having the largest and most comprehensive collection of these insects in the southern hemisphere. Five insect genera and 42 species were named after him.
Details
Chronology
- 1950
- Life event - Migrated to Victoria
- 1950 - 1952
- Career position - Caretaker, St Catherine's Girls Grammar
- 1952 - 1953
- Career position - Assistant Research Officer, Victorian Department of Crown Lands and Survey
- January 1954 - 1964
- Career position - Assistant Curator of Entomology, National Museum of Victoria
- 1954 - 2010
- Award - Fellow, Royal Entomological Society, London
- 1956
- Education - MSc, University of Melbourne
- 1961 - 1989?
- Career position - Member, Entomological Society of Vcitoria
- 1964 - 1983
- Career position - Curator of Entomology, National Museum of Victoria
- 1976
- Education - PhD, Monash University
- 1983 - 1989
- Career position - Curator of Entomology, Museum of Victoria
Related entries
Colleague
Published resources
Books
- Neboiss, Arturs, Checklist and bibliography of the Australian caddis-flies (Trichoptera) (Abbotsford, Vic.: National Museum of Victoria, Department of Entomology, ), 132 pp. Details
- Neboiss, Arturs, Atlas of Trichoptera of the SW Pacific-Australian region (Dordrecht: Boston: W. Junk, 1986), 286 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Neboiss, A., 'Lyell, George (1866-1951), naturalist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 10: 1891 - 1939 Lat-Ner, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986), p. 171. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lyell-george-7265. Details
Journal Articles
- McPhee, Catriona, Walker, Ken and Wells, Alice, 'Vale Arturs Neboiss 30 January 1924 - 11 November 2010', Victorian entomologist, 41 (1) (2011), 18-9. Details
- McPhee, Catriona, Walker, Ken and Wells, Alice, 'Arturs Neboiss 30.11.1924 - 11.6.2010', Braueria, 39 (2012), 5. Details
- Neboiss, Arturs, 'Check list of Australian Elateridae (Coleoptera)', Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, 22 (2) (1956), 1-75, https://doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.1956.22.02. Details
- Neboiss, Arturs, 'A taxonomic and zoogeographic study of Tasmanian caddis-flies (Insecta: Trichoptera)', Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, 38 (1977), 1-208, https://doi,org/10.24199/j.mmv.1977.38.01. Details
- Neboiss, Arturs, 'Reclassification of Cupes Fabricius (s.lat.) with descriptions of new genera and species (Cupedidae: Coleoptera)', Systematic entomology, 9 (4) (1984), 443-77, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.1984.tb00520.x. Details
- Walker, Ken, Neboiss, Arturs, Dean, John and Cartwright, David, 'A preliminary investigation of the caddis-flies (Insecta: Trichoptera) of the Queensland wet tropics', Australian entomologist, 22 (1) (1995), 19031. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 31 July 2025