Merlin Owen Pasco

Merlin Owen Pasco (1892 – 6 August 1918) was a New Zealand entomologist. Pasco discovered several species of moth previously unknown to science and collected numerous specimens.

Merlin Owen Pasco
Born1892
Kumara, New Zealand
Died6 August 1918
Corbie, France
Cause of deathKilled in action
Resting placeLa Neuville British Cemetery, Corbie
NationalityNew Zealand
Other namesMerlin Owen Pascoe
CitizenshipNew Zealand
Known forDiscovering new species in New Zealand.
Scientific career
FieldsEntomology

Early life and collecting
The Tooth Peaks, Wakatipu, New Zealand

Pasco was born in Kumara and moved to Queenstown as a child.[1] An amateur entomologist, Pasco created a significant collection of New Zealand lepidoptera in the early 1900s.[2] His collection was particularly notable as it contained specimens collected in and around Queenstown and included type specimens of numerous moth species.[2] Pasco was one of the most productive collectors of type specimens of beetle species described by Thomas Broun.[3] Broun acknowledged the research assistance Pasco gave him and named the beetle species Pterostichus pascoi in Pasco's honour.[4] However this species name was subsequently synonymised by Everard Baldwin Britton and this beetle is now known as Megadromus sandageri.[5] Pasco was the first entomologist to collect on Tooth Peaks, Wakatipu in Otago.[6]

Species discovered by Pasco

WW1 service and death

At the commencement of World War One, Pasco volunteered to serve in the New Zealand Armed Forces but was turned down. He then travelled to Australia and joined the Australian 2nd Division. He served with the Division in Egypt, Gallipoli, and then in France.[1] Pasco was killed in action near the village of Corbie in France on the 6 August 1918.[10] He was 25 years old when he died.[1] Pasco is buried at the La Neuville British Cemetery, Corbie.[11]

Eponyms
Meterana pascoei

Several species were named in honour of Pasco in recognition of his collecting efforts. These species include Scoparia pascoella[6] and Meterana pascoei.[12]

References
  1. "Roll of Honour. Killed in Action. Quarter-master Merlin Owen Pascoe". Lake Wakatip Mail (3302). 27 August 1918. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  2. Dugdale, JS (1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 1–264. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  3. Watt, J. C. (March 1977). "Conservation and type localities of New Zealand Coleoptera, and notes on collectors 1770–1920". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 7 (1): 79–91. doi:10.1080/03036758.1977.10419338.
  4. Broun, Thomas (1923). "Descriptions of new genera and species of Coleoptera". Bulletin (New Zealand Institute). no. 1 (pt. 1–8): 275. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.12470. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  5. Larochelle, A.; Larivière, M.-C. (2001). "Carabidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) catalogue" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 43: 107. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  6. Philpott, Alfred (1920). "Notes and Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 52: 43–44. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  7. Philpott, Alfred (1913). "Descriptions of New Species of Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 46: 118–121. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  8. Philpott, Alfred (1915). "Descriptions of New Species of Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 47: 192–201. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  9. Philpott, A. (1917). "Descriptions of new species of Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 49: 239–245 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  10. "1511 Sapper Pasco, Merlin Owen". Australian War Memorial. Government of Australia. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  11. "Merlin Owen Pasco". www.nzwargraves.org. New Zealand War Graves Project Trust. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  12. Howes, William George (1912). "New Species of Lepidoptera, and Notes on Larvae and Pupae of New Zealand Butterflies". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 44: 205–206. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
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