Edward Mason Janson (1847 Hackney, London[1] – 1880 Nicaragua) was a British entomologist who lived and worked in Nicaragua.

Janson was the oldest son of Edward Wesley Janson (1822–1891) and Emily Mason, who were married on 25 December 1846 at Highgate, London.[2] Janson's father Edward Snr. worked as a railway clerk,[3] later as an accountant,[4] and became an entomologist in the early 1850s, with two of his sons Edward and Oliver following him into the pursuit.[5]

Edward Mason Janson became a member of the Entomological Society of London in 1869, listed as living in Las Lajas, Chontales, Nicaragua.[6] For his regular job Janson worked as a mining engineer.[5] Coleoptera material Janson collected in Chontales was examined by Henry Walter Bates and David Sharp for Frederick Godman and Osbert Salvin's project Biologia Centrali-Americana.[7][8]

Janson died at the age of 33 in Nicaragua, leaving a young family.[5]

Taxonomic names in honour of E.M. Janson edit

 
Figure of Edessa jansoni, described by William Lucas Distant in Biologia Centrali-Americana from a specimen collected by Edward Mason Janson

The Coreoidea species Mozena jansoni, originally described as 'Mictis (?) jansoni' by John Scott in 1882, was named in honour of Janson.[9]

William Lucas Distant named the Pentatomidae species Edessa jansoni in 1881 from a specimen collected by Janson in Chontales.[10]

The Staphylinidae species Gyrophaena jansoni was described by David Sharp from a single male example collected by Janson in Chontales.[8]

References edit

  1. ^ "England and Wales Civil Registration Birth Index 1837–1915 for Edward Mason Janson". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  2. ^ "London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns for Edward Wesley Janson". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  3. ^ "1851 Census for Edward Mason Janson [shows Edward Wesley Janson also]". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  4. ^ "1861 Census for Edward Wesley Janson". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "The Jansons, a family of Entomologists | History Entomology". collector-secret.com. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  6. ^ "List of Members of the Entomological Society of London: Ordinary Members and Subscribers". The Transactions of the Entomologcal Society of London for the Year 1880: xiii. 1880 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Bates, Henry Walter. Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Coleoptera. I. Vol. I.
  8. ^ a b Sharp, David. "Staphylinidae". Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Coleoptera. II. Vol. I. p. 363.
  9. ^ Scott, John (July 1882). "Description of a New Species of Hemiptera-Heteroptera from Central America". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. XIX: 42 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Distant, W L (1893). Biologia Centrali-Americana: Insecta: Rynchota: Hemiptera-Heteroptera. Vol. I. p. 346.