Entomology staff directory

Research interests

 I am very interested in the taxonomy and systematics of cockroaches (Blattodea), especially the tribe Gromphadorhini, the Madagascan hissing cockroaches. I am the creator and editor of the Blattodea Species File Online (BSF), a comprehensive online synonymic catalogue of world cockroaches, which contains approximately 6,420 scientific names (all ranks, valid and not valid). In 1986 I helped to establish the Blattodea Culture Group, a non-profit-making society whose aim is to encourage the study of world cockroaches. I am the deputy editor of the Group's journal, Cockroach Studies, which publishes articles about the taxonomy, ecology and biology of cockroaches (a pdf copy of the first issue is available to download PDF 5.7 Mb) and I also help to manage the Groups' website and the Forum.

Another of my interests is the life and work of the neglected co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection, Alfred Russel Wallace.   In 1999 I set up the A.R. Wallace Memorial Fund which has restored his grave in Broadstone (Dorset) and erected memorials to commemorate him at his birthplace and elsewhere. I am currently doing historical research on his insect specimens, especially on his specimen labels.

In 2002 I played a key role in helping the NHM Library acquire a very important collection of Wallace’s manuscripts, books and insect specimens from his surviving family, and in 2006 I initiated the NHM library's project to acquire the largest collection of Darwin-related publications ever assembled (3,500 items). At £985,000, the Kohler Darwin Collection is the biggest purchase of any collection in the Museum's 125-year history.

In the past I done work on the evolution of mimicry, macroecological patterns in butterfly-hostplant relationships, and novel methods to quantify the diet breadths of phytophagous insects. I also designed, and am still responsible, for the LepIndex database: a uniquely comprehensive on-line synonymic catalogue of the living and fossil butterflies and moths of the world (see LepIndex). LepIndex is by far the largest contributor of names to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System-Species 2000 Catalogue of Life (253,680 of 1,009,000 in the Catalogue of Life, i.e. about 25%, are taken from Lepindex). My Blattodea Species File database supplies the cockroach names listed in the Catalogue.

Current activities

Curatorial responsibilities

The curation, conservation and documentation of the NHM's collection of orthopteroid insects (Blattodea - cockroaches and termites, Mantodea - mantids, Dermaptera - earwigs, Grylloblattodea - grylloblattids, Mantophasmatodea - mantophasmids, Phasmatodea - stick insects, Orthoptera - grasshoppers and crickets)

Employment history

1996 - 2000	NHM Entomology Department - Research Entomologist
2001 - 2002	NHM Entomology Department - Research Assistant
2003 - present	NHM Entomology Department - Curator (of orthopteroid insects)

Higher education

1988 - 1991	Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, University of London - BSc Hons (1st Class) (Zoology)
1991 - 1995	Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, University of London - PhD - Studies on the ecology and evolution of Neotropical ithomiine butterflies (Nymphalidae: Ithomiinae)

Additional information

Member of:

• Linnean Society of London (Fellow)
• Royal Entomological Society of London (Fellow)
• Natural Sciences Collections Association (NatSCA)

Publications

Publications

A. Books

Robinson, G. S., Ackery, P. R., Kitching, I. J., Beccaloni, G. W. & Hernández, L. M. 2001. Hostplants of the Moth and Butterfly Caterpillars of the Oriental Region. The Natural History Museum, London & Southdene, Malaysia. 744pp.

Robinson, G. S., Ackery, P. R., Kitching, I. J., Beccaloni, G. W. & Hernández, L. M. 2002. Hostplants of the Moth and Butterfly Caterpillars of America North of Mexico. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, 69: 824pp.

Beccaloni, G. W., Hall, S. K., Viloria, A. L. & Robinson, G. S. (In Press). Host-plants of the Neotropical Butterflies: A Catalogue / Catálogo de las Plantas Huésped de las Mariposas Neotropicales. S.E.A., RIBES-CYTED, The Natural History Museum & Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas.

Smith, C. H. & Beccaloni, G. W. (Eds.) (In Prep.). Natural Selection and Beyond: The Intellectual Legacy of Alfred Russel Wallace. Oxford University Press.

B. Research papers & other research publications

Beccaloni, G. W. 1985. Some observations on insect egg-laying. Exotic Entomology Group Newsletter Autumn & Winter: 61-62.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1987. Species report number 1: Gromphadorhina portentosa (Schaum). Blattodea Culture Group Newsletter 2(2): 3-4.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1988. New species: Elliptorhina (?) coquereliana (Saussure). Blattodea Culture Group Newsletter 3(2): 7.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1988. A possibly unique bilateral gynandromorph of the white admiral butterfly, Ladoga camilla L. Entomologist's Record 100: 102-104.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1989. Why not study cockroaches? AES Bulletin 48: 176-178.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1989. New species: Gromphadorhina grandidieri (Kirby). Blattodea Culture Group Newsletter 4(2): 8.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1990. The world's largest roach. Blattodea Culture Group Newsletter 5(1-3): 4-6.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1990. A note on Platyzosteria (Melanozosteria) nitida Brunner (Blattidae, Polyzosterinae). Blattodea Culture Group Newsletter 5(1-3): 10.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1991. Some traditional methods of cockroach control used in Papua New Guinea. Antenna 15: 80-81.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1991. Balta notulata (Stål) is a domiciliary cockroach in Papua New Guinea. Medical & Veterinary Entomology 5: 507-509.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1993. A new species of Extatosoma Gray (Phasmatodea: Phasmatidae) from Papua New Guinea, with remarks on the species in the genus. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 136(2): 113-123.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1994. Microhabitat segregation of butterfly guilds and the evolution of mimicry. Bulletin of the British Ecological Society 25(4): 272

Beccaloni, G. W. & Gaston, K. J. 1994. Predicting the species richness of Neotropical forest butterflies: Ithomiinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) as indicators. Biological Conservation 71(1): 77-86.

Beccaloni, G. W. & Gaston, K. J. 1995. Predicting the species richness of Neotropical forest butterflies: Ithomiinae (Lepidoptera Nymphalidae) as indicators (Correction to 71: 77). Biological Conservation 72(3): 407.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1995. Studies on the ecology and evolution of Neotropical ithomiine butterflies (Nymphalidae: Ithomiinae). Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of London.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1996. Microhabitat segregation of guilds of Neotropical ithomiine butterflies (Nymphalidae: Ithomiinae) and the evolution of mimicry. Proceedings of the XX International Congress of Entomology (Florence ): 255.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1997. Vertical stratification of ithomiine butterfly (Nymphalidae: Ithomiinae) mimicry complexes: the relationship between adult flight height and larval host-plant height. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 62: 313- 341.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1997. Ecology, natural history and behaviour of ithomiine butterflies and their mimics in Ecuador (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Ithomiinae). Tropical Lepidoptera 8(2): 103-124.

Beccaloni, G. & Symons, F. 1998. Diet breadth of butterfly larvae in relation to host plant growth form: an analysis of two faunas. Tenth International Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships, Programme and Book of Abstracts (Oxford ): 90. Reprint available as PDF: Beccaloni-Symons-Oikos PDF (124.0 KB)

Schulz, S., Beccaloni, G., Brown, K., Nishida, R., Roisin, Y., Trigo, J. R., Vane- Wright, R. I. & McNeil, J. N. 1998. 2, 5-Dialkyltetrahydrofurans: common components of the cuticular lipids of Lepidoptera. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung 53c: 107-116.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1999. A. R. Wallace Memorial Fund. The British Journal for the History of Science 32: 483-484.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1999. Correspondence: A. R. Wallace Memorial Fund. The Linnean 15(3): 14-16.

Beccaloni, G. W. 1999. A. R. Wallace Memorial Fund. Newsletter. Society for the History of Natural History 65: 10.

Beccaloni, G. W. & Robinson, G. S. 1999. The "HOSTS - a database of the World's Leipidopteran Hostplants " database - Natural History Museum, London. Proceedings of the Second International Lepidopterists' Conference of Africa (Cape Town ): 6.

Symons, F. B. & Beccaloni, G. W. 1999. Phylogenetic indices for measuring the diet breadths of phytophagous insects. Oecologia 119: 427-434. Reprint available as PDF: Symons-Beccaloni-Oecologia PDF (101.0 KB) The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com

Beccaloni, G. W. & Symons, F. B. 2000. Variation of butterfly diet breadth in relation to host-plant predictability: results from two faunas. Oikos 90: 50-66. Reprint available as PDF: Beccaloni-Symons-Oikos PDF (124.0 KB) Unpublished appendices as rtfs - Australian Butterfly Phylogeny RTF (68.6 KB), North American Butterfly Phylogeny RTF (104.2 KB), Australian Host-Plant Phylogeny RTF (126.0 KB), North American Host-Plant Phylogeny RTF (224.6 KB).

Downton, A. C., Tams, A. C., Wells, G. J., Holmes, A. C., Lucas, S. M., Scoble, M., Robinson, G. & Beccaloni, G. 2001. Constructing web-based legacy index card archives - architectural design issues and initial data acquisition. Proceedings ICDAR 2001 6th International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition, Seattle,Washington, September 10-13, 2001: 854-858. [Abstract]

Viloria, A. L., Pyrcz, T. W., Wojtusiak, J., Ferrer-Paris, J. R., Beccaloni, G. W., Sattler, K. & Lees, D. C., 2003. A brachypterous butterfly? Biology Letters, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B (Suppl.) 270: 21-24
Reprint: Brachypterous butterfly reprint PDF (221.3 KB) Appendices: Brachypterous Appendices PDF (371.5 KB).

Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S., Downton, A. C. & Lucas, S. M. 2003. Chapter 10: Computerising unit-level data in natural history card archives. In: Scoble, M. J. (Ed.). ENHSIN: The European Natural History Specimen Information Network. London : The Natural History Museum. 176pp. Reprint available as PDF: ch10 PDF (195.4 KB)

Downton, A. C., Lucas, S. M., Patoulas, G., Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J. & Robinson, G. S. 2003. Computerising natural history card archives. Proceedings ICDAR 2003 7th International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition, Edinburgh, Scotland, August 3-6, 2003 1: 354-358. Reprint available as PDF: ICDAR 2003 article PDF (337.6 KB)

Schulz, S., Beccaloni, G., Brown, K. S., Boppré, M., Freitas, A. V. L., Ockenfels, P. & Trigo, J. R. (2004). Semiochemicals derived from pyrrolizidine alkaloids in male ithomiine butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Ithomiinae). Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 32: 699-713.

Beccaloni, G. 2004. The other evolutionist. Nature (London ) 431: 630. Reprint available as PDF: Evolutionist PDF (341.9 KB)

Polaszek, A. et al. (I am the third of many authors). 2005. A universal register for animal names. Nature (London ) 437: 477 Reprint available as PDF: Nature Commentary 2 PDF (59.1 KB)

Inward, D., Beccaloni, G. & Eggleton, P. 2007. Death of an order: a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study confirms that termites are eusocial cockroaches. Biology Letters 3(3): 331-335 [Published online 5 April 2007. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0102]

Beccaloni, G. W. 2007. The Blattodea Species File Online (BSF) database: A new Web resource for everyone interested in cockroaches. Cockroach Studies 2: 4-10.

Eggleton, P., Beccaloni, G. & Inward, D. 2007. Invited reply: Response to Lo et al. Biology Letters 3(5): 564-565 [Published online 14 August 2007. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0367]

Beccaloni, G. W. & Ackery, P. R. (In manuscript). The croesus conundrum - Alfred Russel Wallace and the Batchian birdwing. For Butterflies.

Brock, P. D., Marshall, J. A., Beccaloni, G. W. & Harman, A. J. E.   (In manuscript). The types of Phasmida in the Natural History Museum, London.

C. Internet publications

(i). CDs

Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. 2007. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). In: Bisby, F. et al., Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: Annual Checklist. CD-ROM; Species 2000: Reading, UK.

(ii). Web databases

Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B.R. 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex ).

Beccaloni, G. W. 2007. Blattodea Species File Online (BSF) . Version 1.0/3.0.

Robinson, G. S., Ackery, P. R., Kitching, I. J., Beccaloni, G. W. & Hernández, L. M. 2002. HOSTS - a database of the World's Leipidopteran Hostplants - a database of the hostplants of the world's Lepidoptera.

(iii). Websites and Web pages

Beccaloni, G. W. 1999. Alfred Russel Wallace.

Beccaloni, G. W. 2005. Project on Madagascan cockroaches:Our Global Reach - select dot on southern Madagascar.

Beccaloni, G. W. 2006. Information about cockroaches for kids - Crazy for Cockroaches

Beccaloni, G. W. 2007. Introduction to A. R. Wallace’s insect collection - Introduction: Insect specimens

Beccaloni, G. W. 2007. Text describing A. R. Wallace’s insect specimens - Wallace Collection: Collecting

Beccaloni, G. W. 2007. Introduction to the Blattodea Species File Online (BSF). About the Blattodea Species File

Beccaloni, G. W. 2007. Cockroaches: An amazing diversity.

Beccaloni, G. W. 2008. The content of The Alfred Russel Wallace Memorial Fund website. A.R. Wallace Memorial Fund

D. Popular articles

Beccaloni, G. W. 2005. The quest for the British mole cricket. Waterhouse Times 50: 10.

Fritzsche, I. & Beccaloni, G. W. 2006. Editorial. Cockroach Studies 1: i.

Beccaloni, G. W. 2006. Science updates [Alfred Russel Wallace’s private insect collection]. Nature First 43: 15-16.

Beccaloni, G. W. 2006. Hidden treasures: The unusual. Nature First 43: 21-22.

Beccaloni, G. W. 2006. Spotlight on science [Alfred Russel Wallace’s private insect collection]. Second Nature 17:  10-11.

Beccaloni, G. W. 2007. Alfred Russel Wallace’s private insect collection. AES Bug Club Magazine 15(1): 18-20.

Beccaloni, G. W. & Fritzsche, I. 2007. Editorial. Cockroach Studies 2: 2-3.

Beccaloni, G. W. & Fritzsche, I. 2007. BCG meetings - Invitation for 2007. Cockroach Studies 2: 53.

E. Articles featuring my work

(i). Printed articles

Anon. 2003. LepIndex. Nature First

Anon. 2004. Forefront of science: Dr George Beccaloni, curator, entomology. Nature First 37: 16-17.

Anon., 2007. Research highlights: Death of an order. Nature (London ) 446: 705.

Baker, J. 2006. Important Darwin collection ‘comes home’. Waterhouse Times 53: 4-5.

Barnett, A. 1996. Motherly cockroaches suckle their young. New Scientist 152(2057): 18.

Barnett, A. 2000. Copy your neighbour. New Scientist 167(2255): 34-37.

Beccaloni, J. 2002. Library acquires important collection of Wallaceana. Waterhouse Times 37: 10-11.

Blackman, S. 2003. Flutterless butterfly. BBC Wildlife Magazine 21(8): 26.

Harris, J. 2004. Dr Beccaloni's cabinet of curiosities. The Times Weekend Review , May 15: 8.

Highfield, R. Scientific treasure comes down from the attic. The Daily Telegraph, Saturday, February 11, 2006.

Hoyle, S., 2006. Alfred Russel Wallace’s ‘lost’ treatures [sic] come to the Natural History Museum. Waterhouse Times 52: 8.

Hoyle, S., 2006. Restoring the ‘lost’ treasures of Alfred Russel Wallace. Taxidermist 33: 2.

Loder, N. 1999. Wallace rescued from a grave injustice. Nature (London ) 400: 489.

Milius, S. 2007. Face it: Termites are roaches. Science News 171(20): 318.

Perkins, R. 2006. The Kohler Darwin collection. Nature First 44: 17-20.

Schneider, D. 1999. A monument to modesty. Scientific American 87(5): 407-408. [See also www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/15785]

Simons, P. 2005. Motherly love. BBC Wildlife Magazine 23(9): 39

(ii). Selected electronic articles

Anon. 2005. Rare insect, the mole cricket, discovered in Oxfordshire garden.

Anon. 2006. Lost Wallace treasures found in attic.

Anon. 2006. Cockroaches hit the shelves.

Anon. 2006. Natural history legend monument.

Anon. 2006. The Wallace day.

Anon. 2007. Wallace's treasures go online.

Anon. 2007. Termites are cockroaches after all.

Anon. 2007. Termites are 'social cockroaches'.

Anon. 2007. Cockroach catalogue launches.

Choi, C. Q. 2007. Termites Are Actually Social Cockroaches.

Lloyd, R. 2007. The truth about cockroaches.

Tappenden, R. 2006. Alfred Russel Wallace bugs donated to Natural History Museum.

Williams, T. 2006. Welshman who evolved Darwin 's original idea.