Frederick A. Askew Skuse
Encyclopedia
Frederick A. Askew Skuse (ca 1863 - 10 June 1896) was a British-Australian Entomologist
.
Frederick Arthur Askew Skuse, son of Thomas Edmund and Jane Skuse, was christened on 17 June 1866 at Saint Mary’s, Portsea
, Hampshire
, England
. He studied at the Natural History Museum
in London
before leaving for Australia
in 1886. He found a position at the Australian Museum
in Sydney
and worked on the Australian flies
collection. In 1890, he was promoted to Scientific Assistant. He held this position until his early death in 1896. He was the first to scientifically describe the Asian tiger mosquito
, Aedes albopictus, which he named Culex albopictus.
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
.
Biography
Portsea
Portsea is an area of the English city of Portsmouth, located on Portsea Island, within the ceremonial county of Hampshire.The area was originally known as the Common and lay between the town of Portsmouth and the nearby Dockyard. The Common started to be developed at the end of the seventeenth...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He studied at the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
before leaving for Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1886. He found a position at the Australian Museum
Australian Museum
The Australian Museum is the oldest museum in Australia, with an international reputation in the fields of natural history and anthropology. It features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology, and anthropology...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and worked on the Australian flies
Diptera
Diptera , or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species, although under half...
collection. In 1890, he was promoted to Scientific Assistant. He held this position until his early death in 1896. He was the first to scientifically describe the Asian tiger mosquito
Asian tiger mosquito
The Asian tiger mosquito or forest day mosquito, Aedes albopictus , from the mosquito family, is characterized by its black and white striped legs, and small black and white striped body...
, Aedes albopictus, which he named Culex albopictus.