Oswald Bertram Lower (1864–1925): a South Australian pioneer in the discovery of Australia’s biodiversity

Peter B. McQuillan; Ted Edwards; Jenny Camilleri

doi:10.1071/HR22015

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Next Contents Vol 35(1)

Oswald Bertram Lower (1864–1925): a South Australian pioneer in the discovery of Australia’s biodiversity

Peter B. McQuillan

^A ^* , Ted Edwards ^B and Jenny Camilleri ^C

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Geography & Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

^B 56 Lachlan Street, Macquarie, ACT 2614, Australia.

^C Broken Hill Family History Group Inc., Broken Hill, NSW 2880, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: p.b.mcquillan@utas.edu.au

Historical Records of Australian Science 35(1) 1-15 https://doi.org/10.1071/HR22015

Published online: 26 September 2023

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Academy of Science. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

An Adelaide-born pharmacist, Oswald B. Lower, is a neglected figure in the pantheon of early Australian amateur entomologists. Specialising in Lepidoptera, he worked mainly around Adelaide and Broken Hill where he discovered hundreds of new species, especially in the semi-arid zone of southern Australia. Lower named almost 1000 valid new species between 1892 and 1923 based upon his own material and specimens sourced from contacts in other parts of Australia. His legacy of 40 000 specimens, assembled between the 1880s and early 1920s, forms the nucleus of the outstanding Lepidoptera collection at the South Australian Museum. Many are sourced from locations now lost or degraded and the collection will be an invaluable tool in the emerging challenge of habitat restoration in Australia.

Keywords: butterflies, collections, entomology, environment, mallee, moths, museum, natural history.

References

Anonymous (1884) Intercolonial - South Australia, Brisbane Courier, 2 May.

Anonymous (1885) South Australian Advertiser, 2 September.

Anonymous (1894) Sporting—Football. Barrier Miner, 22 June.

Anonymous (1895a) Advertisement, Barrier Miner, 17 January.

Anonymous (1895b) Advertisement, Barrier Miner, 20 November.

Anonymous (1899) Christmas shows at the shops, Barrier Miner, 18 December.

Anonymous (1906) An entomologist honoured, The Advertiser, 13 June.

Anonymous (1909) Marriages, The Register, 28 April.

Anonymous (1914) The Second Force, Advertiser, 4 November.

Anonymous (1915) Drank chlorodyne—inquest on Henry Meatheringham, Barrier Miner, 7 September.

Anonymous (1925a) Obituary, Barrier Miner, 18 March.

Anonymous (1925b) Obituary, Advertiser, 19 March.

Anonymous (1925c) Obituary, Barrier Miner, 20 March.

Anonymous (1926) In Memoriam, The Register, 18 March.

Anonymous (1927) Late Mr Lower’s insects for Adelaide Museum, Barrier Miner, 29 October.

Anonymous (1928) Obituary, Register, 7 September.

Ardill, P. J., and Brodie, L. (eds) (2018) Albert Morris and the Broken Hill Regeneration area: Essays and Supplementary Materials Commemorating and Celebrating the History and Eightieth Anniversary of this Project, Australian Association of Bush Regenerators, Haymarket, NSW.

Atkins, A. (1978) The Hesperilla malindeva group from northern Australia, including a new species (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), Australian Journal of Entomology, 17, 205-215.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Austin, A. D., and Burnyoczky, V. (1990) Catalogue of invertebrate type specimens held in the collections of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute and the South Australian Department of Agriculture, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 114, 47-53.
| Google Scholar |

Braby, M. F., and Beaver, E. P. (2022) The nomenclature and type status of Telicota paceka mesoptis Lower, 1911 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), Records of the Australian Museum, 74(3), 99-102.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Carter, H. J. (1927) Presidential address, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 51, ii-v.
| Google Scholar |

Coleman, D. (2021) George Lyell and Frederick Parkhurst Dodd: authority and expertise in nineteenth-century Australian entomology, Memoirs of Museum Victoria, 80, 169-181.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Common, I. F. B. (1983) ‘Landmarks in the taxonomy of Lepidoptera’, in Australian Systematic Entomology: a Bicentenary Perspective, eds Highley, E. and Taylor, R. W., CSIRO, Melbourne, pp. 20–33.

Common, I. F. B. (1994) ‘Oecophorine genera of Australia I: the Wingia group (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae)’, in Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera, vol. 1, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Croft, J. and Willey, K. (1986) ‘Lower, Leonard Waldemere (Lennie) (1903–1947)’, in Australian Dictionary of Biography, eds Nairn, B. and Serle, G. Australian National University, Canberra. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lower-leonard-waldemere-lennie-7251/text12561

Daniels, G. (2004) Bibliography of Australian Entomology 1687–2000, The Author, Mt Ommaney, Qld.

Edmonds, S. J. (1986) ‘Zoology’, in Ideas and endeavours—the Natural Sciences in South Australia, eds Twidale, C. R., Tyler, M. J., and Davies, M., Royal Society of South Australia, Adelaide, pp. 161–212.

Edwards, E. D. (1992) A second sugarcane armyworm Leucania loreyi (Duponchel) from Australia and the identity of L. loreyimima Rungs (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Australian Journal of Entomology, 31, 105-108.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Edwards, E. D. (2010) The identity of Selidosema zygophora Lower, 1893 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae), Australian Entomologist, 37, 179-183.
| Google Scholar |

Edwards, E. D., Newland, J., and Regan, L. (2001) Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea, Papilionoidea, Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 31.6, CSIRO Publishing, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Froggatt, W. W. (1907) Australian Insects, W. Brooks, Sydney.

Goldfinch, G. M. (1944) Notes on Australian Boarmiidae and Oenochromidae (Lepidoptera) with descriptions of new species, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 69, 189-197.
| Google Scholar |

Grund, R. (1998) South Australian butterflies and moths. Data Sheet: Yellow Palm-dart Cephrenes trichopepla (Lower), https://sabutterflies.org.au/hesp/trichopepla.html

Guest, E. (1887) A classified list of Geometrina found around Balhannah, with notes on species, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 9, 126-141.
| Google Scholar |

Hale, H. M. (1956) The first hundred years of the South Australian Museum 1856–1956, Records of the South Australian Museum, 12, 1-225.
| Google Scholar |

Hampson, G. F. (1903) Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum, vol. 4, Catalogue of the Noctuidae in the British Museum, British Museum (Natural History), London.

Hewish, M. (2006) Historical notes on Charles and Thomas Brittlebank, pioneer naturalists in the Werribee Gorge district, west of Melbourne, Victorian Naturalist, 123(5), 314-317.
| Google Scholar |

Hewish, M. (2014) Biographical notes on George Lyell, Victorian lepidopterist (Part 1), Victorian Entomologist, 44(5), 96-106.
| Google Scholar |

Holmes, J. W. and Iversen, M. B. (1976) ‘Hydrology of the Cowandilla Plains, Adelaide, before 1836’, in Natural History of the Adelaide Region, eds Twidale, C. R., Tyler, M. J., and Webb, B. P., Royal Society of South Australia, Adelaide.

Horak, M. and Komai, F. (2006) Olethreutinae Moths of Australia, Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera, vol. 10, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Jones, D. S. (2016) Evolution and significance of the regeneration reserve heritage landscape of Broken Hill: history, values and significance, Historic Environment, 28, 40-57.
| Google Scholar |

Kraehenbuehl, D. N. (1969) The life and works of J. G. O. Tepper, F.L.S., and his association with the field naturalists’ Section of the Royal Society of South Australia, South Australian Naturalist, 44(2), 23-42.
| Google Scholar |

Kraehenbuehl, D. N. (1996) Pre-European Vegetation of Adelaide: a Survey from the Gawler River to Hallett Cove, Nature Conservation Society of South Australia Inc., Adelaide.

Lea, A. M. (1912) The late Rev. Canon Thomas Blackburn B.A. and his entomological work, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 36, v-xl.
| Google Scholar |

Long, M. (2003) A biodiversity survey of the Adelaide Parklands, South Australia in 2003, Department for Environment and Heritage, Adelaide. https://data.environment.sa.gov.au/Content/Publications/Adelaide-Parklands-BioSurvey.pdf

Lower, O. B. (1884) The Mitcham Tramway Company (letter to the editor), South Australian Advertiser, 6 December.

Lower, O. B. (1892a) Descriptions of new South Australian Lepidoptera, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 15, 5-17.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1892b) Scientific results of elder exploring expedition. Lepidoptera, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 16, 10-15.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1893a) List of South Australian Rhopalocera, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 17, 1-12.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1893b) New Australian Lepidoptera, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 17, 146-185.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1893c) A catalogue of Victorian Heterocera. Part i, Victorian Naturalist, 10, 12-15.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1894) Remarks on South Australian Rhopalocera, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 18, 114-117.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1896) ‘Lepidoptera’, in Report on the Work of the Horn Expedition to Central Australia, pt ii, Zoology, ed. B. Spencer, Dulau and Co., London; Melville, Mullen and Slade, Melbourne, pp. 249–253.

Lower, O. B. (1897) A catalogue of Victorian Heterocera. part xxiii–xxvi, Victorian Naturalist, 14, 13-16, 45–48, 77–80, 117–120.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1898) New Australian Lepidoptera: with a note on Deilephila livornica, Esp, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 23, 42-55.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1900) Descriptions of new Australian Lepidoptera, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 25(1), 29-51; 25(3), 404–423.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1901) Descriptions of new genera and species of Australian Lepidoptera, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 25, 63-98.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1903) Descriptions of new Australian Noctuina, etc, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 27, 27-74.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1905) New Australian Lepidoptera. No. 22, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 29, 103-115.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1908) New Australian Lepidoptera – No. XXV, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 32, 110-120.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1911) Revision of the Australian Hesperiadae, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 35, 112-172.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1915) Descriptions of new Australian Lepidoptera, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 40, 474-485.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1916) Descriptions of new Australian Micro-lepidoptera, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 40, 537-544.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1918) The Lepidoptera of Broken Hill, New South Wales. Pt IV, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 42, 226-239.
| Google Scholar |

Lower, O. B. (1923) Descriptions of new Australian Lepidoptera, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 47, 54-57.
| Google Scholar |

Lunney, D. (2001) Causes of the extinction of native mammals of the Western Division of New South Wales: an ecological interpretation of the nineteenth century historical record, The Rangeland Journal, 23, 44-70.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Mackerras, I. M. (1949) Alfred Jefferis Turner and amateur entomology in Australia, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland, 60(7), 69-87.
| Google Scholar |

Marks, E. N., and Mackerras, I. M. (1972) The evolution of a national entomological society in Australia, Australian Journal of Entomology, 11, 81-90.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

McFarland, N. (1979) Annotated list of larval food plant records for 280 species of Australian moths, Journal of the Lepidopterist’s Society, 33(supplement), 1-72.
| Google Scholar |

McFarland, N. (1988) Portraits of South Australian Geometrid Moths, Allen Press, Lawrence, Kansas.

McLennan, D.A. (1998) Brothers in Song —a History of the Broken Hill Quartette Club 1895-1977, Don McLennan, Bulleen.

Meyrick, E. (1878) Micro-Lepidoptera in Australia, Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine, 15, 70-72.
| Google Scholar |

Meyrick, E. (1921) Exotic Microlepidoptera, vol. 2, pt 13, pp. 385–416, The author, Marlborough.

Meyrick, E., and Lower, O. B. (1902) Revision of the Australian Hesperiadae, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 26, 38-129.
| Google Scholar |

Meyrick, E., and Lower, O. B. (1907) Revision of the Australian Psychidae, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 31, 192-208.
| Google Scholar |

Monteith, G. (1991) The Butterfly Man of Kuranda, Frederick Parkhurst Dodd, Queensland Museum, Brisbane.

Monteith, G. B., and Mather, P. (1986) Single cells to spiny shells: Invertebrate Zoology, Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 24, 173-197.
| Google Scholar |

Morton, S. (2022) Australian Deserts: Ecology and Landscapes. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Moulds, M. S. (1999) ‘The history of Australian butterfly research and collecting’, in Biology of Australian Butterflies, Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera, vol. 6, ed. R. L. Kitching, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Moyal, A. (1986) A Bright and Savage Land: Scientists in Colonial Australia, Collins, Sydney.

Musgrave, A. (1932) Bibliography of Australian Entomology 1775–1930, Royal Zoological Society of NSW, Sydney.

Ngô-Muller, V., Engel, M. S., Nel, A., and Nel, J. (2020) First fossil Eriocottidae discovered in Eocene Baltic amber (Insecta: Lepidoptera), Zootaxa, 4834(2), 273-282.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Nielsen, E. S., and Robinson, G. S. (1991) The tineoid family Eriocottidae (Lepidoptera) in Australia, Australian Entomological Magazine, 17, 77-88.
| Google Scholar |

Nielsen, E. S., Edwards, E. D., and Rangsi, T. V. (eds) (1996) Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia, vol. 4, Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Robinson, G. S. (1986) Edward Meyrick: an unpublished essay on phylogeny, Journal of Natural History, 20, 359-367.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Sheil, P. (2003) Twang! That’s my sides splitting, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 September. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/19/1063625193575.html?from=storyrhs

Tepper, J. G. O. (1893) Notes and remarks on South Australian Rhopalocera, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 17, 281-286.
| Google Scholar |

Tindale, N. B. (1955) Note on the eucosmid (olethreutid) moth Cryptophlebia ombrodelta (Lower), Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 78, 97-98.
| Google Scholar |

Turner, A. J. (1894) Descriptions of Micro-Lepidoptera from Moreton Bay, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 18, 120-138.
| Google Scholar |

Turner, A. J. (1906) A note on the localities attributed to Australian Lepidoptera by Mr Oswald Lower, F.E.S, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 30, 194-198.
| Google Scholar |

University of South Australia (2003) ‘Teachers – Edward Guest’, http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/research/condon/teachers/Teachers.asp?TeacherID=4647, accessed 5 February 2020.

van der Poorten, G., and van der Poorten, N. (2013) Cephrenes trichopepla (Lower, 1908): an invasive Australian species, recorded in Sri Lanka for the first time with notes on its biology, life history and distribution (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 156, 95-101.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |

Waterhouse, G. A., and Lyell, G. (1912) Descriptions of and notes on some Australian Hesperidae, Victorian Naturalist, 28, 223-228.
| Google Scholar |

Waterhouse, G. A. (1933) Notes on the type specimens of Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera) in the museums in Australia, with special reference to those in the South Australian Museum, Records of the South Australian Museum, 5, 49-62.
| Google Scholar |