Cynthia Evelyn Longfield

Cynthia Evelyn Longfield (16 August 1896 – 27 June 1991) was an Anglo-Irish entomologist and explorer and the first woman member of the Entomological Society. She was an expert on the dragonfly and was nicknamed "Madame Dragonfly". She travelled extensively and published The Dragonflies of the British Isles in 1937. She worked as a research associate at the Natural History Museum, London, and was the expert on the dragonflies there, particularly on African species.

Early life Cynthia Evelyn Longfield was born on 16 August 1896, on Pont Street, Belgravia, London. She was the youngest daughter of Alice Elizabeth (née Mason) and Montifort Longfield, of Castle Mary, Cloyne, County Cork. She had two sisters. Her mother Alice Longfield grew up near Oxford, and was the daughter of a scientist. Alice died in 1945.

In the same year Longfield answered an advertisement to join Evelyn Cheesman of London Zoo on a research trip to the Pacific, specifically the Galapagos Islands. They sailed aboard the St George, which left Dartmouth on 9 April 1924. She collected coleoptera (beetles) and lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) as an assistant to an entomologist, Cyril Collenette. The pair used machetes to hack through the undergrowth of the Amazon jungle to collect specimens for the Natural History Museum in London.

She joined the Entomological Society of London in 1925, and later the same year joined the Royal Geographical Society. She was the first woman member of the Entomological Society. In 1983 she was elected the first Honorary Member of the British Dragonfly Society.

Legacy and commemoration The Longfield Roberts Collection, a photograph album belonging to Longfield and taken and developed during the St George Expedition to the South Sea Islands in 1924 to 1925, is held by the Royal Irish Academy. 1924. St. George Expedition, Assistant Entomologist (unpaid)(1924–1925) 1936. Studies on African Odonata, with synonymy, and descriptions of new species and subspecies. Trans. R. ent. Soc. London 85(20): 467–498. (1936) Contribution à l'étude de la faune du Mozambique. Voyage de M.P. Lesne (1928–1929). 23e note – Odonata. Memórias e Estudos do Museu Zoológico da Universidade de Coimbra, 89: 1–2 . Insecta. C. Longfield. (1945) – The Odonata of South Angola. Arquivos do Museu Bocage, 16, Lisboa. (1955) – The Odonata of N. Angola. Publicações Culturais, Companhia de Diamantes de Angola (Diamang), Lisboa, 27: 11–63. Biologia. Entomologia. Angola. (1959) – The Odonata of N. Angola. Publicações Culturais, Companhia de Diamantes de Angola (Diamang), Lisboa, 45: 11–42. Entomologia. Angola. (1960) Dragonflies Corbet, P.S., Longfield, C.N. and Moore, N.W. New Naturalist No 41, Collins, London.