Gertrude Ricardo

Gertrude Ricardo (11 September 1862 - 31 October 1950) was a British entomologist and taxonomist who specialised in Diptera, particularly the families Asilidae (assassin flies) and Tabanidae (horseflies and deerflies).

Biography Gertrude Ricardo was born at Gatcombe Park House in Gloucestershire on 11 September 1862 and baptised on 15 October 1862 as Ellen Gertrude Ricardo at Minchinhampton church, Gloucestershire. Her parents were Henry David Ricardo (1833–1873) and his wife Ellen (née Crawley, 1839–1902). Ricardo's grandfather was the Liberal Member of Parliament David Ricardo the younger (1803–1864) and her great-grandfather was the economist and Whig Member of Parliament David Ricardo (1772–1823).

Ricardo was one of 11 siblings.

Gertrude's father Henry David Ricardo died at the age of 39 in 1873 and her older brother Henry George Ricardo (1860–1940) inherited Gatcombe Park, though it was held in trust for Henry George until he reached majority.

In 1895 Ricardo was living at number 25 Cleveland Square, Hyde Park, a house that was the residence of her mother Ellen. Ricardo was listed as an Associate of The Sanitary Institute; she had also passed examination to become an Inspector of Nuisance

By the early 1900s Ricardo lived at 12 Cottesmore Gardens in Kensington with her sister Katharine Cecil Ricardo (1865-1957 ); both were listed as registered to vote in local elections, which had become legal for property-owning women after the Local Government Act 1894.

From 1900 Ricardo began to publish taxonomy research papers based upon her studies of Diptera in the collection of the British Museum (Natural History). Some of Ricardo's work included examining flies collected in South Africa by William Lucas Distant and working with Pangoniinae material from the Budapest Museum which had been loaned to her by Kálmán Kertész so that she could compare them with Types from the collection of Francis Walker. In 1906 George Henry Verrall allowed Ricardo to borrow material from his private collection for her work on the genus Haematopota. Ricardo also worked on Tabanid flies from Algeria collected by Alfred Edwin Eaton. (see selected list below). The British Museum's Keeper of Entomology Norman Denbigh Riley (1890–1979) summed up Ricardo's work like this in 1964: "she broke new ground, but left it very rough." later becoming resident in the Vernon area of British Columbia, Canada. In 1901 William was managing a farm at Vernon and living with another Ricardo sister, Arabel Mary Ricardo (later Hodges, 1868–1954). In 1902 Gertrude Ricardo traveled to Canada, including a visit to the area where her siblings lived, and she would later send a collection she had made of Canadian Hymenoptera to Charles Thomas Bingham at the British Museum. and Megachile vernonensis Cockerell, 1912.

In 1938 Ricardo was presented with a medal bearing an image of King Leopold III of Belgium for her work on material from Leopold III's tour of the Far East in 1928–1929.

In later life Ricardo lived at Phelps House, Castle Cary, Somerset, with her sisters Katharine Cecil Ricardo and Rachel Bertha Ricardo (1870–1961): all three women were described in 1939 as living by independent financial means and supported by two domestic servants. In the 1940s Ricardo occasionally opened Phelps House garden to the public as part of a scheme to raise money for local nursing charities. In February 1946 Ricardo enquired of Norman Denbigh Riley at the British Museum as to how to best divest her personal library of books about Diptera; Riley's reply suggesting that she donate them to the Museum survives in the NHM Archives.

Ricardo died at Springfield House, Pilton, Somerset, on 31 October 1950 at the age of 88.

Ricardo's own Diptera collection was gifted to the British Museum (Natural History) by her sister Rachel Bertha Ricardo. ] Alcimus cinerascens Ricardo, 1900 [valid as combination Philodicus cinerascens (Ricardo, 1900) ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] Machimus rufipes Ricardo, 1922 [valid ] ] ] ] ] ] Philodicus femoralis Ricardo, 1921 [valid ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] Promachus beesoni Ricardo, 1921 [valid ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ]. Pelecorhynchus darwini Ricardo 1900 [junior synonym of Pelecorhynchus elegans (Philippi, 1865) ].

Diptera: Family Tabanidae Atylotus nigromaculatus Ricardo, 1900 [valid ] ] ] Chrysops flavocinctus Ricardo, 1902 [valid ] Chrysops fuscipennis Ricardo, 1902 [valid ] ] ] ] Corizoneura obscura Ricardo, 1908 [junior synonym: junior secondary homonym with Philoliche (Phara) ricardoae Chainey & Oldroyd, 1980 ] ] ] ] Diatomineura minima Ricardo, 1900 [junior synonym of Scaptia (Scaptia) subcana Walker ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] Haematopota lata Ricardo, 1906 ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] and series 7: volume 5: issue 26, pgs 167–182.

1900-1901: Notes on Diptera from South Africa (Tabanidae and Asilidae): The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 7: volume 6: issue 32, pgs 161-178

1906: Notes on the genus Haematopota of the family Tabanidae in the British Museum collection: The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Series 7: volume 18: issue 104, pgs 94-127 and Series 8: volume 1: issue 4: pgs 311-333

1909: [with J.M.R. Surcouf]: Etude monographique des Tabanides d'Afrique (Groupe des Tabanus): Paris, Masson et Cie, Éditeurs.

1909: Four new Tabanus Species from India and Assam: The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Series 8: volume 3: issue 19: pgs 487-491

1910: A Revision of the Genus Pelecorhynchus of the Family Tabanidae: The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Series 8: volume 5: issue 29: pgs 402-409

1911: A Revision of the Species of Tabanus from the Oriental Region, Including Notes on Species from Surrounding Countries: Records of the Indian Museum: Volume 4: pgs 111-255

1912-1914: A Revision of the Asilidae from Australasia: The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Series 8: volume 9: issue 52: pgs 473–488, Series 8: volume 9: issue 53: pgs 585-594, Series 8: volume 10: issue 55: pgs 142–160, Series 8: volume 10: issue 57: pgs 350–360, Series 8: volume 11: issue 61: pgs 147-166

1915: Notes on the Tabanidae of the Australian Region: The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Series 8: volume 14: issue 83: pgs 387–397, Series 8: volume 15: issue 87: pgs 270–291, Series 8: volume 16: issue 91: pgs 16-40 and Series 8: volume 16: issue 94: pgs 259-286

1917: New Species of Tabanidae from Australia and the Fiji Islands: The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Series 8: volume 19: issue 110: pgs 207-224

1917: New Species of Haematopota from India: The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Series 8: volume 19: issue 110: pgs 225-226

1919-1920: Notes on the Asilidae: Sub-division Asilinae: The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Series 9: volume 3: pgs 44-79 and series 9: volume 5: issues 26, pgs 169-185

1921-1922: Notes on the Asilinae of the South African and Oriental regions: The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Series 9: volume 8: issue 44, pgs 175-192