E Geoffrey Hancock
Curator of Entomology
The Hunterian
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8QQ
Short Biography
Following postgraduate training at Leicester University (Department of Museum Studies) Geoff first occupied a curatorial position in Liverpool Museum as Assistant Keeper of Invertebrate Zoology from 1970 to 1974. At Bolton Museum & Art Gallery from 1974 to 1985 he was Senior Keeper and then moved to Scotland to become Keeper of Natural History, later Curator of Science, at Glasgow Museums (Kelvingrove). In 1997 Geoff joined The Hunterian as curator of the insect collections. Geoff is an Honorary Lecturer in the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine (College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences) and has taught on courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Several student research projects have been in South America, supervised during expeditions organised by the university’s Exploration Society.
Research Interests
There are two main strands of research, in systematic entomology and historical investigations of museums and collections. Within the insects the taxonomy of craneflies and some related families of nematocerous Diptera are active areas for research. Also, Scottish island faunas have been studied and samples added to the museum collections. In recent years, through field work initially studying dead wood insect faunas in Scotland, the work has expanded into Europe and the New World tropics. The outcomes of this work have a relevance to biodiversity, phylogeny and functional morphology. Much of this work is collaborative with colleagues from other museums and universities. Recent investigations into the history of museums have focussed on The Hunterian. Firstly, there was the anniversary of the opening of the museum in Glasgow in 1807. Following the organisation of a conference to celebrate this bicentenary a volume of papers has been edited on William Hunter’s collections and will be published shortly. Secondly, this event was quickly followed by the anniversary of the production in 1813 of the first guide and catalogue of the Hunterian, the oldest public museum in Scotland. An exhibition opened in March, 2013, in which specially selected items, initially described in terms of the knowledge derived from the Enlightenment period, have been re-interpreted. Published papers on the specifics of Hunter’s insect collections have raised the profile of this important eighteenth century survival of taxonomically and historically important specimens.
Recent Publications
Hancock, E.G. 2012. Order Diptera, family Limoniidae. Arthropod Fauna of the United Arab Emirates 4:684-695.
Ricarte, A., Nedeljkovic, Z., Rotheray, G.E., Lyszkowski, R., Hancock, E.G., Watt, K., Hewitt, S.M.,Horsfield, D. & Wilkinson, G. 2012. Syrphidae (Diptera) from the Greek island of Lesvos, with description of two new species. Zootaxa 3175: 1–23. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2012/f/z03175p023f.pdf
Breitling, R., Coleing, A., Peixoto, T., Nagle, T., Hancock, E.G., Kelsh, R.N. & Székely, T. 2012. An overview of the spider fauna of Maio (Cape Verde Islands), with some additional recent records (Arachnida: Araneae). Zoologia Caboverdiana 2 (2): 43-52.
http://www.scvz.org/]
Hancock, E.G. 2012. Hoverfly (Diptera, Syrphidae) species collected near Rowardennan, Loch Lomondside, August, 2011. The Glasgow naturalist, 25(4). Published on line, 2012 at http://www.glasgownaturalhistory.org.uk/gn25_4/hancock_2.pdf
Burgon, J.D., Hancock, E.G. & Downie, J.R. 2012. An investigation into the Amblyomma tick (Acari, Ixodidae) infections of the cane toad (Rhinella marina) at four sites in northern Trinidad. Living World, journal of the Trinidad and Tobago field naturalists club 2012: 60-66.
Hancock, E.G. & Williams, P. 2012. An early preserved example of Phylloxera infesting British grape vines. Archives of Natural History 39: 351-354.
Ricarte, A., M. Ángeles Marcos-García, M.A., Hancock, E.G. & Rotheray, G.E. 2012. Revision of the New World genus Quichuana Knab, 1913 (Diptera: Syrphidae) including description of 24 new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 166: 72-131.
Robinson, J. & Hancock, E.G. 2009. The morphology and colour polymorphism of the St Kildan weevil Ceutorhynchus insularis Dieckmann, 1971 (Coleoptera; Curculionidae). Entomologists monthly Magazine, 144: 211-216.
Hancock, E. G., Brown, G.V. & Jowett, B. 2011. Pinned down: the role of pins in the evolution of eighteenth century museum insect collections. Museum History Journal 4(1): 29-45.
Brown, G.V., Douglas, A.S. & Hancock, E.G. 2011. The use of thorns and spines as pins in an eighteenth century insect collection. The Linnean 27(1): 14-21.
http://www.linnean.org/Resources/LinneanSociety/Documents/Publications/The-Linnaen/Lin%20Vol%2027_%20no%201_%20March%202011.pdf
Hancock, E.G. & D. S. Amorim. 2009. Anisopodidae (wood gnats or window gnats). Chapter 2, in Brown, B. (ed.) Manual of Central American Diptera, Volume 1. pp. 341-344.
Hancock, E.G. 2009. Ptychopteridae. Chapter 23, in Brown, B. (ed.) Manual of Central American Diptera, Volume 1. pp. 357-358.
Rotheray, G.E., M.-A. Marcos-Garcia, E.G. Hancock, C. Perez-Banon & C.T. Maier. 2009. Neotropical Copestylum (Diptera, Syrphidae) breeding in Agavaceae and Cactaceae including seven new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 156: 697-749.
Hancock, E.G. & Douglas, A.S. 2009. William Hunter’s Goliath beetle, Goliathus goliatus (Linnaeus, 1771), re-visited. Archives of natural history 36(2): 218-130.
Hancock, E.G., S.M. Hewitt, A. Godfrey & M. Mullin. 2009. Thoracic spiracular gill structure of Lipsothrix (Diptera, Limoniidae) in Britain described from scanning electron micrographs. Pp77-87 in Lantsov, V.I. (Editor) Crane flies - history, taxonomy and ecology (Diptera: Tipulidae, Limoniidae,
Pediciidae, Trichoceridae, Ptychopteridae, Tanyderidae) Memorial volume dedicated to Dr. Charles Paul Alexander (1889–1981), Dr. Bernhard Mannheims (1909–1971) and Dr. Evgeniy Nikolaevich Savchenko (1909–1994). Zoosymposia 3. <http://www.mapress.com/zoosymposia/content/2009/v3/f/v003p077-087.pdf>
Hancock, E.G., Broadsmith-Brown, G., Douglas, A.S. & Vane-Wright, R.I. 2008. William Hunter’s museum and discovery of the Madagascan swallowtail butterfly, Pharmacophagus antenor (Drury, 1773). Antenna 32(1): 10-17.
Brown, G. & Hancock, E.G. 2008. A most curious beetle from the insect collection of William Hunter (1718-1783). The Linnean 24(3): 26-32. http://www.linnean.org/fileadmin/images/Linnean/Linnean_Archive/Linnean_24-3_July_2008.pdf
Dobson, R.M. & E.G. Hancock. 2008. Historical review of a cabinet of Coleoptera from Thomas George Bishop’s collection connected with James Francis Stephens. The Glasgow Naturalist 25: 9-14.
Hancock, E.G. 2008. Larval habitat preferences in Palaearctic Gnophomyia (Diptera, Limoniidae) with a key to adults. Sahlbergia 14: 13-16.
Rotheray, G.E., E.G. Hancock, M.-A. Marcos-Garcia. 2007. Neotropical Copestylum (Diptera, Syrphidae) breeding in bromeliads (Bromeliadacea) including 22 new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 150: 267-317.
Douglas, A.S. & Hancock, E.G. 2007. Insect collecting in Africa during the eighteenth century and William Hunter’s Collection. Archives of natural history 34(2): 293-306.
Hancock, E.G. 2006. Notes on Molophilus (Diptera, Limoniidae) including a description of a new European species. Entomologists monthly Magazine, 141: 59-63.
Mann, D.J., E.G. Hancock & M.G. Morris. 2006. History of the genus Lixus Fabricius (Curculionidae) in Britain with comments on nomenclature. The Coleopterist 14(2): 65-80.
Rotheray, G.E., E.G. Hancock, M.-Angeles Marcos-Garcia, Manuel Zumbado. 2006. Early stages and breeding sites of three species of Neotropical Ornidia (Diptera, Syrphidae). Studia Dipterologica 12(2): 419-427.
Hancock, E.G. 2006. Records of craneflies (Diptera:Tipulidae and Limoniidae) from Yemen including new species. Fauna of Arabia 21: 357-364
Hancock, E.G., M.-A. Marcos-Garcia & G.E. Rotheray. 2006. Ptychopteridae - a fly family new to the Neotropical Region and description of a new species. Zootaxa 1351: 61-68.