What Darwin actually saw in Sydney in 1836

F.W. Nicholas

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Doi:

https://doi.org/10.7882/FS.2010.006

Published:

2010

As a young man of 26, Charles Darwin visited Sydney in January 1836, on board H.M.S. Beagle, during her five-year circumnavigation of the globe. For most of the time the Beagle was in Sydney, Darwin was on an inland excursion to Bathurst. Consequently, he gave himself very little opportunity to explore the natural history of Sydney. However, his servant Syms Covington did go sweeping for insects in Sydney, and was presumably involved in collecting other specimens of Sydney fauna. In total, the Beagle's Sydney specimens comprise at least 110 species of animals, including a mouse not previously described (originally Mus gouldii; later Pseudomys gouldii; unfortunately now extinct), a crab, a snake, frogs, lizards, shells (including an oyster, a mudwhelk, air breathers, a sand snail, and a trochid or top shell) and 97 insects, 42 of which had not previously been described, and four of which were named after Darwin: a Leaf beetle Idiocephala darwini; a Seed bug Ontiscus darwini; a Gasteruptiid wasp Foenus darwinii; and a Bee Halictus darwiniellus. The remaining novel insects comprise six Leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae), four Stink bugs (Pentatomidae), a Seed bug (Lygaeidae), an Assassin bug (Reduviidae), a Water boatman (Corixidae), a Leafhopper (Cicadellidae), a Cicada (Cicadidae), a Flatid planthopper (Flatidae), a Froghopper or Spittlebug (Cercopidae), three Parasitic wasps (Chalcididae), an Encyrtid wasp (Encyrtidae), five Eucaratids (Eucharitidae), a Eulophid (Eulophidae), four Seed chalcids (Eurytomidae), five Lamprotatidae, and one Torymid wasp (Torymidae).

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Darwin, C.R. 1836b. Letter 299: Darwin, C.R. to Fox, W.D., 15 Feb 1836; reproduced in Burkhardt, F. and Smith, S. 1985 The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Volume 1: 1821-1836, pp. 491-3. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Also available from the website of the Darwin Correspondence Project (http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/)

Darwin, C.R. 1837. Letter 362: Darwin, C.R. to Hope, F.W., [21 June 1837]; reproduced in Burkhardt, F. and Smith, S. 1986 The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Volume 2: 1837-1843, p. 27. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Also available from the website of the Darwin Correspondence Project (http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/)

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Peron. F. 1807 Voyage de découvertes aux terres australes, exécuté sur les corvettes le Géographe, le Naturaliste, et la Goelette le Casuarina, pendant les années 1800-1804; Tome 1, partie historique. Arthus Bertrand, Paris.

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White, J. 1790 Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales, with sixty five plates of non-descript animals, birds, lizards, serpents, curious cones of trees and other natural productions. Debrett, London.

Daudin, F.M. 1802 Histore naturelle des rainettes, des grenouilles et des crapauds microform. Levrault, Paris.

Gray, J.E. 1825. A synopsis of the genera of reptiles and Amphibia, with a description of some new species. Annales Philosophie 2(10): 193-217.

Gray, J.E. 1845 Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum. British Museum, London.

Günther, A.C.J.G. 1858 Catalogue of the Batrachia Salientia in the collection of the British Museum. British Museum, London.

Tschudi, J.J. von 1838 Classification der Batrachier, mit Berücksichtigung der fossilen Tiere dieser Abteilung der Reptilien. Erück Petitpierre, Neuchâtel.

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Contents

Data & Figures

References

Other RZS NSW Publications

The Natural History of Sydney

Edited by

Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7882/9780980327236

ISBN electronic:

978-0-9803272-3-6

Publication date:

2010