Henry Walter Bates
Henry Walter Bates | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 February 1825 Leicester, England |
| Died | 16 February 1892 (aged 67) London, England |
| Resting place | East Finchley Cemetery, London |
| Known for | Amazon voyage Batesian mimicry |
| Spouse | Sarah Ann Mason |
| Awards | President of the Entomological Society of London, fellow of the Linnaean Society, and of the Royal Society |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mimicry, natural history, geography |
| Institutions | Royal Geographical Society, London |
Henry Walter Bates (8 February 1825 – 16 February 1892) was an English naturalist and explorer who gave the first scientific account of mimicry in animals. He was most famous for his expedition to the rainforests of the Amazon with Alfred Russel Wallace, starting in 1848. Wallace returned in 1852, but lost his collection on the return voyage when his ship caught fire. When Bates arrived home in 1859 after a full eleven years, he had sent back over 14,712 species (mostly of insects) of which 8,000 were (according to Bates, but see Van Wyhe) new to science. Bates wrote up his findings in his best-known work, The Naturalist on the River Amazons (1863).