Honoured by taxon name—Robin John Tillyard

Abstract

The New Zealand bee fly genus Tillyardomyia Tonnoir, 1927 (Diptera: Bombyliidae) is one of 12 currently recognised valid generic names honouring Dr Robin John Tillyard F.R.S. (1881–1937) for his research on living and fossil insects. According to Tonnoir (1927) Tillyard was the discoverer of the family Bombyliidae in New Zealand and so Tillyardomyia was named after him even though he did not contribute any specimens of the type series for the single uncommon species of this genus, T. gracilis Tonnoir, 1927. In addition to this and the other 11 patronymic generic names, there are numerous specific names honouring him for his research.