William Forsell Kirby
British entomologist
- Lived
- 1844–1912
Updated September 2026
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About William Forsell Kirby
William Forsell Kirby was an English entomologist and folklorist. He specialized in the study of the stick insects, describing nearly 70 species and 22 genera. His collection filled 120 cabinets and claimed that on reorganization, it would need 500 drawers. The stick insect Phobaeticus kirbyi described from Borneo and named by Brunner in 1907 after Kirby is one of the largest stick insects in the world.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers, free texts from Project Gutenberg. Last updated September 2026.