Eugene Marais

 
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Eugene Marais

  

Marais was born in November 1959 in Durban, a notorious surfing hangout on the east coast of South Africa. However, he never got to surf since he was forcibly withdrawn by his parents to a quiet little village called Prieska on the Orange river. Marais fished, turned over rocks, developed a gourmet bent for insect cullinary delights, and promptly became a social misfit. In the process of learning about explosives, he almost burned down the local school hostel. To the relief and surprise of the Prieska community he eventually finished high school in 1976. Fired up with patriotism and looking for adventure, he tried out the South African army for a while. Later he continued his studies of rocks at the University of Pretoria and joined an underground movement in search of gold. However, missing the sun, he returned to the University of Pretoria to find out about the meaning of life, the universe, and insects.  Realising he was unable to generate a stable income by opening an insect-gourmet restaurant in the then very conservative suburbs of Pretoria, he capitulated by joining the National Museum of Namibia in 1986. Here he was given the freedom to pursue his interest in insect genitalia, as well as real underground activities in various parts of Namibia. His principal interests are beetle systematics, biospeleology, ethnoentomology, and composition of insect populations


  EUGENE MARAIS
Curator of Entomology
Namibian National Insect Collection
P.O. Box 1203
Windhoek 9000
NAMIBIA
   
  PUBLICATIONS:

HOLM, E. & MARAIS, E. 1989. Revision of African Cetoniinae I : Genus Trichostetha Burmeister (Coleoptera , Scarabaeidae). Cimbebasia 10 : 51 - 65.

MARAIS, E. & HOLM, E. 1990. Synonymic notes on the African Cetoniinae II : Genera Anoplocheilus MacLeay and Odontorrhina Burmeister (including Diathermus Kraatz and a new subgenus) (Coleoptera , Scarabaeidae). Cimbebasia 11 : 1 - 17.

MARAIS, E. & HOLM, E. 1990. Synonymic notes on the African Cetoniinae IV : Genus Elaphinis Burmeister (including Micrelaphinis Schoch and a new genus ) (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae). Cimbebasia 11 : 19 - 32.

MARAIS, E. & HOLM, E. 1992. Type Catalogue and Bibliography of the Cetoniinae of Sub- Saharan Africa (excluding Trichiini and Valgini) (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae). Cimbebasia Memoir 8: 1-125.

HOLM, E. & MARAIS, E.  1992.  Fruit Chafers of Southern Africa. Sigma Press Ltd., Pretoria.  326 pp.

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University of Nebraska-Lincoln State Museum - Division of Entomology