Eugene Marais
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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withdrawn by his parents to a quiet little village called Prieska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 |
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EUGENE MARAIS
Curator of Entomology
Namibian National Insect Collection
P.O. Box 1203
Windhoek 9000
NAMIBIA
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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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