Henry Walter Bates (February 8, 1825 - February 16, 1892) was an English naturalist and explorer most famous for his expedition to the Amazon with Alfred Russel Wallace in 1848.
Wallace returned in 1852, but lost his collection in a shipwreck. When Bates arrived home seven years later (in 1859) he brought with him over 14,000 specimens (mostly insects) of which 8,000 were new to science.
Bates was born in Leicester, and at 13 he became apprentice to a hosier. He studied in his spare time, and collected insects in Charnwood Forest. In 1843 he had a short paper on beetles published in the Zoologist Magazine. He became friends with Wallace, who was also a keen entomologist, and after reading William H. Edwards' book on his Amazon expedition they decided to visit the region themselves.
From 1864 onwards, he worked as assistant secretary of the Royal Geographical Society. He died of bronchitis.
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Last updated: 08-17-2005 16:48:15
