Bernard d'Abrera

Bernard d'Abrera (28 August 1940 – 13 January 2017) was an Australian entomological taxonomist and philosopher of science, particularly noted for his books on true butterflies (Papilionoidea) and larger moths of the world (Saturniidae and Sphingidae). Referred to as one of the world's best-known lepidopterists by The Daily Telegraph, his work since 1982 has been openly critical of evolution.

Bernard d'Abrera is a graduate of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. While at the university in 1964 he with a group of other students kidnapped an alligator from Taronga Zoo as a Foundation Day prank. Using 80 biology students as a shield, the group captured the animal in a bag and walked out through the turnstiles. The animal was returned after payment of a £100 ransom, which went towards establishing the first aboriginal scholarship of the University of New South Wales.

He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1965, with a double major in History & Philosophy of Science and History. He has a diploma in Education (Melbourne T.C., 1972).

D'Abrera has spent over forty years photographing museum specimens of butterflies and moths, as well as identifying and cataloguing specimens around the world. He has also visited the Macleay Museum in Sydney. He has contributed his butterfly and moth photographs to other books not authored by him.

The D'Abrera's tiger, Parantica dabrerai, an Indonesian butterfly species is named for him, as is Gnathothlibus dabrera, a species of Indonesian moth.

In 1978, d'Abrera helped uncover a smuggling ring on Papua New Guinea estimated to have earned at least $200,000 annually through the rare butterfly black market.

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