Benjamin Wilkes (? - 1749)

Benjamin Wilkes

Benjamin Wilkes was a British artist and amateur naturalist who lived in London in the 18th century.

Wilkes painted historical sites and portraits. Having been invited to a meeting of the Aurelian Society, where he first saw specimens of butterflies and moths, he became fascinated with insect observation and in his spare time began practicing entomology. He collected, studied, and sketched the various life cycles of scales, parasites, pupae, larvae, etc.

Wilkes published the first edition of his work, English Moths and Butterflies 1747-1749, assembled from 120 hand-colored engravings of insects. He also amassed a substantial collection of his own in London, which was open to the public.