Marianne Horak (born 1944) is a Swiss-Australian entomologist who specialises in Australian Lepidoptera, particularly the Phycitinae and Tortricidae moths,
Education and career
Horak studied at the
ETH Zurich (ETH) in Zürich, earning her M.Sc. in 1970 and Ph.D. in 1983. She did extensive field work in
New Zealand (1967–69),
New Guinea (1971–73), and
Indonesia (1985) before settling permanently in Australia.
Horak has discovered several new species of Lepidoptera, including multiple species of
Cadra,
,
and
Ogmograptis,
and did research on the scribbly gum moths,
during which eleven new species of
Ogmograptis were discovered.
She also is the taxon authority for several
genera, including
Aglaogonia,
Atriscripta, and
Cnecidophora.
She is the current
editor-in-chief of
Monographs of Australian Lepidoptera,
chairperson of the Australian Lepidoptera Research Endowment,
and honorary research fellow in Lepidoptera systematics at the Australian National Insect Collection at
CSIRO,
where she works as Lepidoptera curator
and was head of Lepidoptera research until her retirement in 2010.
Awards and dedicated species
Horak was the first recipient of the J. O. Westwood Medal for excellence in insect taxonomy for "her outstanding monograph entitled
The Olethreutine Moths of Australia (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)",
and appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to entomology, to taxonomic and phylogenetic research, and to philanthropic endeavours".
The moth species
Coleophora horakae,
,
and
Myrtartona mariannae are dedicated to her.
Personal life
Horak was born in
Glarus,
Switzerland in 1944. She was previously married to the Austrian
mycologist Egon Horak.
