David Saunders was a highly accomplished entomologist. This website takes the reader from David's childhood in the war years, when he shared his father's passion for butterflies through his time as a student in Zoology 

He began his research career in researching parasitic wasps of the tsetse fly. At this time he became aware of the influence of the environment in determining the wasp's developmental response to seasonal changes. A few years after joining Edinburgh University, he moved entirely into the study of the photoperiodic response of insects, with his research involving a parasitic wasp Nasonia vitripennis, the flies Sarcophaga argyrostoma, Calliphora vicina, and Drosophila melanogaster, along with the bug Pyrrocoris apterus.

Following his retirement from the University of Edinburgh, David wrote two volumes of memoirs. This website contains his scientific memoir. The other volume consisted of his reminiscences of his days in a cycling club: these form the basis of a website: Northwood Wheelers.