Born in Dover and educated at Queen Mary College, London University. Wrote his Ph.D. on 'A systematic and biological study of the genus Palorus Mulsant (sens. lat.)'. He worked in the Government laboratory at Slough from 1953 mainly on the biology and systematics of beetles associated with stored products. Halstead's particular specialisations within the Coleoptera are the Tenebrionidae (Palorus and Tribolium); Silvanidae (Silvaninae); Dermestidae (Attagenus) and the British Histeridae. These have been the subject of many of his publications, the most important of which are as follows: Coleoptera: Histeroidea, Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, 1963; 'A revision of the genus Palorus (sens. lat.)', Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist., (Ent). 19 (2), 1967, pp.59-148; 'Biological studies on species of Palorus and Coelopalorus with comparative notes on Tribolium and Lathetics', J.stored Prod.Res., 2, 1967, pp.273-313; 'A new species of Tribolium from North America previously confused with Tribolium madens (Charp.), ibid., 4, 1969, pp.295-304; 'A revision of the genus Silvanus Latreille (sens. lat.)', Bull.Br.Mus.Nat.Hist., 29(2), 1973, pp.39-112; 'Attagenus woodroffei sp.n. previously confused with Attagenus fasciatus (Thunberg)', Notulae Entomologicae, 59, 1979, pp.97-104 (with M. Green); 'A revision of the genus Oryzaephilus Ganglbauer, including descriptions of related genera', Zool.J.Linn.Soc., 69(4), 1980, pp.271-374; 'Taxonomic notes on some Attagenus spp. associated with stored products, including a new black species from Africa', J.stored Prod. Res., 17(3), 1981, pp.91-99; and 'Keys for the identification of beetles associated with stored products 1. Introduction and keys to families', J.stored Prod.Res., 23(4), 1986, pp.163-203. Halstead maintained a small general collection of British beetles including some specimens collected by G.E.Woodroffe, a former colleague. Some types of the foreign material he has described are in the collection of the Slough Laboratory.FRES. FLS. Member BENHS since 1955. (Information from D.G.H.H. in 1988). (MD 3/03)