Benjamin Preston Clark (October 8, 1860, in West Roxbury – January 11, 1939, in Philadelphia) was an American entomologist who specialized in Lepidoptera, especially Sphingidae.
He grew up on the Weld Farm, a plot of 278 acres (1.13 km2) in Roxbury that was granted to his ancestor by the colonial legislature for "bravery fighting the Indians" during the Pequot War in 1637.
However, the failure of his father's mercantile firm (B. C. Clark & Co.) in 1881 forced him to set aside his plans of a career in academia, and to enter the business world.
[5][6] Clark wrote in 1922 that his interest in Sphingidae began in childhood: "...as a boy I used to see poised with whirring wings over the phlox garden at Weld Farm, and which always had for me a peculiar fascination.
The collection, which included the type specimens of 232 species described by Clark,[3][1][2] was donated in its entirety but for a small portion which remains in the family to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History after his death.