Maxwell V L Barclay FRES is a British entomologist, and Curator and Collections Manager of Coleoptera and Hemiptera at the Natural History Museum in London.

[4] Barclay is one of the four virtual ‘Scientist Guides’ of the Natural History Museum’s new Darwin Centre and was among the group that showed the building to Prince William at its 2009 opening.

[7][8] Barclay is best known for his work on beetles (Coleoptera), and is author of scientific papers and co-editor of a text book on the subject.

[11] He has travelled extensively in search of specimens, including to Bolivia, Peru, Taiwan and Thailand,[12] and has discovered new species.

105 beetle taxa have been named in his honour by fellow scientists, including: Carabidae Hydrophilidae Ptiliidae Staphylinidae Scarabaeidae Cantharidae Heteroceridae Limnichidae Throscidae Eucnemidae Elateridae Ptinidae Dermestidae Scirtidae Psephenidae Buprestidae Lycidae Coccinellidae Helotidae Nitidulidae Latridiidae Aderidae Anthicidae Ischaliidae Tenebrionidae Oedemeridae Cerambycidae Chrysomelidae Anthribidae Rhynchitidae Brentidae Curculionidae as well as the wasp Platygaster barclayi Buhl, 2011, the fulgorid bug Polydictya barclayi Constant, 2016 and the fossil cockroach Mesoblatta maxi Hinkelman, 2020.