Peter Malcolm Johns (born 3 June 1935) is a New Zealand entomologist and taxonomist who has made significant contributions to the field of entomology. He is a leading expert in various groups, including cockroaches, craneflies, wÃÂtÃÂ and millipedes.
Born in Wanganui, he is the second son of Malcolm Johns, a surveyor and Hattie Johns, a research assistant. He was educated at Wanganui East Primary School and Wanganui Collegiate School. Johns started attending the University of Canterbury in 1953, majoring in chemistry and zoology. He gained a masters degree in Zoology with a thesis focused on snakeskin chiton.
Johns began lecturing in Zoology at the University of Canterbury in 1959 at the age of 24, and was appointed to a permanent position in 1964 as an assistant lecturer and later as lecturer. Over his 57 year career, Johns interest slowly shifted towards terrestrial invertebrates, eventually amassing a large collection of 140,000 specimens held at Canterbury Museum.
Johns is currently a research fellow at Canterbury Museum and a Fellow of the Entomological Society of New Zealand.