Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term insect was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arachnids, myriapods, and crustaceans. This wider meaning may still be encountered in informal use.
John Obadiah Westwood was an English entomologist and archaeologist also noted for his artistic talents. He published several illustrated works on insects and antiquities. He was among the first entomologists with an academic position at Oxford University. He was a natural theologian, staunchly anti-Darwinian, and sometimes adopted a quinarian viewpoint. Although he never travelled widely, he described species from around the world on the basis of specimens, especially of the larger, curious, and colourful species, obtained by naturalists and collectors in England.
Charles William Woodworth was an American entomologist. He published extensively in entomology and founded the Entomology Department at the University of California, Berkeley. He was the first person to breed the model organism Drosophila melanogaster in captivity and to suggest to early genetic researchers at Harvard its use for scientific research. He spent four years at the University of Nanking, China, where he effected the practical control of the city's mosquitoes. He drafted and lobbied for California's first insecticide law and administered the law for 12 years. The Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America named its annual career achievement award the C. W. Woodworth Award.
Leland Ossian Howard was a pioneer American entomologist who worked in the US Department of Agriculture. Serving as the chief of the bureau of entomology, a successor to C.V. Riley, he helped establish economic entomology as a profession in the United States and strengthened research activities, helping establish laws to prevent the introduction of agricultural pests. He was a specialist on the parasitic wasp family Chalcididae, and contributed to the introduction of biological control agents for pest management. Howard also took an interest in medical entomology.
May Roberta Berenbaum is an American entomologist whose research focuses on the chemical interactions between herbivorous insects and their host plants, and the implications of these interactions on the organization of natural communities and the evolution of species. She is particularly interested in nectar, plant phytochemicals, honey and bees, and her research has important implications for beekeeping.
The Annual Review of Entomology is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes review articles about entomology, the study of insects. First published in 1956 from a collaboration between the Entomological Society of America and Annual Reviews, its longest-serving editors are Thomas E. Mittler (1967–1997) and May Berenbaum (1998–2018). As of 2023, Annual Review of Entomology is being published as open access, under the Subscribe to Open model. Also as of 2023, Journal Citation Reports gives the journal a 2022 impact factor of 23.8, ranking it first of 100 journals in the category "Entomology".
BugGuide is a website and online community of naturalists, both amateur and professional, who share observations of arthropods such as insects, spiders, and other related creatures. The website consists of informational guide pages and many thousands of photographs of arthropods from the United States and Canada which are used for identification and research. The non-commercial site is hosted by the Iowa State University Department of Entomology. BugGuide was conceived by photographer Troy Bartlett in 2003 and since 2006 has been maintained by John VanDyk, an adjunct assistant professor of entomology and a senior systems analyst at Iowa State University. The website has been recognized for helping change the public perception of insects.
Melville Harrison Hatch (1898–1988) was an American entomologist who specialized in the study of beetles. His long career at the University of Washington was highlighted by the publication of the seminal, five-volume work Beetles of the Pacific Northwest. Hatch is responsible for the identification and naming of 13 species.
Journal of Insect Science is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering entomology. It was established in 2001 with support from the University of Arizona by Henry Hagedorn. In 2014, after the death of Henry Hagedorn, the Entomological Society of America assumed responsibility for the journal, and it switched to publishing with Oxford University Press. The editor-in-chief is Phyllis Weintraub.
Louise M. Russell (1905-2009) was a US Department of Agriculture entomologist renowned for her expertise in insect identification and research on using parasites for biocontrol.
John G. Hildebrand is an American neuroscientist, currently Honors Professor and Regents Professor Emeritus at University of Arizona, and has been elected as Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, International Society for Neuroethology, Royal Entomological Society of London, American Association for the Advancement of Science and Entomological Society of America, awarded an honorary degree by Universitá degli Studi di Cagliari and named Einstein Professor at Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Frederic Leonard Washburn was an American zoologist. Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, he earned a B.A. (1882) and M.A. (1895) from Harvard University. Between 1888 and 1902 he was professor at Oregon State Agricultural College and biologist for the State of Oregon. He was Minnesota State Entomologist, professor, and chief of the Division of Entomology at University of Minnesota from 1902 to 1918. He was the 1911 president of the American Association of Economic Entomologists was made a fellow of the Entomological Society of America in 1924. His books include Injurious Insects and Useful Birds, and Insects of Minnesota.
Jessica Lee Ware is a Canadian-American evolutionary biologist and entomologist. She is the associate curator of invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. In addition, she is a principal investigator at the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics and an associate professor for the Richard Gilder Graduate School.
Ampelomyia viticola, the grape tube gallmaker, is a species of gall midge found in the eastern United States and Canada. It produces green or bright red galls on new world grape vines.
Arthur Burton Gahan was an American entomologist who was a specialist on parasitic Hymenoptera particularly the Chalcidoidea.
Maria Alma Solis is a entomologist at the Systematic Entomology Laboratory (SEL) of the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
John Bernhardt Smith was an American professor of entomology who specialized in systematics and economic entomology while also serving as the State Entomologist of New Jersey. Smith is remembered in insect taxonomy for the conflict that he had with Harrison Dyar.
Michelle Susan Samuel-Foo is an American biologist and Assistant Professor of Biology at Alabama State University. She serves as President of the Southeastern Entomological Society of America. In 2020 Samuel-Foo became the first African-American person to win a major award for entomology when she was awarded the Entomological Society of America Founders' Memorial Recognition.
Alexander Carlton Hodson was an American entomologist and a professor at the University of Minnesota. He is known for his work on ecological approaches to applied entomology.
Robert Hale Nelson (1903–1996) was an American entomologist, federal agriculture- and insecticide researcher, and leader within the Entomological Society of America.
