Entomology is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. 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. The field is also referred to as insectology in American English, while in British English insectology implies the study of the relationships between insects and humans.
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) was founded in 1889 and today has more than 7,000 members, including educators, extension personnel, consultants, students, researchers, and scientists from agricultural departments, health agencies, private industries, colleges and universities, and state and federal governments. It serves the professional and scientific needs of entomologists and people in related disciplines. To facilitate communication among members, the ESA is divided into four sections based on entomological interests, and six branches, based on geographic proximity. The national office is located in Annapolis, Maryland.
Alpheus Spring Packard Jr. LL.D. was an American entomologist and palaeontologist. He described over 500 new animal species – especially butterflies and moths – and was one of the founders of The American Naturalist.
Augustus Radcliffe Grote was a British entomologist who described over 1,000 species of butterflies and moths. He is best known for his work on North American Noctuidae. A number of species were named after him, including the moth Horama grotei.
The Royal Entomological Society is a learned society devoted to the study of insects. It aims to disseminate information about insects and to improve communication between entomologists.
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.
William Saunders, CMG was a Canadian agriculturalist, entomologist and pharmacist. He was a pioneer in Canadian agricultural science, led the establishment of the Experimental Farm System and served as its first director for almost 25 years.
Ateloglossa is a genus of flies in the family Tachinidae.
Dichocera is a genus of flies in the family Tachinidae. The genus Ceuthophilus is known to be a host of this parasitoid, possibly of the lyrata species.
Charles Howard Curran was a Canadian entomologist who specialized in Diptera. Curran's main taxonomic interests were in brachyceran flies, particularly the flower flies Syrphidae, in which he described 723 species. He described 2,648 species over his career. He was active in the study of insect control. His 1934 work The Families and Genera of North American Diptera was an important and comprehensive work on the topic of North American fly genera.
George Duryea Hulst was an American clergyman, botanist and entomologist.
James Halliday McDunnough was a Canadian linguist, musician, and entomologist best known for his work with North American Lepidoptera, but who also made important contributions about North American Ephemeroptera.
Harrison Gray Dyar Jr. was an American entomologist. Dyar's Law, a pattern of geometric progression in the growth of insect parts, is named after him. He was also noted for eccentric pursuits which included digging tunnels under his home. He had a complicated personal life and along with his second wife he adopted the Baháʼí Faith.
Mary Esther Murtfeldt was an American entomologist, botanist, botanical collector, writer and editor. She undertook research on the life histories of insects, describing several species new to science and wrote extensively on entomology. Murtfeldt created a collection of plant specimens that contributed to the scientific knowledge on the plants of Missouri.
Cornelius Becker Philip (1900–1987) was an American entomologist, noted for assigning comedic names to species he described.
Eugene Gordon Munroe was a Canadian entomologist who discovered numerous species of insects. He worked for the Insect Systematics and Biological Control Unit, Entomology Division in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The Florida Entomologist is an quarterly open access scientific journal published by the Florida Entomological Society. Founded in 1917 as The Florida Buggist and in 1920 was renamed, into The Florida Entomologist. Manuscripts from all disciplines of entomology are accepted for consideration. The chief editor is James Nation of the University of Florida. According to the 2013 Journal Citation Reports, the impact factor of The Florida Entomologist is 0.975 which ranks it 50/94 in "Entomology".
Taracad Narayanan Ananthakrishnan was an Indian entomologist and insect ecologist. His areas of specialization was in the study of gall insects (Cecidology) and chemical ecology. He did extensive study of Indian thrips (Thysanoptera) and made immense contributions to this field of science.
Charles Frederic August Schaeffer was an American entomologist who specialized in beetles, particularly chrysomelids and weevils. He described 109 species in 91 genera and some species like Taphrocerus schaefferiNicolay & Weiss were described from his collections and named after him.
The International Congress of Entomology (ICE) is the largest in-person conference for the science of entomology. It generally meets every 4 years, and has been held in locations around the world since 1910. Initially conferences were organized by entomologists from each host country. Since 1988 the conference has been organized by the Council for International Congresses of Entomology, with development of the scientific programs primarily by entomologists from the host country.
