|
General Information on the OSU Insect Collection.
|
|
Numerous and extensive arthropod collections were assembled by earlier students and faculty at The Ohio
State University, but the actual initiation of a formal collection began when
Professor
Josef N. Knull (1891-
1975) was hired in 1934 as full-time curator. For 28 years, until his retirement in 1962, Professor Knull
devoted his career to arrangement and expansion of the collection. Each summer of those 28 years, and
those afterward during his retirement, were spent in the field with his wife, Dr. Dorothy Johnson Knull.
Both were outstanding collectors and the results of their efforts are reflected in the volume of material
added to the collection.
|
 Many outstanding private collections, which formed the nucleaus of the Ohio State Insect Collection, were
also incorporated during the years of Professor Knull's tenure. Notable among these are the H. W. Wenzel
Coleoptera, Herbert Osborn Homoptera and Hemiptera, J. S. Hine Diptera, R. A. Leussler and W. N.
Tallant Lepidoptera, C. H. Kennedy ants, D. J. Knull leafhoppers, W.
M. Barrows spiders, and the Alvah
Peterson collection of immature insects.
|
In 1962,  C. A. Triplehorn assumed the duties of curator of the insect collection. The high standards of
excellence established by Knull have been maintained and the collection has greatly expanded. Increased
acquisition of exotic specimens has occurred through the efforts of C. A. Triplehorn (Brazil, Panama,
Mexico), P. H. Freytag (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras), H. J. Harlan (South Vietnam), D. M. DeLong
(Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru), L. E. Watrous (SE Asia) and B. D. Valentine (Caribbean Islands).
Although the primary emphasis is now on the North American fauna, we have extensive holdings from
many parts of the world.
|
|
The single most important collection obtained was the D. M. DeLong Homoptera collection, presented in
1965. Thus, our leafhopper collection, combining the efforts of DeLong, Osborn, and D. J. Knull, is one
of, if not the largest in the Western Hemisphere, and is especially rich in type specimens.
|
Other significant collections acquired in the past 20 years are the C. R. Cutright aphids, the R. M. Geist
Mallophaga and the Homer Price Odonata and Lepidoptera (purchased in 1972), D. J. Borror Odonata,
N. W. Britt aquatic insects and the Carlo Brivio Coleoptera (160,000 specimens). Numerous smaller but
valuable collections plus the collecting efforts of faculty, students, and other interested parties have
increased the size of the collection significantly.
|
|
Numerous and extensive arthropod collections were assembled by earlier students and faculty at The Ohio
State University, but the actual initiation of a formal collection began when
Professor
Josef N. Knull (1891-
1975) was hired in 1934 as full-time curator. For 28 years, until his retirement in 1962, Professor Knull
devoted his career to arrangement and expansion of the collection. Each summer of those 28 years, and
those afterward during his retirement, were spent in the field with his wife, Dr. Dorothy Johnson Knull.
Both were outstanding collectors and the results of their efforts are reflected in the volume of material
added to the collection.
Many outstanding private collections, which formed the nucleaus of the Ohio State Insect Collection, were
also incorporated during the years of Professor Knull's tenure. Notable among these are the H. W. Wenzel
Coleoptera, Herbert Osborn Homoptera and Hemiptera, J. S. Hine Diptera, R. A. Leussler and W. N.
Tallant Lepidoptera, C. H. Kennedy ants, D. J. Knull leafhoppers, W.
M. Barrows spiders, and the Alvah
Peterson collection of immature insects.
Other significant collections acquired in the past 20 years are the C. R. Cutright aphids, the R. M. Geist
Mallophaga and the Homer Price Odonata and Lepidoptera (purchased in 1972), D. J. Borror Odonata,
N. W. Britt aquatic insects and the Carlo Brivio Coleoptera (160,000 specimens). Numerous smaller but
valuable collections plus the collecting efforts of faculty, students, and other interested parties have
increased the size of the collection significantly.