John Lawrence Le Conte

John Lawrence Le Conte, also LeConte or Leconte ( born May 13, 1825 New York City; † November 15, 1883 in Philadelphia ) was the most important American entomologist of the 19th century. He described and named a large number of insects, especially beetles.

Life

Hailing from a diverse scientific issues highlighted family John Lawrence Le Conte was the son of the naturalist John Eatton Le Conte ( 1784-1860 ). In 1842 he completed his studies at Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg (Maryland ) from 1846 then his medical studies at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York.

Early on, he became interested in entomology. During his studies, he published a work on about 20 ground beetle species of the east coast. Even then he also took trips to the West of North America, so in 1844 and 1846 to the Lake Superior, 1844 to the upper Mississippi River, and in 1845 in the Rocky Mountains. In 1848 he returned with Louis Agassiz returned to the vicinity of Lake Superior. Between 1849 and 1851 he traveled to California and explored the Colorado River.

In 1852 he relocated to Philadelphia, where he lived until his death. However, he made many research trips to countries such as Honduras ( 1857), Panama and New Mexico (1867 ), Europe, Algeria and Egypt. The desert Mockingbird ( Toxostoma lecontei, engl. " LeConte 's Thrasher" ) was discovered by Le Conte during a Beetle collection trip to Arizona, and named by George Newbold Lawrence after him.

In 1861 he married Helen Grier, with whom he had two sons. During the Civil War he worked as a surgeon and as a medical supervisor and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. From 1878 until his death he was Managing Director of the United States Mint ( Mint ) in Philadelphia.

Le Conte published about 60 scientific monographs and two large basic works on the Insects of North America. He was very active in the scientific societies of his time; he was 1880-1883 Vice President of the American Philosophical Society, 1873 President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, founder of the Entomological Society of America and a founding member of the National Academy of Sciences. About 30 scientific societies he belonged to as an honorary member or corresponding member.

Its collections he bequeathed to the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge (Massachusetts ).

Works

• Classification of the Coleoptera of North America (1862, 1873)
• List of Coleoptera of North America (1866 )
• New Species of North American Coleoptera (1866, 1873)
• The Rhynchophora of America North of Mexico ( 1876)
• Together with George Henry Horn: Classification of the Coleoptera of North America. Part II ( 1883)