Abstract
AT the annual meeting of the Royal Entomological Society of London, held on January 15, the retiring president, Dr. S. A. Neave, discussed the relations between mankind and insects. The growth of economic entomology, as he pointed out, is a relatively modern development. The first official Government entomologist to be appointed appears to have been in the United States in 1853. Between 1884 and 1895 a number of such appointments were established in various parts of the British Empire. In Great Britain, John Curtis, Miss Ormerod and others were early pioneers in economic entomology, but no permanent post of Government entomologist existed until 1912. From that time onwards the need for skilled entomological advice became increasingly recognised throughout the civilised world, and, at the present day, there are between three and four hundred trained entomologists in the British Empire alone. This increasing attention given to insects in relation to man has, as Dr. Neave pointed out, led to the discovery of hosts of important new species and to a demand for the correct identification of thousands of other species. This, in itself, has led to an ever-increasing pressure on the resources of systematists until, at the present time, they are unable to cope with the material awaiting study. This need for more systematists will have to be met if Government departments are to derive the full benefit from moneys voted towards coping with economic problems in entomology.
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Economic Entomology. Nature 137, 219 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137219c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137219c0