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Economic entomology

Branch of entomology

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History

In the 18th century many works were published on agriculture. Many contained accounts of pest insects. In France Claude Sionnest (1749–1820) was a notable figure.

19th century

In Britain, John Curtis wrote the influential 1860 treatise Farm Insects, dealing with the insect pests of corn, roots, grass and stored grain. Fruit and pests were described by authors such as Saunders, Joseph Albert Lintner, Eleanor Anne Ormerod, Charles Valentine Riley, Mark Vernon Slingerland in America and Canada. The pioneers in Europe were Ernst Ludwig Taschenberg, Sven Lampa (1839–1914), Enzio Reuter (1867–1951) and Vincenze Kollar. Charles French (1842–1933), Walter Wilson Froggatt (1858–1937) and Henry Tryon (1856–1943) pioneered in Australia.

It was not until the last quarter of the 19th century that any real advance was made in the study of economic entomology. Among the early writings, apart from the book of Curtis, there was a publication by Pohl and Kollar, entitled Insects Injurious to Gardeners, Foresters and Farmers, published in 1837, and Taschenberg's Praktische Insecktenkunde. During the 19th century, Italian entomologists made significant progress in controlling diseases of the silkworm moth, in the control of agricultural pests and in stored product entomology. Significant figures were: Agostino Bassi ( 1773–1856), Camillo Rondani (1808–1879), Adolfo Targioni Tozzetti (1823–1902), Pietro Stefanelli (1835, 1919), Camillo Acqua (1863–1936) Antonio Berlese (1863–1927), Gustavo Leonardi(1869–1918) and Enrico Verson (1845–1927). In France, Etienne Laurent Joseph Hippolyte Boyer de Fonscolombe, Charles Jean-Baptiste Amyot, Émile Blanchard, Valéry Mayet and Claude Charles Goureau were early workers, as was Jean Victoire Audouin, the author of Histoire des insectes nuisibles à la vigne et particulièrement de la Pyrale, Philippe Alexandre Jules Künckel d'Herculais, Joseph Jean Baptiste Géhin and Maurice Jean Auguste Girard.

American literature began as far back as 1788, when a report on the Hessian fly was issued by Sir Joseph Banks; in 1817 Thomas Say began his writings; while in 1856 Asa Fitch started his report on Noxious Insects of New York. Also in America, Matthew Cooke wrote Treatise on the Insects Injurious to Fruit and Fruit Trees of the State of California, and Remedies Recommended for Their Extermination, published in 1881. The Englishman Frederick Vincent Theobald wrote A textbook of agricultural zoology in 1890. It became a standard text worldwide. Notable foresters were Herman von Nördlinger (1818–1897) and Julius Theodor Christian Ratzeburg (1801–1871).

Pest infestations in colonial spaces spurred further research on pest control: The context of colonial plantation agriculture and an increasingly interconnected world, with its impact on the environment, and, consequently, on the spread of insects, provided further impetus for economic entomology at the turn of the 10th century.

20th century

Among the most important reports early in the 20th century were those of Charles Valentine Riley, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, extending from 1878 to his death, in which an enormous amount of valuable material is embodied. After his death, the work fell to Professor Leland Ossian Howard, in the form of Bulletin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The chief writings of J. A. Lintner extend from 1882 to 1898, in yearly parts, under the title of Reports on the Injurious Insects of the State of New York. Another significant contributor to the entomological literature of the United States was Charles W. Woodworth. The Florida entomologist Wilmon Newell was a pioneer of pest control as was Clarence Preston Gillette. In India, Thomas Bainbrigge Fletcher succeeded Harold Maxwell-Lefroy and Lionel de Nicéville as Imperial Entomologist and wrote Some South Indian insects and other animals of importance considered especially from an economic point of view, an influential work in the subcontinent. In France Alfred Balachowsky was a key figure.

Developments in the last quarter of the 20th century consisted of new techniques and theories that were pioneered and developed, including Integrated Pest Management by Ray F. Smith.

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