Title: Moths, myths, and mosquitoes : the eccentric life of Harrison G. Dyar, Jr. /
Authors: Epstein, Marc E.,
Year: 2016
Subjects: Dyar, Harrison G.; Dyar, Harrison G.; Entomologists United States Biography.; Lepidoptera Catalogs and collections.; SCIENCE Life Sciences Zoology Entomology.; SCIENCE History.; Entomologists; Lepidoptera; United States
Abstract: "On September 26, 1924, the ground collapsed beneath a truck in a back alley in Washington, D.C., revealing a mysterious underground labyrinth. In spite of wild speculations, the tunnel was not the work of German spies, but rather an aging, eccentric Smithsonian scientist named Harrison Gray Dyar, Jr. While Dyar's covert tunneling habits may seem far-fetched, they were merely one of many oddities in Dyar's unbelievable life. For the first time, insect biosystemist Marc E. Epstein presents a complete account of Dyar's life story. Dyar, one of the most influential biologists of the twentieth century, focused his entomological career on building natural classifications of various groups of insects. His revolutionary approach to taxonomy, which examined both larval and adult stages of insects, brought about major changes in the scientific community's understanding of natural relationships and insect systematics.^
Contents: Preparatory stages. The Dyars and the Hannums : 1805-1875 ; Dyar, Jr. : early growth stages and development : 1875-1889 ; Collecting and rearing Lepidoptera, and Dyar's law : 1882-1891 ; Long collecting trips and sawflies : 1889-1897 ; Postgraduate education on classification of moths and bacteria at Columbia : 1892-1895 ; Genealogy of the Limacodidae and the Dyars ; Last days in New York, L.O. Howard, and a move to the U.S. National Museum -- Beginning a new life at the USNM and in Washington. Life in the District of Columbia and Wellesca Pollock ; Beginning a career building the National Collection of Lepidoptera ; Battle of the titans Smith and Dyar, and their new love - the "Skeets" ; Collecting and travels : 1898-1909 ; Literature wars and last battles with Smith : 1904-1911 ; Gains and losses as a professional lepidopterist : 1907-1914 -- Scandal, divorces, and their aftermath. Wellesca's Bahá'í faith, new wealth, and growing concerns by Zella as Dyar's life begins to unravel : 1906-1908 ; Marriage troubles : 1909-1913 ; The separation : 1914-1915 ; Divorce wrangling in Reno : 1915 ; Divorces, appeals, and bigamy : 1916-1921 ; After the scandal, dismissal, and friend Knab : 1917-1918 -- The final decade : attempts at reinstatement. The National Collection of Lepidoptera, its workers, and their tiffs : 1920s ; Mosquitoes and Dyar's pursuit of reinstatement ; Dyar and his tunnels : Dupont Circle & B Street ; Personal life and Bahá'ís in the 1920s ; Unity in the UNSM Lepidoptera Section and acquiring the Barnes Collection ; Final travels, projects, and days as Custodian of Lepidoptera ; Financial collapse and final push for reinstatement : 1925-1929 -- Epilogue. Wellesca's admission to the fictitious marriage ; It took two entomologists to replace Dyar ; Final days of Zella P. Dyar and Wellesca P.A. Dyar ; Final resting places ; Grandchildren find each other at the same school.