 JOHN
L. LECONTE
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John LeConte published nearly
200 papers on Coleoptera and described about 270 species of
mostly North American Scarabaeoidea. His collection, which was
begun by his father, was the foundation for subsequent work
on North American Coleoptera. At the peak of his career, many
of his papers were being translated and republished in Europe.
His first paper, describing about 20 species of Carabidae, was
published when he was 19.
LeConte obtained his M.D. from the College of Physicians and
Surgeons in New York, but he never engaged in medical practice
because his inheritance eliminated the need for him to do so.
From 1848-1850 he made several trips to Lake Superior and California
to collect. He moved to Philadelphia in 1852 and married in
1861. He made expeditions to Honduras, Panama, Europe, Egypt,
Algeria, and the western Untied States. At the outbreak of the
American Civil War, he entered the Army Medical Corps as surgeon
of volunteers where he remained until the end of the war.
Reference:
Hardy, A., F. G. Andrews and D. H. Kavanaugh. 1982. The
Collected LeConte Papers on Entomology, vol. 1. Scarabaeus
Associates, Sacramento, CA. |
