Center for Systematic Entomology

NEWSLETTER

P.O.Box 147100

Gainesville, Florida 32614-7100 USA

 

October 25, 2002

 

Dear Members,

      The extensive and important library and collection of the late Dr. Ross H. Arnett, Jr., was donated to the CSE at the beginning of the year. As has been documented here before (CSE Newsletter 2000), Dr. Arnett was a significant contributor to American entomology for several decades, and a co-founder of the CSE. Efforts are underway to rename the Division of Plant Industry library annex as the Ross and Mary Arnett Reading Room.

      Insecta Mundi is close to getting back on a normal schedule. Volume 15 (2001) is nearing completion; 15(3) is at the printer, 15(4) is in review and should be out by the end of the year. Volume 16 (2002) will be published complete as one volume and will catch us up so that Volume 17 (2003) will be published during its designated calendar year. I want to remind everyone (again) that a Ross Arnett commemorative issue is still in the works, but we need manuscripts toward this issue.

      Insecta Mundi is almost online as I indicated last year we were planning to do. The first 10 volumes (1985-1995) are ready to be posted on the Web, thanks primarily to the efforts of Dr. Bruce Sutton. He is also preparing an index for these volumes. The tables of contents of subsequent issues to date will also be posted. Each year another volume will be added, so that posted volumes trail the current volume by 5 years. Look for the CSE website to be updated with electronic Insecta Mundi volumes in the near future. Paper volumes older than 5 years (i.e., 1985-1995) are still being sold individually at $15/volume (or entire set for $60) as long as they last, with the most recent volumes to be sold at $35/volume (same as current annual membership).


 

      Another plan for Insecta Mundi is to make recent articles and volumes available online for an additional fee. Details have not yet been worked out, but will be made available to prospective authors when we are ready to implement this option.

      The Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA) Entomology Section recently had one of its staff depart. Dr. Avas B. Hamon, curator of scales, mealybugs, and whiteflies, retired to his new hilltop mansion in West Virginia! This also left a gaping hole in the CSE Board of Directors, as Avas was in his second stint as Treasurer of the CSE. Thanks, Avas, your yeoman duty was greatly appreciated!!! We wish you all the best in your retirement. Avas’ replacement, Dr. Greg S. Hodges, recently from the University of Georgia, has also kindly agreed to be our new Treasurer.

      We provided grants this year to the following visiting scientists: A $500 grant was awarded to Dr. Allen R. Brady, Hope College, Holland, Michigan. Dr. Brady visited in March, 2002, to conduct research on the family Lycosidae (wolf spiders) at the FSCA. The FSCA has an excellent collection of wolf spiders, thanks in part to acquisition during the 1970s of the lycosid collection of the late Dr. H. K. Wallace of the University of Florida.

      Dr. Rowland M. Shelley of the North Carolina State Museum of Natural History also received a $500 grant. He visited in April, 2002, to work on a FSCA milliped type database. The FSCA has one of the top four collections of Diplopoda in the country, with many types in the Nell Causey collection that is housed here, as well as some Harold Loomis and Rowland Shelley types.

      Julieta Brambila was awarded $600 from funds donated to CSE to travel with Dr. Lois O’Brien to North Carolina State University to return a cabinet of specimens, and then on to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., to conduct research on the order Hemiptera.

      Oscar Perez, a student from Venezuela who has been working in the Museum of Entomology of the FSCA, was awarded a $100 scholarship for his outstanding efforts.

      An additional $150 was allocated to acquire software for the FSCA specimen identification database. The total amount of grant funds given or allocated to date for 2002 is $1,850.

      Here is a brief update on entomology events in Gainesville as detailed in last year’s newsletter. Construction on the Center for Lepidoptera Research at the Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, began in September, 2002. We look forward to completion of this museum and its associated public butterfly exhibit.

      The NSF collections improvement grant to the FSCA has already filled half of the smaller museum room with new cabinets and drawers onto a previously installed compactor system. Transfer of specimens to their new homes is continuing at an accelerated pace. Delivery of the remainder of the cabinets and drawers for this room will begin in February, 2003.

      The CSE’s Board of Directors voted to dissolve its Direct Support Organization (DSO) status with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. This was strictly a business decision based on our desire to use our limited funds to provide grants to the FSCA rather than to hire a CPA to perform our annual audit as required by our DSO status. The CSE will continue to be a strong supporter of the activities of the FSCA and systematic entomology in general.

      This year’s Annual Business Meeting will be held Tuesday, 31 December 2002, at 10:00 AM in the Library Annex of the Doyle Conner Building, 1911 SW 34th Street, Gainesville, Florida. We will not have an extended program this year, but all are welcome to attend and present suggestions for improvement of your society.

      Have a great 2003!

 

G. B. Edwards, President

Center for Systematic Entomology