196 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



DANIEL WILLIAM COQUILLETTE. 



Mr. Coquillett (he always dropped the final e iu his surname) 

 was born on a farm at Pleasant Valley, near Woodstock, Illi- 

 nois, on the 23d of January, 1856. He was the sixth child of 

 Francis Marquis Lafayette and Sara Ann Coquillette, evidently 

 of French origin. His education was at the country school, 

 and later he taught there one or two terms. As a young man 

 he helped his father on the farm and even at this early period 

 was energetic in collecting, rearing, and studying insects. At 

 first he gathered butterflies and moths and their larvae, and 

 would utilize his noon hour, after hastily eating lunch, to re- 

 pair to the nearby woods, where he would secure larvae, which 

 he kept in small boxes. He bought books on entomology with 

 all his spare money, and spent his evenings eagerl)' reading 

 them. Many of his captures he sent to Prof. A. R. Grote, of 

 Buffalo, for identification. He recognized the importance of 

 studying the early stages of Lepidoptera, and drew up descrip- 

 tions of the caterpillars, which were later published in ento- 

 mological journals and reports. He was also interested in 

 birds, and prepared and, with the help of his brother, privately 

 printed (on a small hand press), a little book on "The Oology 

 of Illinois," Woodstock, 1876. In this, besides the descriptions 

 of eggs and nesting habits, are various observations on the 

 insect food of certain birds. In 1880 he published his first 

 paper on entomology, entitled, "On the early stages of some 

 moths" (Canadian Entomologist, 1880, pp 43-46). He gave 

 names to the lines and spaces on the caterpillar, and recog- 

 nized the need of accuracy in describing the immature stages. 



His articles brought him to the attention of Prof. Cyrus 

 Thomas, then State entomologist of Illinois, who requested 

 him to prepare an article on lepidopterous larva" 1 for publica- 

 tion in the annual report. Mr. Coquillett' s article was pub- 

 lished in the Tenth Report, and contained descriptions of the 

 larvrc of 88 species, mostly bred by himself. The arrange- 

 ment was entirely artificial, with analytical tables that would 

 enable one to name the larva without a knowledge of the 

 family. 



The next year, although still residing at Woodstock, Mr. 

 Coquillett was employed in various lines of economic work 

 for Professor Thomas, mostly relating to the army worm. 



His report on the arm}- worm, published in the Eleventh 

 Report of the State Entomologist of Illinois, definitely settled 

 some doubtful points in the life-history of this insect. 



For several years he had written replies to entomological 

 questions in a local newspaper, the Germantown Telegraph. 



