ROSS: SYSTEMATIC ENTOMOLOGY 



491 



insects. Some of these pests were native but, with increased and more rapid 

 commerce, the introduction and intracontinental dissemination of pests from all 

 parts of the world began, which resulted in a need for entomological service in 

 agriculture. Soon, too, there developed an awareness of the medical importance 

 of insects. Federal and State funds became available to economic entomology 

 and, as the needs for entomological studies increased, so also did the staffs of 

 teachers to train the required men. Thus there is today probably a greater corps 

 of professionals in entomology than in any other branch of natural history. 



All of this has had a marked effect on the progress of systematic entomology. 

 Many men entered the field who had the advantage of broad training in science. 

 Much purely scientific entomology was carried on as a side line by men whose 

 official work was economic entomology or the training of economic entomologists. 

 We owe a rather advanced knowledge of many insect groups to the fact that 

 they include certain species of agricultural or medical importance; the fruit 

 flies, bark beetles, fleas, and mosquitoes are but a few examples. Along with these 

 advantages, however, there is an unfortunate tendency to evaluate entomologi- 

 cal research in terms of its direct or foreseeable practical application. 



Developments in Other Regions 



Outside of Europe and North America a good deal of systematic work has 

 been carried on in Japan, China, Indonesia, Australia, India, South Africa, Bra- 

 zil, Argentina, and Chile. To a great extent in these countries faunas are studied 

 chiefly by nonresident scientists. As a rule, a country or a state must enjoy a 

 high standard of living for a long time before aesthetic science develops, that is, 

 before knowledge can be sought solely for the love of knowledge. Many regions 

 are handicapped by their inability to build up the required reference libraries 

 and collections. Also, the fact that the type specimens of many of their native 

 species are lodged in museums in far-off countries is a disadvantage. This cir- 

 cumstance, however, should not be used to justify an arbitrary ruling that types 

 should be returned to the country of their origin, especially if safe and perpetual 

 care of the specimens cannot be assured there. Types are best situated where 

 the population of research workers is most dense. 



Importance of the Amateur 



I believe that the future of systematic entomology will be to a great extent 

 dependent on the development of a large group of amateurs interested in insects. 

 This does not necessarily mean that the amateur will do the basic scientific work 

 himself, but the development by the general public of a definite interest in the 

 science will create a "consumer demand" for the by-products of pure systematic 

 studies, that is, for the manuals. This interest, too, will result in greater sup- 

 port for museums, for chairs of entomology in universities, and for scientific 

 societies and publications. 



Systematists today should therefore do everything they can to encourage 

 more people to pursue the avocation of insect study or, at least, to appreciate 

 such study and support facilities for it. Each large population center should be 

 served by guidebooks of its local fauna so that the extent of the insect world 



