CARL JOHN DRAKE 

 1885-1965 



During the 51 years of his life as an entomologist, Carl J. Drake 

 made a lasting impression with his work and contributions to the 

 knowledge of Hemiptera, The family Tingidae was his first love, 

 with semi-aquatic and aquatic groups not far behind; he made some 

 scientific contribution, however, to almost every major family of 

 the Hemiptera, His magnificent collection and library are housed 

 in the United States National Museum. 



Dr. Drake was bom and raised on a farm in Eagleville, Ohio, on 

 28 July 1885, and died in Washington, D.C., on 2 October 1965. 

 He earned his Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Pedantics 

 degrees at Baldwin-Wallace College (1912) then, at Ohio State 

 University, earned the degreesof Master of Arts (1914) and Doctor 

 of Philosophy (1921). As a graduate student and until 1922 he was 

 on the staff of Syracuse University. 



As head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology at Iowa 

 State University, Ames, Iowa (1922-1946), his positions included 

 those of State Entomologist and head of the Entomology Section of 

 the Agriculture Experiment Station through the depression and 

 war years. This was a most difficult period in the history of mid- 

 western agriculture because of drought, grasshopper plagues, 

 chinch bug outbreaks, and the destruction of crops by Hessian 

 flies, army worms, and the European com borer. Dr. Drake's 

 superior entomological knowledge aided him in combating these 

 pests both biologically and chemically. Paper barricades and 

 creosote stopped the flightless immature chinch bugs from 

 migrating from infested fields to fresh crop fields. A statewide 

 poison-bran project destroyed the grasshoppers and "fly free date" 

 planting methods helped the wheat crop escape damage from the 

 Hessian fly. He educated the general public to the problem at hand 

 and worked in close cooperation with the farmer and local, state, 

 and federal governments to bring Iowa and the Nation through these 

 crises. 



vu 



