Entomological Reference Collection: 85 years of contributions to public health / Coleção Entomológica de Referência: 85 anos de contribuições à saúde pública

ABSTRACT The Department of Hygiene of the Faculty of Medicine of São Paulo (FMUSP), organized with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, became the Institute of Hygiene, with the inaugural class taught by Samuel Darling in 1918. The history of Public Health Entomology is mixed with that of the Institute itself, which became the Faculty of Hygiene and Public Health in 1945. Still in the 1930s, Paulo César de Azevedo Antunes and John Lane organized Public Health Entomology within the Medical Parasitology area of the then Institute of Hygiene. During this period, the entomology laboratory came to be recognized for its research in the systematics of hematophagous insects, as well as in the ecology, biology and behavior of vectors. The Entomological Reference Collection (CER) originated naturally from the research of Paulo César Antunes and John Lane and is a national and international heritage covering primary and secondary types of insect species that are of interest to public health. Over the years, it has been consolidated with the efforts of Augusto Ayroza Galvão, Renato Corrêa, José Coutinho, Nelson Cerqueira, Ernesto Rabello, Oswaldo Forattini and others. In its over eighty years of activities, CER has enabled the training of several scientists able to act in programs of surveillance and control of endemic diseases associated with insect vectors throughout Latin America, in addition to training taxonomists focused on insects of interest in Public Health. Researchers from other Brazilian institutes and abroad joined the entomology laboratory because of its importance and the research developed in it. The growing scientific production made it possible for entomological studies developed at the Faculty of Public Health (FSP) to gain international visibility, contributing to the development of disease prevention and epidemic control actions in the country.

RESUMO O Departamento de Higiene da Faculdade de Medicina de São Paulo (FMUSP), organizado com o apoio da Fundação Rockefeller, tornou-se o Instituto de Higiene, tendo a aula inaugural ministrada por Samuel Darling em 1918. A história da Entomologia de Saúde Pública confunde-se com a do próprio Instituto, que passou a ser a Faculdade de Higiene e Saúde Pública em 1945. Ainda na década de 1930, Paulo César de Azevedo Antunes e John Lane começam a organizar a Entomologia de Saúde Pública dentro da Parasitologia Médica, do então Instituto de Higiene. Durante esse período o laboratório de entomologia passou a ser reconhecido por suas pesquisas em sistemática de insetos hematófagos, bem como na ecologia, biologia e comportamento de vetores. A Coleção Entomológica de Referência (CER) originou-se naturalmente das pesquisas de Paulo César Antunes e John Lane e é um patrimônio nacional e internacional abrangendo tipos primários e secundários de espécies de insetos que apresentam interesse à saúde pública. No decorrer dos anos, consolidou-se com os esforços de Augusto Ayroza Galvão, Renato Corrêa, José Coutinho, Nelson Cerqueira, Ernesto Rabello, Oswaldo Forattini e outros. Em seus mais de oitenta anos de atividades, a CER possibilitou a formação de diversos cientistas aptos a atuar em programas de vigilância e controle de endemias associadas aos insetos vetores em toda a América Latina, além de formar taxonomistas voltados aos insetos de interesse em Saúde Pública. Pesquisadores de outros institutos brasileiros e do exterior juntaram-se ao laboratório de entomologia por conta de sua importância e das pesquisas nele desenvolvidas. A produção científica crescente possibilitou aos estudos entomológicos desenvolvidos na Faculdade de Saúde Pública (FSP) adquirirem uma visibilidade internacional, contribuindo para o desenvolvimento das ações de prevenções de doenças e controle de epidemias no país.

Researcher Li-Ming MA: Contributions to systematic acarology and entomology.

This paper provides a brief biography of researcher Li-Ming Ma (19352021), who was a Chinese systematic acarologist and entomologist. He published 464 papers during his professional life (106 papers during working years, 358 papers after his retirement). During 19572021, he established two new genera, one new subgenus, 342 new species and three new subspecies of arthropods, which are catalogued here. The information provided includes genus and species names, type data, hosts, location, type deposition and reference list. Some of the types of 126 species were transferred from their original deposition to IZAS (Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica, Beijing, China).

A Century of Synergy in Termite Symbiosis Research: Linking the Past with New Genomic Insights.

Termites have long been studied for their symbiotic associations with gut microbes. In the late nineteenth century, this relationship was poorly understood and captured the interest of parasitologists such as Joseph Leidy; this research led to that of twentieth-century biologists and entomologists including Cleveland, Hungate, Trager, and Lüscher. Early insights came via microscopy, organismal, and defaunation studies, which led to descriptions of microbes present, descriptions of the roles of symbionts in lignocellulose digestion, and early insights into energy gas utilization by the host termite. Focus then progressed to culture-dependent microbiology and biochemical studies of host-symbiont complementarity, which revealed specific microhabitat requirements for symbionts and noncellulosic mechanisms of symbiosis (e.g., N2 fixation). Today, knowledge on termite symbiosis has accrued exponentially thanks to omic technologies that reveal symbiont identities, functions, and interdependence, as well as intricacies of host-symbiont complementarity. Moving forward, the merging of classical twentieth-century approaches with evolving omic tools should provide even deeper insights into host-symbiont interplay.

Preference Provides a Plethora of Problems (Don't Panic).

This review was solicited as an autobiography. The "problems" in my title have two meanings. First, they were professional difficulties caused by my decision to study oviposition preferences of butterflies that were not susceptible to traditional preference-testing designs. Until I provided video, my claim that the butterflies duplicate natural post-alighting host-assessment behavior when placed on hosts by hand was not credible, and the preference-testing technique that I had developed elicited skepticism, anger, and derision. The second meaning of "problems" is scientific. Insect preference comes with complex dimensionality that interacts with host acceptability. Part Two of this review describes how my group's work in this area has revealed unexpected axes of variation in plant-insect interactions-axes capable of frustrating attempts to derive unequivocal conclusions from apparently sensible experimental designs. The possibility that these complexities are lurking should be kept in mind as preference and performance experiments are devised.

A Life's Journey Through Insect Metamorphosis.

This autobiographical article describes the research career of Lynn M. Riddiford from its early beginnings in a summer program for high school students at Jackson Laboratory to the present "retirement" at the Friday Harbor Laboratories. The emphasis is on her forays into many areas of insect endocrinology, supported by her graduate students and postdoctoral associates. The main theme is the hormonal regulation of metamorphosis, especially the roles of juvenile hormone (JH). The article describes the work of her laboratory first in the elucidation of the endocrinology of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, and later in the molecular aspects of the regulation of cuticular and pigment proteins and of the ecdysone-induced transcription factor cascade during molting and metamorphosis. Later studies utilized Drosophila melanogaster to answer further questions about the actions of JH.

2019 AMCA Memorial Lecture Honoree: William Richard Opp 1942-2017 A Life Well Lived Helping Others.

Since 1979 more than 40 individuals have been recognized for their lifetime achievements in the AMCA Memorial Lecture. These individuals have included luminaries such as Carlos Finlay, Leland Osian Howard, William Herms, Andy Spielman, and, most recently, Fred Knapp (2018). Only one of these individuals recognized, Harold Gray in 1987, was an engineer. Engineers are problem solvers, and mosquito control is, most assuredly, an enterprise fraught with problems. Thus, the selection of William R. Opp as the 2019 honoree is both timely and well deserved. Bill Opp's career is a testament to an individual who made a difference in the lives of countless individuals.

Francisco Campos-Rivadeneira and Roberto Levi- Castillo: Their lives and contributions to the study of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Ecuador. / Francisco Campos-Rivadeneira y Roberto Levi-Castillo: sus vidas y contribuciones al estudio de los mosquitos (Diptera: Culicidae) en Ecuador

The study of mosquitoes is important in the prevention of vector-borne diseases. In Ecuador, the study of local mosquito biodiversity was pioneered by two entomologists whose contributions span through the first half of the 20th century, Francisco Campos-Rivadeneira and Roberto Levi-Castillo. Both of them contributed to general aspects of Entomology and to particular insights in mosquito taxonomy. Their publications and discoveries were recognized by the international scientific community but went unnoticed in South America during their time. Today, very few citizens remember the names and contributions of these two scientists. Here, we provide an overview of their lives, a summary of their contributions, and we conclude with a broader outlook on the practice of science in Latin America during their time.

El estudio de los mosquitos es una importante tarea en la prevención de las enfermedades transmitidas por vectores. En Ecuador, el conocimiento de la biodiversidad local de mosquitos se inició con dos entomólogos pioneros que trabajaron a inicios del siglo XX: Francisco Campos-Rivadeneira y Roberto Levi-Castillo. Ambos hicieron importantes contribuciones en el campo de la Entomología en general y de la taxonomía de los mosquitos en particular. En su época, sus aportes fueron reconocidos por la comunidad científica internacional, pero pasaron desapercibidos en la región suramericana. Hoy en día, son muy pocos los que recuerdan los nombres y los aportes de estos dos hombres de ciencia. En este artículo, se presenta una breve biografía de ambos científicos y un resumen de sus contribuciones, y se establece en perspectiva la situación de la práctica de la ciencia en Latinoamérica durante la época.

Cooking up the perfect insect: Aristotle's transformational idea about the complete metamorphosis of insects.

Aristotle made important contributions to the study of developmental biology, including the complete metamorphosis of insects. One concept in particular, that of the perfect or complete state, underlies Aristotle's ideas about metamorphosis, the necessity of fertilization for embryonic development, and whether morphogenesis involves an autonomous process of self-assembly. Importantly, the philosopher erroneously views metamorphosis as a necessary developmental response to lack of previous fertilization of the female parent, a view that is intimately connected with his readiness to accept the idea of the spontaneous generation of life. Aristotle's work underpins that of the major seventeenth century students of metamorphosis, Harvey, Redi, Malpighi and Swammerdam, all of whom make frequent reference to Aristotle in their writings. Although both Aristotle and Harvey are often credited with inspiring the later prolonged debate between proponents of epigenesis and preformation, neither actually held firm views on the subject. Aristotle's idea of the perfect stage also underlies his proposal that the eggs of holometabolous insects hatch 'before their time', an idea that is the direct precursor of the much later proposals by Lubbock and Berlese that the larval stages of holometabolous insects are due to the 'premature hatching' from the egg of an imperfect embryonic stage. This article is part of the theme issue 'The evolution of complete metamorphosis'.

An Unlikely Beginning: A Fortunate Life.

Elizabeth A. Bernays grew up in Australia and studied at the University of Queensland before traveling in Europe and teaching high school in London. She later obtained a PhD in entomology at London University. Then, as a British government scientist, she worked in England and in developing countries on a variety of projects concerned with feeding by herbivorous insects and their physiology and behavior. In 1983, she was appointed professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where her research expanded to a variety of topics, all related to the physiology, behavior, and ecology of feeding in insects. She was awarded a DSc from the University of London, and at about the same time became head of the Department of Entomology and regents' professor at the University of Arizona. In Arizona, most of her research involved multiple approaches to the understanding of diet breadth in a variety of phytophagous insect species.

Un magisterio en la distancia: la relación epistolar entre los entomólogos José María Dusmet y Modesto Quilis / A teaching in the distance: the corresponce between José María Dusmet y Modesto Quilis, and the entomological practice in Spain before Civil War

José María Dusmet (1869-1960) fue un reconocido entomólogo español, especialista en macrohimenópteros, que desarrolló su labor vinculado al Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales aun sin ocupar oficialmente puesto alguno. En 1925 un joven universitario de Valencia, Modesto Quilis (1904-1938), contactó con él para solicitarle consejo para progresar en su afición por los insectos. A partir de ese momento, y durante más de diez años, Dusmet fue iniciando a Quilis en la práctica entomológica profesional. Así, le asesoraba en la adquisición de ejemplares y bibliografía, al tiempo que le facilitaba contactos entre especialistas nacionales y extranjeros y le resolvía dudas de nomenclatura y taxonomía. Además, le inició en un cierto ethos caballeresco de la práctica naturalista. Con el tiempo, Quilis logró una inserción profesional como entomólogo especialista en microhimenópteros y control biológico de las plagas del campo, iniciando una prometedora carrera que frustró su temprana muerte. Las cartas que ambos intercambiaron, conservadas en el Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, ponen de relieve los detalles de un magisterio en la distancia intensamente cargado de admiración mutua y cultivo de la amistad

José María Dusmet (1869-1960) was a renowned Spanish entomologist. He specialized in big Hymenoptera, developing his tasks at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid, despite the fact he never occupied an official position. In 1925, Modesto Quilis (1904-1938), a student from Valencia, wrote Dusmet in order to obtain advice on how to make progress in entomological studies. From that moment and for more than a decade, Dusmet gave Quilis guidance to the practice of professional entomology in a diversity of aspects, e.g., acquisition of specimens and bibliography, contacts with other colleagues in Spain and other countries, or questions on taxonomy and nomenclature. He also introduced his young disciple in a certain kind of scientific ethos, based on a chivalric sense of the relationship between natural history practitioners. Some years went by and Quilis obtained an official job as entomologist specialized in microhymenoptera and pest control. His promising career was cut short by his premature death. Exchange letters between both naturalists have been consulted at the Archive of the National Museum of Natural History. This correspondence highlights the details of a sort of teaching-in-distance, pervaded by friendship and mutual admiration

The Evolution and Metamorphosis of Arthropod Proteomics and Genomics.

This article presents an overview of the development of techniques for analyzing cuticular proteins (CPs), their transcripts, and their genes over the past 50 years based primarily on experience in the laboratory of J.H. Willis. It emphasizes changes in the kind of data that can be gathered and how such data provided insights into the molecular underpinnings of insect metamorphosis and cuticle structure. It describes the techniques that allowed visualization of the location of CPs at both the anatomical and intracuticular levels and measurement of the appearance and deployment of transcripts from CP genes as well as what was learned from genomic and transcriptomic data. Most of the early work was done with the cecropia silkmoth, Hyalophora cecropia, and later work was with Anopheles gambiae.

A brief history of the discovery of tick-borne encephalitis virus in the late 1930s (based on reminiscences of members of the expeditions, their colleagues, and relatives).

Tick-borne encephalitis virus is the etiological agent of a severe human disease transmitted by hard ticks. It occurs in large parts of eastern, central, and western Asia and in Europe with thousands of human cases each year. Here, the discovery of the virus by Soviet scientists in the late 1930s in the Far East is described. The pioneering work involved with this discovery, which resulted in great scientific and epidemiological achievement, was undertaken under the most difficult conditions, and some of the scientists and their technical assistants paid for it with their health and even their lives. This paper briefly outlines the steps on the way that elucidated the basic etiology and eco-epidemiology of the disease, and does not omit that, as one result of the expeditions and the political situation in the former Soviet Union at that time, some scientists were sent to prison.

Following the Yellow Brick Road.

Charles Calisher was fascinated by microorganisms from the time he was in high school. He attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City, Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (now University of the Sciences) (BS), then University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana (MS), and finally Georgetown University, in Washington, DC (PhD), the latter while employed at a commercial biological house. He was hired by the US Communicable Disease Center (now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in Atlanta, Georgia, was transferred to its Fort Collins laboratories in 1973, and retired from there in 1992. After traveling the world a bit, Calisher joined the faculty of Colorado State University in 1993, then semiretired as professor emeritus in 2010. During all those years, he developed from a would-be virologist to an arbovirologist-epidemiologist, identifying scores of newly recognized viruses from throughout the world and helping to investigate disease outbreaks and epidemics. His interests (always primarily arboviruses but now also rodent-borne viruses and bat-borne viruses) continue to expand, and he continues to be involved in various aspects of virology and to assist and annoy journal editors and others in regard to viral taxonomy.

Dr. Alois Huger - Laying the foundations for an integrated insect pathology.

Dr. Rer. Nat. Alois M. Huger had a long and distinguished career at the Institut für biologische Schädlingsbekämpfung (Institute for Biological Pest Control) Darmstadt, Germany, where he became one of the world's leading insect pathologists. He applied his experience and understanding of insect tissues and specialist skills in microscopy to diagnosis and elucidation of the pathology of insect diseases. During his career he discovered the Oryctes nudivirus and Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis, and was a member of teams unravelling amber disease in scarab beetles and the role of bacteria in parthenogenesis of parasitoids. He researched and described the life cycles of microsporidian and rickettsial pathogens of insects and was the first to describe the ultrastructure of a microsporidian spore. Dr. Huger carried out diagnosis of diseased insects over a period of 55years and has left us with many publications and a database containing thousands of records for ongoing investigation. Working with multiple pathogens in different systems, Dr. Huger obtained an overview second to none in the complexities of insect/pathogen relationships and has been at the forefront of making these discoveries benefit humanity. He is a worthy recipient of the Founders' Lecture Honoree Award, the highest honour of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology.