Daniel Otte (born 14 March 1939) is a noted behavior ecologist, a world expert on

crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets, and, more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 8 ...

and grasshoppers and a prominent scientific illustrator. He has made significant contributions to evolutionary biology. He is curator and chairman of the Department of Entomology at the

Academy of Natural Sciences The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natura ...

in Philadelphia. Otte was born and educated in South Africa and began his career at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

Areas of research

Otte has contributed to the following areas of research: * Communication and signaling systems * Origins of organic diversity (speciation, colonization, etc.) * Behavioral ecology *

Sexual selection Sexual selection is a mode of natural selection in which members of one biological sex choose mates of the other sex to mate with (intersexual selection), and compete with members of the same sex for access to members of the opposite sex ( ...

* Discovery of new cricket and grasshopper species from the Pacific region, the Caribbean islands, western United States and Africa * Comprehensive systematic treatments of regional

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

s (North America, Australia, Hawaii, Caribbean, southern Africa) * Developing world catalogs of grasshoppers, crickets,

katydids Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America), or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, t ...

, stick insects,

mantids Mantidae is one of the largest families in the order of praying mantises, based on the type species '' Mantis religiosa''; however, most genera are tropical or subtropical. Historically, this was the only family in the order, and many referen ...

and

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are a Paraphyly, paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are we ...

es * Publicizing organic diversity via the internet (Orthoptera Species File)

Books written for the general public

Otte also has illustrated the following books for general audiences: * ''Behavioral Guide to African Mammals'' by R. D. Estes,

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...

. 1991 * ''The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals'' by R. D. Estes, Chelsea Green Publishing Co., Post Mills, VT. 1992 * ''The Birds of North America''. Alan Poole editor, American Ornithologists Union (contributing illustrator). 1992 * ''Limpopo River Tales'': Daniel Otte (Author, Illustrator), Carin Thom (Author) Austin (July 31, 2017)

Species files

Otte is the founder and principal author of "Orthoptera Species File", an online catalog providing information on all the world's grasshoppers, crickets, katydids and related species. With the world's largest collection of grasshoppers and crickets and an outstanding library, the

pioneered in the task of placing a catalog of all known species of a major group of insects on the Internet. The Orthoptera Species File provides access to data on one of the most economically important groups, the grasshoppers, historically one of man's important competitors. Otte is founder and senior author of the "Mantodea Species File", a catalog of the praying mantis species of the world, and is founder and principal author of "Phasmida Species File", a catalog of the stick insects of the world.

Documenting biodiversity

Otte has conducted research which documents the magnitude and origin of organic diversity in the following regions: *North America: United States, Canada and Mexico. *Central America: the Caribbean Islands and Costa Rica. *South America: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela. *Southwest Pacific area: Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. *Pacific Islands: Galapagos, Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa and Solomons. *Africa: South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Mali, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Symposium and honours

A symposium was held in June 2009 to honor Otte, Curator of Entomology at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. It was held at the

University of Lethbridge , mottoeng = '' Let there be light'' , type = Public , established = , academic_affiliations = Universities Canada , endowment = $73 million (2019) , chancellor = Charles Wease ...

, in Lethbridge,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Otte received the

Leidy Award The Leidy Award is a medal and prize presented by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was named after US palaeontologist Joseph Leidy. T ...

for scientific excellence on November 12, 2009 at the Academy, where he has worked as curator of entomology for 35 years.

References

External links

DANIEL OTTE, PHDDan OtteOrthoptera Species File OnlineBooks by Daniel OtteDan Otte SymposiumDan's LectureDan Otte gets the Leidy Medal!Chasing grasshoppers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otte, Dan 1939 births Living people Evolutionary biologists American entomologists American ecologists