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

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

s 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 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 mas ...

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 Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from ethology after Niko Tinbergen outlined four questions to address when ...

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

* 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''. Zoo ...

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 The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida, Phasmatoptera or Spectra) are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick-bugs, walking sticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred to as ...

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 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 well-known as ...

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,

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. 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 Academy of Natural Sciences 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 Weasel ...

, in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

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 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