Edward Payson Van Duzee (6 April 1861 – 2 June 1940) was an American
entomologist
Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...
noted for his work on
Hemiptera
Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...
. As of 1885, he was a librarian at Grosvenor Library of Buffalo New York for 28 years, and then relocated to California in 1912 where he took a position at Scripps Institute in La Jolla. The same year, Van Duzee became a fellow at the
Entomological Society of America
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) was founded in 1889 and today has more than 7,000 members, including educators, extension personnel, consultants, students, researchers, and scientists from agricultural departments, health agencies, ...
. Due to his fellowship, Van Duzee was appointed as an instructor of entomology at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1914–16, after which he was served as curator of the entomology collection at the California Academy of Sciences from 1916 to 1940. At the time of his death, he had approximately 165 publications in addition to his noted Catalogue of the Hemiptera where he established 46 new genera and 906 species or subspecies.
''The following is drawn from a brief unpublished autobiographical sketch written by Van Duzee in January, 1940'': His father was Dr. William Sanford Van Duzee, natural historian and amateur astronomer (a
Fitz refractory telescope
Fitz (pronounced "fits") was a patronymic indicator used in Anglo-Norman England to help distinguish individuals by identifying their immediate predecessors. Meaning "son of", it would precede the father's forename, or less commonly a title held ...
intended for the University of Virginia came into his possession in 1861 due to a failed sale because of war conditions). Shortly after Edward Payson's birth, the family left New York and returned to Buffalo (corner of Main and Riley Streets) where the family home housed a small natural history museum and the Fitz telescope housed in a specially-built three-story structure that was opened for public viewing. Meetings of like-minded took place in the home and the Buffalo Society for Natural History was thus born. His brother,