James George Needham (March 16, 1868 in

Virginia, Illinois Virginia is a city in Cass County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,514 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Cass County. Geography Virginia is located at (39.949022, -90.211793). According to the 2021 census gazetteer file ...

– July 24, 1957) 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 ...

. After studying with

John Henry Comstock John Henry Comstock (February 24, 1849 – March 20, 1931) was an eminent researcher in entomology and arachnology and a leading educator. His work provided the basis for classification of butterflies, moths, and scale insects. Early life and ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

(1896–1898) he taught

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Lake Forest University Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts inst ...

(1898–1907). In 1908 returned to Cornell as assistant professor of

limnology Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteristi ...

. When Comstock retired in 1914, Needham became head of the Department of Entomology at Cornell until his retirement in 1935. Needham published numerous scientific articles, educational papers, and textbooks but is best known for the

Comstock–Needham system The Comstock–Needham system is a naming system for insect wing veins, devised by John Comstock and George Needham in 1898. It was an important step in showing the homology of all insect wings. This system was based on Needham's ''pretracheation ...

for describing insect wing venation. He was a Member of 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, ...

, the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

and the Limnological Society of America.

References

Literature

*Needham, J. G. (James George)., Heywood, H. Butler. (1929)
A handbook of the dragonflies of North America
Springfield, Ill.: C.C. Thomas. {{DEFAULTSORT:Needham, James George 1868 births 1957 deaths American entomologists People from Virginia, Illinois Cornell University alumni Lake Forest College faculty Cornell University faculty

See also

References

Literature