Josephine Christina Cardale worked as an

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 ...

for

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

from 1967 to 2001. She was a collection manager of

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

at the

Australian National Insect Collection The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

Career

Prior to working for CSIRO, her Master of Science thesis at

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

focused on ''The biology of

amegilla ''Amegilla'' is a large genus of bees in the tribe Anthophorini. Several species have blue metallic bands on the abdomen, and are referred to as "blue-banded bees" and "digger bees". One of their names in english, "digger bees" is given to them ...

friese (hymenoptera, apoidea)''. Her thesis focused on describing the females of Amegilla (Amegilla) pulchra (Smith) at nesting sites in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It also discusses four parasites from A. pulchra cells, and the behaviour of females of Amegilla (Asarapoda) sp. at a nesting site in Brisbane. During her work at CSIRO, she took part in the pre-wet survey for insects which may indicate environmental pollution at

McArthur River The McArthur River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia which flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria at Port McArthur, opposite the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands. The river was named by Ludwig Leichhardt while he explored the are ...

, Northern Territory (October–November 1975). The survey was contracted by Mimets Development Pty.Ltd., a subsidiary of Mt Isa Mines. The resulting ''"Report on a survey of the Insects of the McArthur River Area, NT"'' recommended insect populations for monitoring effects of water pollution. Cardale was also part of an intensive collecting trip to the Iron Range area of Cape York, Queensland (June–July 1986), which garnered 50,000 specimens (Upton, p. 240). She was also in the team which recorded some insects in Australia for the first time during a trip to Kununurra (Mitchell Plateau, Western Australia, May 1983) (Upton, pp. 243–4). She was credited with working with Dr John Lawrence in collecting most of the specimens of

Psocoptera Psocoptera are a paraphyletic group of insects that are commonly known as booklice, barklice or barkflies. The name Psocoptera has been replaced with Psocodea in recent literature, with the inclusion of the former order Phthiraptera into Psocode ...

from Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. Cardale's volume of the '' Zoological Catalogue of Australia'' was reviewed by C.D. Eardley as "...indispensable to anyone interested in Australian bees or pollination biology."

Namesakes

The

parasitoid wasp Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causin ...

species ''Ondontacolus cardaleae'' Valerio & Austin, sp. n. was named after Cardale, who collected the species. She is also the namesake of another parasitoid wasp species which she collected, ''Ophelosia josephinae'' sp.n. and a

cuckoo wasp Commonly known as cuckoo wasps or emerald wasps, the hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species) of parasitoid or kleptoparasitic wasps, often highly sculptured, with brilliant metallic colors ...

, ''Primeuchroeus cardaleae'' Bohart. She is also the namesake of a further parasitoid Ichneumon wasp 'Denticeria cardaleae,' which she collected. sp.n

Publications

* Cardale, J. (1968), Immature stages of Australian Anthophorinae (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Australian Journal of Entomology, 7: 35–41. doi:10.1111/j.1440-6055.1968.tb00698.x * W.W.K. Houston & G.V.Maynard (eds). Cardale, J.C. (author). ''Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 10. Hymenoptera: Apoidea.'' Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1993. ix + 406 pp.

Awards

Cardale was highly commended in the Australian Society of Indexers Medal Award (1992) for her index to ''Insects of Australia: A Textbook for Students and Research Workers''.

References

External links

Zoological Catalogue of Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardale, Josephine Australian entomologists Living people 20th-century women scientists 21st-century women scientists Australian women scientists Women entomologists CSIRO people Date of birth missing (living people) Date of death missing Place of birth missing (living people) Place of death missing Year of birth missing (living people)