The Lepidopterists' Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

and

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s (

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

). Founded in 1947 and based in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, it has an international focus and membership.

Publications

The society's main organ is the ''Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society'', which has been published continuously since 1947. Back issues up and including 2009 are freely available and hosted by the

Peabody Museum of Natural History The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University is among the oldest, largest, and most prolific university natural history museums in the world. It was founded by the philanthropist George Peabody in 1866 at the behest of his nephew Othn ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Subsequent issues are available via

BioOne BioOne is a nonprofit publisher of scientific research. BioOne was established in 1999 in Washington, DC, as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization by five scholarly collaborators: the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Scholarly P ...

. Since 1959, the society has also published a quarterly newsletter, the ''News of the Lepidopterists' Society''. All back issues of this, too, are available from the Peabody Museum. A series of occasional papers is called ''Memoirs'': * Memoir 1. ''A Synonmyic List of the Neractic Rhophalocera''. C. F. dos Passos, 1964 * Memoir 2. ''A Catalogue/Checklist of the Butterflies of America North of Mexico''. L. D. Miller and F. M. Brown, 1981. * Memoir 3. ''Supplement to: A Catalogue/Checklist of the Butterflies of America North of Mexico''. C. D. Ferris (ed.), 1989 * Memoir 4. ''Foodplants of World Saturniidae''. S. E. Stone, 1991 * Memoir 5. ''Basic Techniques for Observing and Studying Moths and Butterflies''. W. D. Winter, Jr., 2000 They are also available via the Peabody. Other publications include: * ''The Lepidopterists' Society Commemorative Volume 1945-1973''. R. Kendall (compiler), 1977

Presidents

The society's first president, in 1951, was

James Halliday McDunnough James Halliday McDunnough (10 May 1877 – 23 February 1962) was a Canadian linguist, musician, and entomologist best known for his work with North American Lepidoptera, but who also made important contributions about North American Ephemeropte ...

of the

Nova Scotia Museum of Science The Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, part of the Nova Scotia Museum, is located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia. The museum includes collections and exhibits concerning the natural sciences as well as artifacts of cultural significance to N ...

. The next year, he was succeeded by the German-British entomologist Karl Jordan, of the Zoological Museum, Tring, England. The president for 2018-2019 is .

Awards

The society awards a

Karl Jordan Medal Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

, initiated in 1972, in honor of Jordan. The first recipient was

Henri Stempffer Henri Stempffer (23 January 1894 – 1 November 1978) was a French entomologist who specialized in the study of Lycaenidae butterflies. Biography Stempffer was born on 23 January 1894 in Paris, at 19 rue de Charonne.Luquet (G. Chr.), 2004. Notes ...

. A full list of recipients is: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The society also grants honorary life memberships, such as that conferred on

Lincoln Brower Lincoln Pierson Brower (September 10, 1931 – July 17, 2018) was an American entomologist and ecologist, known for his work on monarch butterflies through six decades, including on their automimicry, chemical ecology and conservation. G. Paste ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Learned societies of the United States 1947 establishments in the United States Non-profit organizations based in the United States Lepidopterology Zoological societies Entomological societies