Mary Adelia Davis Treat (7 September 1830 in

Trumansburg, New York Trumansburg is a village in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 1,797 at the 2010 census. The name incorporates a misspelling of the surname of the founder, Abner Treman. The Tremans spelled their surname several different ...

– 11 April 1923 in

Pembroke, New York Pembroke is a town in Genesee County, Western New York, United States. The population was 4,292 at the 2010 census. The town is named for a town in west Wales. Pembroke lies on the west border of Genesee County, west of Batavia. History Pembro ...

) was a naturalist and correspondent with

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

. Treat's contributions to both

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and

entomology 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 ara ...

were extensive—six species of plants and animals were named after her, including an

amaryllis ''Amaryllis'' () is the only genus in the subtribe Amaryllidinae (tribe Amaryllideae). It is a small genus of flowering bulbs, with two species. The better known of the two, ''Amaryllis belladonna'', is a native of the Western Cape region of ...

, ''Zephyranthes treatae'', an oak gall wasp Bellonocnema treatae and three

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

species '' Aphaenogaster mariae'', ''

Aphaenogaster treatae ''Aphaenogaster'' is a genus of myrmicine ants. About 200 species have been described, including 18 fossil species. They occur worldwide except in South America south of Colombia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Antarctica. They are often confused w ...

'', and Dolichoderus mariae''.

Early life

Born Mary Davis to a middle-class family in Trumansburg, New York, when she was nine years old, she moved with her family to Ohio, where she attended public and private girls' schools. Davis married Dr. Joseph Burrell Treat, an abolitionist and professor, in 1863; they lived in Iowa and in 1868 they moved to

Vineland, New Jersey Vineland is a city in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 60,780. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 61,156 ...

Career and research

After her move to New Jersey, Treat began her scientific studies in earnest, and collaborated with her husband on entomology articles and research. Treat’s first scientific article was a note published in ''The American Entomologist'' when she was 39 years old. Over 28 years she wrote 76 scientific and popular articles as well as five books. Her research quickly expanded from entomology to ornithology and botany, detailing bird and plant life in the southern New Jersey region and specifically the

Pine Barrens Pine barrens, pine plains, sand plains, or pineland areas occur throughout the U.S. from Florida to Maine (see Atlantic coastal pine barrens) as well as the Midwest, West, and Canada and parts of Eurasia. Perhaps the most well known pine-barre ...

. Following separation from her husband in 1874, Treat supported herself by publishing

popular science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

articles for periodicals such as '' Harpers and Queen.'' Beginning in 1870, she published popular naturalist pieces in ''Garden and Forest'', ''Hearth and Home'', ''Harper's'', and ''Lippincott's''. Her book, ''Injurious Insects of the Farm and Field,'' originally published in 1882, was reprinted five times. She also collected plants and insects for other researchers, one of whom was the eminent Harvard

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

. It was through Gray that she was introduced to Charles Darwin. Treat wrote letters to engage in botanical and entomological discourse not only with Darwin and Gray, but

Auguste Forel Auguste-Henri Forel (1 September 1848 – 27 July 1931) was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist, psychiatrist and eugenicist, notable for his investigations into the structure of the human brain and that of ants. For example, he is considere ...

and

Sereno Watson Sereno Watson (December 1, 1826 in East Windsor Hill, Connecticut – March 9, 1892 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an American botanist. Graduating from Yale in 1847 in Biology, he drifted through various occupations until, in California, he j ...

) and discovered that another lily was not extinct. For her contributions to the field on entomology, Samuel Hubbard Scudder made Treat a member of the Cambridge Entomological Society.

Collaboration with Charles Darwin

The first recorded correspondence between Treat and Darwin originates from 20 December 1871 in which Treat describes the fly-catching activities of '' Drosera'', commonly known as sundew plants. Treat and Darwin’s recorded correspondence extends over five years around the period of time when Darwin was researching, and then publishing, on

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods. Carnivorous plants still generate some of their energy from photosynthesis ...

s. They predominantly discuss these plants in their correspondence (although not the only theme, they also discussed controlling sex in butterflies), and Treat openly critiqued Darwin’s hypotheses. One notable exchange concerned the bladderwort plant, '' Utricularia clandestina''. Utricularia aurea 8 Darwiniana

Darwin’s teacher and mentor at Cambridge,

John Stevens Henslow John Stevens Henslow (6 February 1796 – 16 May 1861) was a British priest, botanist and geologist. He is best remembered as friend and mentor to his pupil Charles Darwin. Early life Henslow was born at Rochester, Kent, the son of a solicit ...

, had a clear understanding of the morphology of ''

Utricularia ''Utricularia'', commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 233 species (precise counts differ based on classification opinions; a 2001 publication lists 215 species).Salmon, Br ...

'' (bladderwort) plants, but was not able to understand working mechanics of their traps. Darwin incorrectly concluded that animals entered the traps by forcing their heads through the slit-like orifice with their heads serving as a wedge. In a letter to Treat he informed her that this subject drove him ‘half-mad’. Treat became deeply absorbed in this problem, researching intensively.Treat, M. (1875) ‘Plants that eat animals’ ''Gardener’s Chronicle'', March, 6th pp. 303–304 Through long hours of observing the trapping sequence under her

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisi ...

she realised that the hairs around the entrance to the trap were sensitive and part of the process by which ''Utricularia'' traps opened, contributing new knowledge on the range of microscopic animal prey caught in these traps and the digestive processes they were subjected to. Treat described it as ‘these little bladders... in truth like so many stomachs, digesting and assimilating animal food’. Darwin was so impressed with Treat’s work on carnivorous plants that he referenced her, both within the main text and in footnotes, throughout his publication ''Insectivorous Plants'' (1875). By making such public affirmations of Treat’s scientific work, Darwin legitimized her role as a scientist, though this is not completely uncontested among historians .Gianquitto, T. (2003) Nobel Designs of Nature and Nation: God, science and sentiment in women’s representations of American landscape unpublished doctoral thesis Columbia University USA Gianquitto’s opinion is, however, not reflected by all writers discussing Treat’s scientific identity’. With the advent of the Internet, Treat's correspondence with Darwin has been analyzed in more detail.

Legacy

The best archive of Treat's life is available at the

Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society The Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society is the oldest local historical society in New Jersey. Its primary mission is to collect and preserve artifacts and records related to Vineland, New Jersey, the South Jersey region, and American histor ...

. In addition, the first full-length definitive biography of Treat, '' Mary Treat: A Biography'' by Deborah Boerner Ein, was published in 2022. The

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

herbarium has a selection of Treat's specimens sent to Asa Gray and examples of their original correspondence. The original letters are, in the main, available to view through The Darwin Correspondence Project and at

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...

. The ant ''

'' was named after Treat by the Swiss

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 ara ...

in honor of her discovery of ant specimens in Florida and New Jersey. Austrian entomologist

Gustav Mayr Gustav L. Mayr (12 October 1830 – 14 July 1908) was an Austrian entomologist and professor in Budapest and Vienna. He specialised in Hymenoptera, being particularly known for his studies of ants.gall wasp (cynipid), '' Belonocnema treatae'', in honor of Treat after she discovered it on a Virginia oak tree in Florida. Mary Treat was fictionalized as one of the main characters in the 2018 historical novel '' Unsheltered'', by the American writer

Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the Univers ...

, who took liberties in her portrayal of Treat and 19th century Vineland, New Jersey.

Works

Many of Treat's works detailed her observations of insects and birds in a style accessible to a popular audience.
''Chapters on Ants''
(1879)
''Injurious Insects of the Farm and Garden''
(1882) * ''Home Studies in Nature'' (1885)
''Through a Microscope''
(1886) * ''My Garden Pets'' (1887) * '' Asa Gray: His Life and Work'' (1890)

Footnotes

References

*Canning, K. (2006) Gender History in Practice: Historical Perspectives on Bodies, Class and Citizenship. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press *Darwin, C. (1875) Insectivorous Plants London: John Murray *Gianquitto, T. (2003) Nobel Designs of Nature and Nation: God, science and sentiment in women’s representations of American landscape unpublished doctoral thesis Columbia University USA *Gianquitto, T. (2007) Good Observers of Nature: American Women and the Scientific Study of the Natural World Athens and London: The University of Georgia Press *Norwood, V (1993). American Women and Nature: Made from this Earth. Chapel Hill and London: North Carolina University Press *Rossiter, M.W. (1982) Women Scientists in America: Struggles and Strategies to 1940. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press *Treat, M. (1873) ‘Controlling Sex in Butterflies’. ''The American Naturalist'', 7, 3 pp. 129–132 *Treat, M. (1875) ‘Plants that eat animals’ ''Gardener’s Chronicle'', March, 6th pp. 303–304 *Treat, M. (1882) Injurious Insects of the Farm and Field. New York: Orange Judd Company *Treat, M. (1885) Home studies in Nature. New York: American Book Company *Walters, M. (2001) Darwin’s Mentor: John Stevens Henslow 1796-1861 Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press

External links

* *
Correspondence of Charles Darwin with Mary Treat
from the Darwin Correspondence Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Treat, Mary 1830 births 1923 deaths American botanists American entomologists Women entomologists American naturalists 19th-century American women scientists American women botanists Burials in New Jersey People from Trumansburg, New York People from Vineland, New Jersey Scientists from New Jersey Scientists from New York (state) Women naturalists American science writers Women science writers