Otto Herman Swezey (7 June 1869 – 3 November 1959) was an American entomologist who was an expert on the insects of Hawaii, especially the

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 ...

. He described numerous species and many, like the psyllid genus '' Swezeyana'', have been named in his honour by other entomologists. Swezey was born in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

to Adoniram Judson and Malinda Bruner. He studied at Guilford Centre School House and received a BA from

Lake Forest College 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 ...

, Illinois in 1896. He obtained a MA from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, Illinois. He studied entomology at the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

from 1902 to 1903 under Herbert Osborn. He worked in the Ohio State Department of Agriculture from 1903 to 1904. He investigated an outbreak of ''

Perkinsiella saccharicida ''Perkinsiella saccharicida'' (known commonly as the sugarcane planthopper, sugarcane delphacid, and sugarcane leafhopper) is a species of delphacid planthopper in the family Delphacidae Delphacidae is a family of planthoppers containing abou ...

'' in Hawaii working with the Hawaiian sugar planters. After retirement in 1933 he worked at the

Bernice P. Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the larg ...

. Swezey received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

in 1944. He served as the editor for the Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society. Apart from insects of importance to sugarcane cultivation, Swezey studied the insects of

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. He also published on the forest insects of Hawaii. He married Mary Hypatia Walsh in 1904 just before moving to Hawaii and they had one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swezey, Otto Herman American entomologists 1869 births 1959 deaths People from Rockford, Illinois Lake Forest College alumni Northwestern University alumni People of the Territory of Hawaii