Paul Hevener DeBach (28 December 1914 – 15 February 1992) 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 ...

who was a specialist on biological control. He wrote the influential book ''Biological Control by Natural Enemies'' first published in 1974 which went through several editions and helped in the development of the field of biological control. DeBach was born in Miles City, Montana but grew up in Southern California after his parents moved there. He went to Fairfax High School in Hollywood and then went to

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. After majoring in entomology he received a BA in 1938. He continued studies at Riverside in the Citrus Experiment Station under

Harry Scott Smith Harry Scott Smith (November 29, 1883 – November 28, 1957), an entomologist and professor at University of California, Riverside (UCR), was a pioneer in the field of biological pest control. United States Department of Agriculture Smith gre ...

and received a Ph.D. in 1940 on biological control. He joined the US Public Health Service in 1942 as an entomologist in the malaria control effort and later joined the US Department of Agriculture working on the control of the white fringed beetle. He returned to the

Citrus Experiment Station The University of California Citrus Experiment Station is the founding unit of the University of California, Riverside campus in Riverside, California, United States. The station contributed greatly to the cultivation of the citrus production, oran ...

at Riverside after World War II and worked there until retirement in 1983. DeBach was among the first entomologists to begin formal courses in biological control and wrote the first major textbook that defined the field, ''Biological Control by Natural Enemies'' (1974), a second edition of which was written along with David Rosen. He attempted to provide theoretical bases for the evaluation and choice of biological control agents. He was involved in measures to control the wooly whitefly in southern California in the 1970s using parasitic wasps. Similar work was carried out for the control. In the course of his use of parasitic wasps, he also worked on the taxonomy of the genus ''Aphytis''. DeBach introduced the "Check method" which compares the effect of biological control agents against insecticide-based control and examined ecological issues involved in the establishment of biological control agents. DeBach edited a major work on the ''Biological Control of Insect Pests and Weeds'' (1964) and was involved in numerous international collaborations involved in pest management.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeBach, Paul American entomologists 1914 births 1992 deaths University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of California, Riverside alumni 20th-century American zoologists Agricultural entomologists