Ronald William Hodges (August 7, 1934 – December 10, 2017), known as Ron, 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 ...

and

lepidopterist Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post-Renaissance, t ...

. Hodges was born on August 7, 1934, and was raised in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. He was educated at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, obtaining first a BSc then an MSc. He obtained a PhD from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1961. Interested in moths from a young age, he obtained a

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

postdoctoral fellowship and began researching the

Gelechiidae The Gelechiidae are a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy has been subject to considerable dis ...

. He broke off from that work to take up a post at the Systematic Entomology Laboratory of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

, in the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

. He eventually left that role to return to work on gelechioid moths. He was the author of three volumes of '' The Moths of America North of Mexico'', on the

Oecophoridae Oecophoridae (concealer moths) is a family of small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. The phylogeny and systematics of gelechoid moths are still not fully resolved, and the circumscription of the Oecophoridae is strongly affected by this. Ta ...

Cosmopterigidae The Cosmopterigidae are a family of insects (cosmet moths) in the order Lepidoptera. These are small moths with narrow wings whose tiny larvae feed internally on the leaves, seeds and stems of their host plants. About 1500 species are described. ...

, and Gelechiidae. He served as managing director of the series' publisher, the Wedge Entomological Research Foundation and as its editor-in-chief. He introduced the MONA numbering scheme for North American moths in 1983 in the publication ''Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico'', which he edited. A MONA number is also referred to as a "Hodges number". He was elected to the

Washington Biologists' Field Club Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

in 1963 and served as its president from 1976 to 1979. He was also president of the

Lepidopterists' Society The Lepidopterists' Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study of Butterfly, butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). Founded in 1947 and based in the United States, it has an international focus and membership. Publications The s ...

from 1975 to 1976; of the

Maryland Entomological Society Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to it ...

from 1973 to 1974; and of the American Association for Zoological Nomenclature from 1993 to 1995. Upon retirement in January 1997 he and his wife Elaine moved to

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

. He died at home in Eugene, on December 10, 2017.

Recognition

Hodges was granted the

Thomas Say Award Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

by the

Entomological Society of America The Entomological Society of America (ESA) was founded in 1889 and today has more than 7,000 members, including educators, extension personnel, consultants, students, researchers, and scientists from agricultural departments, health agencies, ...

for his work on ''Moths of North America'' in 1990, and the

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 ...

for his gelechioid research in 1997. He was elected an honorary member of the

Entomological Society of Washington The Entomological Society of Washington was organized on February 29, 1884 at a meeting called by three entomologists employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Charles Valentine Riley, Eugene Amandus Schwarz, and Leland Ossian Howard, in Ril ...

in 1999. ''

Chionodes hodgesorum ''Chionodes hodgesorum'' is a moth in the family Gelechiidae. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from the gypsum dunes at White Sands National Park in New Mexico. Etymology The species is named in honor of Ronald W. Hodges ...

'' was named in honor of Hodges and his wife, to coincide with his 80th birthday. Hodges' papers from the period 1960 to 1997 are in the collection of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Ronald W. 1934 births 2017 deaths American lepidopterists People from Lansing, Michigan People from Eugene, Oregon Cornell University alumni