Stuart M. Fullerton (March 8, 1940 – April 5, 2014) 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
academic. Fullerton was the founder of the "Bug Closet", officially known as The Stuart M. Fullerton Collection of Arthropods at the
University of Central Florida, which houses a collection of more than 500,000 mounted specimens of
insects and other
arthropods
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
.
Fullerton was born in
Modesto, California
Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...
, on March 8, 1940.
[ His interest in insects began while working as a staff member at a summer camp in the Sierra Nevadas.][ He later served in the United States Air Force.][ He was a graduate of the University of Central Florida.][
He became a curator for a number of museums after leaving the Air Force, including institutions in Boston, Montreal, San Antonio and South Carolina.][ Fullteron also served as the curator of education for the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.][ He made frequent appearances on television news or children's shows with his animals.][
Fullerton retired from the museums in 1990.][ He continued to amass a large collection of insect specimens after retirement.][ He relocated his collection a larger facility at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in 1993 at the invitation of David Vickers, the chairman of the Department of Biology.][ He established the Bug Closet, which houses more than a half million insects, many of which are indigenous to Central Florida.][ Fullerton sought to make the collection the definitive resource for information on insects in Florida.][ The Bug Closet also contains examples of insects from around the world, including Brazil and Mexico, but it remains dedicated to Central Floridian insects.][
Fullerton collected insects found on the UCF campus and recruited undergraduate students to expand the collection.][ Two species housed in the collection were named in honor of Fullerton.][ Fullerton also oversaw the ]digitization
DigitizationTech Target. (2011, April). Definition: digitization. ''WhatIs.com''. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digitization is the process of converting information into a Digital data, digital (i ...
of the Bug Closet collection, which made it available online from anywhere in the world.[ In 2012, Fullerton described Florida's native ]bee
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...
s, or hymenoptera
Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...
, as his favorite group within the Bug Closet.[
Stuart Fullerton, a resident of Oviedo, Florida, died on April 5, 2014, at the age of 74.][
]
References
External links
The Bug Closet: The Stuart M. Fullerton Collection of Arthropods at the University of Central Florida
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fullerton, Stuart
1940 births
2014 deaths
American entomologists
American curators
American founders
University of Central Florida faculty
University of Central Florida alumni
People from Oviedo, Florida
People from Modesto, California