Theodore Pergande (28 December 1840 – 23 March 1916) was a German-born American entomological pioneer known for his skills in rearing insects. He made careful observations on aphids and thrips and made collections and studies on North American ants, several of which, including the harvester ant ''

Messor pergandei ''Veromessor pergandei'' is a species of harvester ant native to the Southwestern United States, especially the deserts of southeastern California. It has also been identified in the Baja California peninsula of Mexico. It was first described ...

'' and the scale insect '' Parlatoria pergandii'', have been named after him.

Biography

Pergande was born in Germany and moved to the United States at the beginning of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and served in the

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

army. He had worked for a while as a mechanic in a gun works factory in

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

and left Germany ostensibly to avoid marrying a girl from a Catholic family. After the war, he lived in St. Louis where he married a German, worked in a gun-making company, and collected insects on weekends. On one of his weekend collecting trips, he met Otto Lugger who was then retiring. Lugger recommended Pergande as an assistant to C.V. Riley, state entomologist in Missouri. When Riley moved to the US Department of Entomology, he took Pergande along. Pergande described many species of insects and was in-charge of rearing insects and was noted for his care in mounting specimens. Pergande was among the oldest members of the Entomological Society of Washington and was among the several other influential entomologists of German origin along with Hermann August Hagen,

Eugene Amandus Schwarz Eugene Amandus Schwarz (April 21, 1844 – October 15, 1928) was a German-American entomologist who specialized in the study of beetles (Coleoptera). He was a popular and influential employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for more than f ...

George Marx George Marx (June 22, 1838 – January 3, 1895) was a German-born American arachnologist, scientific illustrator and physician. He was regarded as one of the foremost authorities on spiders and highly regarded for his superb scientific illustrati ...

, A.J. Schafhirt, Otto Heidemann, Frederick Knab and

Albert Koebele Albert Koebele (28 February 1853 - 28 December 1924) was an economic entomologist and a pioneer in the use of biological controls to manage insect pests. Early career Koebele was born in Waldkirch, Germany, in 1853. There are no details about ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pergande, Theodore 1840 births 1916 deaths American entomologists Myrmecologists German emigrants to the United States Union Army soldiers