Zeno Payne Metcalf (1885, Lakeville,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

– 1956,

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

, North Carolina) was an American entomologist specialising in

Auchenorrhyncha The Auchenorrhyncha suborder of the Hemiptera contains most of the familiar members of what was called the "Homoptera" – groups such as cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and spittlebugs. The aphids and scale insects are the othe ...

Education

Metcalf, born in Lakeville, Ohio, was educated at Ohio State University. He received his A.B. degree in 1907. He attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and was awarded the degree of D.Sc. in 1925.

Career

In 1908 he went to North Carolina to work as assistant entomologist for the

North Carolina Department of Agriculture The North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) is a state agency of North Carolina headed by the North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture, Commissioner of Agriculture. It is headquartered in the Agriculture Building in ...

. He joined the faculty of North Carolina State College (now North Carolina State University) in 1912 as head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology, a position he held until 1950. From 1923 until 1944 he served as director of instruction for the School of Agriculture and Life Sciences; from 1940 until 1943 was director of graduate studies at North Carolina State College; and from 1943 to 1950 was associate dean of the Graduate School of the Consolidated University of North Carolina. Metcalf retired from administrative duties in 1950 but continued to work as a research professor of entomology from 1950 until his death in 1956. Metcalf Residence Hall, the tallest residential building at North Carolina State University, was named in his honor. Metcalf was elected in 1934 a fellow of the Entomological Society of America.

Research

For most of his career Metcalf was dedicated to compiling and cataloguing his vast library of research materials relating to the insect group called Homoptera (most of which are now classified in the suborder

), and was working on the General Catalogue of the Homoptera of the World, the 42-volume index to his collection, until his death in 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalf, Zeno Payne American entomologists 1885 births 1956 deaths Ohio State University alumni Harvard University alumni North Carolina State University faculty 20th-century American zoologists Fellows of the Entomological Society of America