THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY

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David S. Kellicott organized the first courses in entomology in 1895, but it wasn't until 1898 that the university's first entomologist Herbert Osborn arrived on campus. Osborn, who headed the department until 1916, introduced and taught a variety of entomology courses, influencing a generation of students from around the world who became prominent entomologists.

In many ways, the history of entomology at Ohio State is intertwined with the advance of Ohio agriculture, which has been an ongoing battle with one crop pest after another, with entomologists as teh frequently victorious warriors. It was to address crop pest problems that the state legislature established the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station (OEAS) in 1882 on the Ohio State campus.

In 1892, OAES moved to Wooster and in 1965, was renamed the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). Extensive facilities at Wooster, where researchers in various disciplines along with USDA personnel can interact, and 12 other field sites around the state, provide fertile ground for today's entomological experimentation.

1824: Hessian flies invade Ohio ... 1849: Hordes of house flies spread cholera epidemic ... 1870: Ohio General Assembly establishes Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College ... 1874: Zoology & Veterinary Science, forerunner of Zoology & Entomology, one of 10 original departments ... 1880: Local physician, J.M. Wheaton, lectures on insects ... 1882: Ohio Legislature establishes Ohio Agriculture Experiment Station (OAES) ... 1883: William B. Allwood named OAES Entomologist ... 1887: Hatch Act provides money to hire full-time OAES director, Charles E. Thorne ... 1891: Department of Zoology & Vet Science renamed Zoology & Entomology ... 1893: Ohio Legislature appropriates $400 to investigate pest control measures, setting precedent for further research funding. San Jose Scale found in Clermont County, Ohio; thousands of fruit trees doomed ... 1894: First organized courses in entomology taught by Z & E chair David S. Kellikott. Lake Laboratory (later Stone Lab) founded ... 1895: Courses in systematics and practical entomology added ... 1898: Ohio State's first entomologist Herbert Osborn appointed Z & E chair ...

1903: Entomologist Percival J. Parrott demonstrates to Ohio Horticulture Society his scale control method: annihilation by boiling hot lime-sulfur-salt solution ... 1912: Biological Survey founded, Osborn named director ... 1914: Birth of B & Z. Variety of entomology courses offered, including medical entomology, insect control, and taxonomy ... 1916: Osborn appointed Ohio State's first Research Professor, resigns chair. Raymond C. Osburn selected to succeed Osborn ... 1918: Thaddeus H. Parks first extension entomologist in the United States ... 1921: First aircraft insecticide dusting, August 3, Troy, Ohio. European corn borer drills Ohio's corn crop ... 1930: First liquid insecticide sprayed by aircraft ... 1942: Lawrence H. Snyder appointed chair ... 1947: David F. Miller assumes chair ... 1961: George Wharton named chair ... 1966: College of Biological Sciences established ... 1968: Department of Entomology created. Lyle Goleman chairs ... 1979: Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics founded ... 1983: David Horn becomes acting chair ... 1984: Clive Edwards elected chair ... 1990: David Horn named chair ... 1993: Entomologist Thomas Payne appointed director of OARDC. All biological collections, including ticks, mites, insects, and spiders move to new Museum of Biological Diversity. Entomologists move into new greenhouse ... 1994: David Denlinger accepts chair. IX International Congress of Acarology ...