Leland Ossian Howard (1857-1950; APS 1911) was a biologist and entomologist. A leader in economic entomology, he was Chief of the United States Bureau of Entomology for thirty-three years (1894-1927). Howard is best known for his leadership in economic entomology, his advocacy of the biological control of insects, his contributions to medical entomology, and his taxonomic work on parasitic insects.

Howard was born on June 11, 1857 in Rockford, Illinois, while his parents were on vacation. His parents were Lucy Denham Thurber, a singer and piano teacher, and Ossian Gregory Howard, a lawyer by profession. Prominent ancestors and relatives of the family include: Declaration signer Timothy Pickering (APS 1795), Union General Oliver O. Howard, Senator Jacob Howard of Michigan, Attorney General Alphonso Taft, and President William Howard Taft (APS 1909). Shortly after Leland's birth, the family moved to Ithaca, New York.

From a young age, Leland Howard showed an interest in insects; at age six or seven he began collecting them, and with some friends formed the Ithaca Natural History Society. He attended the Ithaca Academy and Cornell University, studying invertebrate zoology at the latter institution under John Henry Comstock (APS 1913). Howard earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell in 1877, and a Master of Science degree, with an emphasis in botany, from the same school in 1881. He earned a Ph.D. from Georgetown University in 1896.

Professionally, Howard began a fifty-three year association with the federal government in 1878 when he accepted a position in the United States Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Entomology as an assistant entomologist. He worked chiefly as an assistant to Charles V. Riley (APS 1876), and for a two year interregnum to his old mentor John Henry Comstock. Upon Riley's departure from the bureau in June 1894, Howard succeeded him to become chief entomologist. He held this position until 1927. For the last four years of his government service from 1927-1931, Howard served as a principle entomologist to the bureau.

During Howard's tenure in government, the importance of economic entomology came to the fore, as the destructiveness to American crops and livelihood by insect pests, both indigenous and alien, became more apparent. During this time, the boll weevil, gypsy moth, and San Jose scale made their way into the American heartland.

Howard advocated for the use of parasitic insects as a natural means of controlling insect pests. He oversaw the importation of parasites and predators from other countries into the United States in particular to combat the gypsy and brown-tailed moths.

Howard was also an authority in the field of medical entomology. He publicized the danger of the house fly as a disease carrier and advised the public that the best control of the pest was by eliminating breeding places. He also contributed to the crusade against mosquitoes.

In addition to successfully administering a government bureau, Howard was an accomplished researcher. During his career, he described 47 new genera, 272 new species of insects, and 22 species of mosquitoes.

Howard was active in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, serving as a permanent secretary from 1898-1920, and as president in 1920. And, he was an enthusiastic member of the Cosmos Club, serving as secretary from 1894-1907, and president in 1909. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1911.

Howard married Marie Theodra Clifton (1864-1926) in 1886. Together, the couple had three daughters: Lucy Thurber Howard (b. 1892), Candace Leland Howard Payne (1896-1933), and Janet Moore Howard (1901-1981).

Leland Howard died on May 1, 1950.

Physical description

750 items.

Provenance

Presented by Lucy T. Howard and accessioned, 02/11/1974 (1974 247ms).

• United States. -- Bureau of Entomology.

• Drafts (preliminary versions).

• Beneficial insects.
• Entomology -- United States.
• Insect pests.
• Insects.
• Mosquitoes.
• Science publishing.