• MEMBERS AREA
  • Make a Donation
  • Join/Renew
  • Français
  • English English English en
  • Français Français French fr
Entomological Society of Canada
  • The Society
    • History and Heritage
    • Vision, Mission & Roles
    • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Board of Directors
    • Committees
    • Affiliated Societies
    • Affiliated Organizations
    • Leave a legacy donation
  • Publications
    • The Canadian Entomologist
    • Bulletin
    • Memoirs
    • Canadian Journal of Arthopod Identification
    • AAFC
    • Diseases and Pests of Vegetable Crops in Canada
    • Biological Control Programmes in Canada
  • Students
    • Student Awards
    • Facebook
  • Blog
  • Awards
    • Gold Medal
    • C. Gordon Hewitt
    • Norman Criddle
    • Bert & John Carr
    • Honorary Members
    • Fellows
    • Call for Nominations
    • Student Awards
  • Annual Meetings
  • Photos
    • Previous Photo Contests
    • Other Photo Collections
  • Resources
    • Common Names
    • Specimen Identification
    • Education and Outreach
    • NAIAD (National Insect Appreciation Day)
    • Directory of Entomological Education
  • Opportunities
  • Menu Menu
  • History and Heritage
  • Vision, Mission & Roles
  • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
  • Board of Directors
  • Committees
  • Affiliated Societies
  • Affiliated Organizations

History & Heritage

History of The Entomological Society of Canada

Founded in Toronto on 16 April 1863, The Entomological Society of Canada was open to “all students and lovers of Entomology”. The first officers were Prof. H. Croft, President; W. Saunders, Secretary Treasurer; and Rev. J. Hubbert, Curator. The organization flourished as interested collectors of insects showed their acquisitions at meetings, discussed the natural history of their favourite species, exchanged specimens, described and named new species, and started museum collections of Canadian insects.

In 1871, at the insistence of the Ontario Government which had begun to provide funds to the Society, its name was changed to The Entomological Society of Ontario. Despite this change, the Society remained the focal point for entomology across Canada, including publication of The Canadian Entomologist which, with, is the oldest currently-published entomological journal in Canada.

Following World War II, there was a nationwide rapid increase in the number of professional entomologists, especially in federal government laboratories, and it was soon recognised that their needs would be best served by a ‘new’ national society that had no implied regional bias. Thus, on 3 November 1950, The Entomological Society of Canada, as it is known today, was founded. Its founding officers were W.A. Ross, President; A.W. Baker, Vice President; W.R. Thompson, Editor; R.H. Wigmore, Secretary; A.B. Baird, Treasurer; and seven Directors.

Responsibility for publication of The Canadian Entomologist was immediately transferred to the new national group. In addition, in 1955 the Society began publication of a series of Memoirs, dealing mainly with studies in systematics. Though publication of the Memoirs ceased in 1997, after 171 issues, they are still sought after by taxonomists. The role of the Memoirs has now been taken over to some extent by the on-line Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification, also published by the Society.

The Society was also pivotal in the foundation of the Biological Survey of Canada (BSC) in 1977. Initially developed from a series of contracts between the Society and the federal Department of Supply and Services, the BSC became firmly established in 1980 at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (now the Canadian Museum of Nature) under a continuing partnership with the Society. In 2009 the BSC became a not-for-profit corporation in anticipation of reduced financial support from the Canadian Museum of Nature. The BSC’s ties with the ESC remain very important as the BSC’s current and future work will have a strong entomological component.

Following a persistent decline in the level of research support in federal laboratories beginning in the early 1970s, the Society became much more active in its publication of briefs, green papers, etc., and in its interactions with government. Many of its position papers were bound into the Society’s quarterly newsletter, the Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Canada, whose publication had begun in 1969.

The Society works closely with Canada’s seven regional entomological societies, one of which serves as the host for the Society’s Annual Meeting, an arrangement that facilitates discussion and exchange of ideas among entomologists across the country. The existence of a national society has also enabled Canada to serve as the host country for the quadrennial meeting of worldwide entomologists, the International Congress of Entomology (Montreal, 1956; Vancouver, 1988).

With a current membership of around 400, including a vibrant student section, the Society remains one of the largest and oldest professional societies in Canada.

For further information on the Society’s history, see the Heritage Lecture by Laura Timms (2013) and references therein.

Heritage Lectures & Articles

Fundamental ecological insights as a legacy of spruce budworm research in Canada

A Heritage Lecture by Judy Meyers (2018)

A Brief History of Biting Fly Research in Manitoba

A Heritage Lecture by Terry Galloway (2017)

Nos racines sont profondes

A Heritage Lecture by Guy Bovin (2015)

The entomological thread of federal agricultural research: Saskatoon 1918-2014

A Heritage Lecture by Owen Olfert (2014)

Why do we call ourselves entomologists?

A Heritage Lecture by Laura Timms (2013)

Forest Entomology at CFS-AFC (Fredericton)

A Heritage Lecture by Dan Quiring (2011)

Trips, traps, triumphs and tribulations

A Heritage Lecture by Staffan Lindgren (2010)

Drifting and diagonal swimming in the Ag Canada flow

A Heritage Lecture by Peter Harris (2007)

Prairies then and now: Personal reflections on prairie entomologists and entomology

A Heritage Lecture by David J. Larson (2005)

Norman Criddle: Pioneer Entomologist of the Prairies

A Heritage Lecture by Neil J. Holliday (2004)

Insect adaptations: A personal perspective

A Heritage Lecture by Richard Ring (2003)

Early prairie entomology and entomologists

A Heritage Lecture by Paul W. Riegert (1999)

Naissance de l’entomologie au Québec au 19ième siècle

A Heritage Lecture by Jean-Marie Perron (1998)

Maritime roots

A Heritage Lecture by Douglas Eidt and “Company” (1996)

Manitoba six-legged pests and two-legged pioneers

A Heritage Lecture by S.R. Loschiavo (1994)

F.S. Carr – Amateur entomologist

A Heritage Lecture by J.L. Carr (1990)

Early entomology in Newfoundland and Labrador

A Heritage Lecture by Ray F. Morris (1989)

Early days at the Kamloops bug lab

A Heritage Lecture by J.D. Gregson (1987)

In celebration of the centenary of Agriculture Canada

A Heritage Lecture by E.J. LeRoux (1986)

Some aspects of a limited history of northern insect studies

A Heritage Lecture by Paul W. Riegert (1985)

Entomology – In days of yore (Atlantic Canada)

A Heritage Lecture by Ray F. Morris (1984)

Thomas Nathaniel Willing, Pioneer Prairie Naturalist

A Heritage Lecture by Paul W. Riegert (1983)

Biographies

Principal Officers of the Society

A record of the principal officers and host cities for annual general meetings for the Entomological societies of Canada and Ontario from 1863-2017

Biography of Entomologists in Canadian Publications

Including the 2001-2005, 2006-2010, and 2011-2015 addenda

Entomologists of British Columbia

1991

Entomologists of Alberta

1989

Entomologists of Saskatchewan

1990

Entomologists of Saskatchewan

2019

Entomologists of Manitoba

1989

ESC Digital Archives

Through its association with Strauss event & association management, ESC has secure digital archives that record many current and past items that may be of interest to those with an interest in the Society. Among the heritage-related contents of these archives are minutes of annual members meetings and of directors meetings from 1960 to the present. Also included is a complete set of Retirees Newsletters that Ed. Becker edited and distributed between 1990 and 2008, and which provide post-retirement information on many former members of the Society. Members cannot access this archive directly, but can ask for more information and to receive selected items by contacting the Chair of the Heritage Committee, Cedric Gillott, cedric.gillott@usask.ca.

Member Obituaries

For obituaries of members published before 2000, please refer to the Cumulative Index of Biographies

A – G

Tom Angus (2005)
Alf Arthur (2005)
Philip Barker (2009)
George Ball (2019)
Ed Becker (2008)
Peter Belton (2019)
Georges Brossard (2019)
Anthony Brown (2005)
Paul-Michael Brunelle (2020)
Jordan Burke (2019)
Robert Burrage (2012)
John Carr (2006)
Donald Chant (2007)
Craig Charles (2019)
Douglas Craig (2020)
Hugh Clifford (2019)
Philip Corbet (2008)
Jim Corrigan (2019)
Fred Cuming (2010)
Richard Davis (2005)
Charlie Devlin (2004)
Leo Dionne (2004)
Stuart Dixon (2012)
John Doane (2020)
Lloyd Dosdall (2014)
Aylward Downe (2002)
Doug Eidt (2011)
Douglas Gordon Embree (2013)
William Evans (2015)
Alwyn Ewen (2008)
Murray Fallis (2003)
Thelma Finlayson (2016)
William Friend (2018)
George Gerber (2016)
Buck Godwin (2008)
Ronald Gooding (2019)
Ken Graham (2004)
Gary Grant (2011)
Dave Greenbank (2005)
Jack Gregson (2006)
Graham Griffiths (2009)
Peter de Groot (2010)

H – O

Alexander Maitland Harper (2012)
Charles Ronald Harris (2014)
Peter Harris (2014)
Richard Hartland-Rowe (2013)
Chris Hinks (2016)
Ron Hodges (2017)
Ronald Hooper (2010)
Anne Elizabeth Howden (Thompson) (2016)
Henry Howden (2014)
Jim Hudson (2003)
Lee Humble (2020)
Cameron Jay (2008)
Jim Kelleher (2016)
Leonard Kelton (2011)
Rex Kenner (2010)
Mushtaq Khan (2010)
Walter Krivda (2018)
Maurice L’Arrivee (2009)
Ruby Larson (2011)
Robin Leech (2016)
Ed Leroux (2007)
Laurent LeSage (2015)
Charlie Lilly (2001)
Michael Locke (2013)
Mac MacCarthy (2004)
Malcom MacLeod (2019)
Fumio Matsumura (2012)
Frank McAlpine (2019)
Bruce McLeod (2005)
Geoffrey McLeod (2015)
Ernest Mengersen (2005)
Charlie Miller (2009)
Ray Morris (2004)
Eugene Munroe (2008)
Kenneth Allan Neil (2011)
Bill Nelson (2002)
Andy Nimmo (2015)

P – Z

David Pengelly (2004)
Elmer Peters (2003)
Roy Pickford (2014)
Sridhar Polavarapu (2004)
Bill Preston (2013)
Gordon Pritchard (2012)
Ken Richards (2019)
Irenee Rivard (2014)
Rob Roughley (2009)
Reginald Salt (2008)
Chris Sanders (2005)
Terry Shore (2010)
Ranendra Sinha (2013)
William Sippell (2019)
Michael Smirle (2014)
Mike Spironello (2006)
Dean Struble (2014)
Harold Stulz (2003)
Cal Sullivan (2003)
Maurie Taylor (2003)
A.J. Thorsteinson (1998)
Robert Trottier (2014)
Bert Turnbull (2006)
Bill Turnock (2008)
Fred Urquhart (2002)
Vernon Vickery (2011)
Richard Vockeroth (2012)
Jan Volney (2017)
Donald Webb (2012)
Frank Webb (2010)
Bill Wellington (2008)
Harold Westdal (2010)
Terry Wheeler (2017)
Glenn Wiggins (2013)
Monty Wood (2020)
Gerard Wyatt (2019)
Glenn Wylie (2015)

For issues regarding the heritage of the Entomological Society of Canada, please contact our Heritage Committee Chair, Cedric Gillott.

This post is also available in: Français

© Copyright – Entomological Society of Canada

Privacy Policy

Scroll to top
  • English
  • Français