David L. Wagner

David L. Wagner (born 1956) is an entomologist and a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of Caterpillars of Eastern North America, widely regarded as one of the most authoritative field guides on caterpillars. He also serves as an advisor for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. He is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine ad hoc committee on Status of Insects in North America.

Career Wagner, whose father worked for U.S. Steel, grew up "pretty much all over the place" according to Elizabeth Kolbert, because the family moved frequently during his school years. At Colorado State, where he earned a B.S. in plant science, Wagner studied with entomologist Howard Ensign Evans. At the University of California, Berkeley, he specialized in the study of ghost moths and got a Ph.D in entomology.

Awards and honors 2006: National Outdoor Book Award (Nature Guidebook), Caterpillars of Eastern North America

Works Caterpillars of Eastern North America : A Guide to Identification and Natural History. Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 2005. (cl. : alk. paper) (pb. : alk. paper)