John Henry Comstock

John Henry Comstock (February 24, 1849 – March 20, 1931) was an eminent researcher in entomology and arachnology and a leading educator. His work provided the basis for classification of butterflies, moths, and scale insects.

Career Comstock was born on February 24, 1849, in Janesville, Wisconsin. He entered Cornell University as a student in 1869, a year after the school was founded. He also took classes at Harvard University in the summer of 1872 and at Yale University in 1875. Anna wrote an autobiography of the couple, first published in 1953 and edited by Glenn Herrick and Ruby G. Smith, titled The Comstocks of Cornell: John Henry Comstock and Anna Botsford Comstock. A 2020 edition, edited by Karen Penders St. Clair, and titled The Comstocks of Cornell—The Definitive Autobiography, restored much material from Anna's original manuscript. He also did work in insect morphology and is best known as the co-proposer of the Comstock-Needham system with James George Needham.

In 1898-1899, Comstock studied at the University of Leipzig.

Comstock was a member or honorary member or fellow of the Entomological Society of France, the Entomological Society of Belgium, and the Entomological Society of London. He was an elected member of the American Philosophical Society. In 1912 he attended the 250th anniversary of the Royal Society of London as the representative of Cornell University, and represented the Entomological Society of London at the 100th anniversary of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.

Comstock, through his own work and that of his wife and students, had a significant influence in the development of entomology departments throughout the United States.

Publications

Comstock published many books and articles including: Introduction to Entomology (1908). A Manual for the study of insects (1930) jointly credited and illustrated by Anna Botsford Comstock. The Spider book: a manual for the study of the spiders and near relatives (1912). Notes on Entomology (Ithaca, 1875). Annual Reports of Entomologist (Washington, 1879–1881). Report on Cotton Insects (1879). Second Annual Report of the Department of Entomology of Cornell University, including a monograph on Diaspinae (Ithaca, 1883). an article on Hymenoptera in the "Standard Natural History" (Boston, 1884).