John Lawrence LeConte

John Lawrence LeConte (May 13, 1825 – November 15, 1883) was an American entomologist and a pioneer in the classification of North American beetles. His Catalogue of Coleoptera of the United States was published by the Smithsonian Institution in 1853 and was the first organized study of beetles in the United States. He described approximately 5,000 species of beetles and was known as "the father of American beetle study".

He was Chief Clerk of the United States Mint in Philadelphia from 1878 to 1883. He was a founding member of the American Entomological Society, a charter member of the National Academy of Sciences, and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1874. Hundreds of beetles, several birds, and a mineral were named in his honor.

Early life and education LeConte was born May 13, 1825, in New York City, to naturalist John Eatton Le Conte and Mary A. H. Lawrence. The family was wealthy from business in the sugar trade in Martinique and a family plantation in Liberty County, Georgia. His mother died when he was only a few months old, and he was raised by his father.

Career He worked as a chemical assistant to John Torrey and briefly practiced medicine. LeConte also had a long term correspondence with other European entomologists including Jean Théodore Lacordaire and Carl Robert Osten-Sacken.

From 1869 to 1872, he lived in Europe with his family. He continued his entomological studies in Europe and also visited Algiers and Egypt.

In 1877, he had a failed candidacy as Commissioner of Agriculture under President Rutherford B. Hayes. He received insect specimens from several entomologists and naturalists including James Graham Cooper, Henry Edwards, George Gibbs, Simon S. Rathvon, George Suckley, and John Xantus.

LeConte was a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the American Philosophical Society, and president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1874. In 1859, he was a founding member of the American Entomological Society, and a charter member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Afer suffering a stroke, He was interred at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Personal life In 1861, he married Helen S. Grier, the daughter of Supreme Court Judge Robert Cooper Grier. They had three children although one died as an infant. and several hundred species (mostly beetles) are named after him. Several birds, including LeConte's thrasher (Toxostoma lecontei), which he collected in Fort Yuma, Arizona, were named after him.

In the 1850s, LeConte collected some crystals from a cave in Honduras being mined for bat guano. It was later found to be a new mineral that was named Lecontite in his honor.

His collection of beetles are held at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.

Works

Catalogue of the Coleoptera of the United States. (1853) Frederick Ernst Melsheimer, revised by Samuel Stehman Haldeman and John Lawrence LeConte Classification of the Coleoptera of North America (1861, 1873) New Species of North American Coleoptera (1866, 1873)

Classification of the Coleoptera of North America. Part II (1883) - with George Henry Horn

Taxa described by him See :Category:Taxa named by John Lawrence LeConte