Division History

Old Snow Hall (pre-1930's).  Partly occupied in the Fall of 1886 by Zoology, Entomology, and Physiology.

Introduction

During most of its history, and certainly during the last 50 years, the entomological collections housed in the Snow Entomological Museum (SEM) at the University of Kansas have been among the most active and important of the university-based collections in the Midwestern United States. It has been a major repository for insect specimens from the Midwest and more recently from Mexico and tropical America with comparative material of world-wide scope and in areas of research specialization. Its role in providing research material to the world-wide community of systematists and as a focal point for major systematic research and graduate training in systematics have made it one of the most active and productive in the United States. Recent improvements in physical facilities, research and collection management equipment and staffing have allowed substantial improvement of program and collections. 

Historical Background

In 1870 Professor Francis Huntington Snow established the insect collection now known as the Snow Entomological Museum. The museum antedates by 31 years the organization of a Department of Entomology, separate from Zoology, in 1901.

A notable aspect of development of the Museum and Department of Entomology has been the long association with them of most members of the faculty. Snow was curator of the entomology collection in addition to his various academic duties until 1901. Care of the Museum was the assumed by Prof. Samual J. Hunter, who headed the Department for 23 years (until 1924). Hunter was succeeded by Prof. Herbert H. Hungerford, a world-renowned authority on aquatic Hemiptera, who directed the Museum for 25 years (1924-1949) and was at the same time Chairman of the Department of Entomology. 

Prof. Charles D. Michener, world authority on the behavior, systematics and general biology of bees, followed Hungerford in the administration of the department and the museum. In 1970, Michener was given the title of Director of the entomology museum, and the position was formally separated from Chairmanship of the Department of Entomology. Prof. George W. Byers, a specialist in crane flies and Mecoptera, succeeded Michener as Director of the museum in 1983. James S. Ashe, a specialist on the systematics and evolution of staphylinid beetles, replaced Byers as Director of the museum upon Byer's retirement in 1988. The position of Director of the museum functionally ceased to exist in 1994 when the entomology museum became a division of the KU Natural History Museum.

Each Director/Chief Curator had faculty colleagues who contributed to the research, curatorial and service functions of the entomological museum. These have included Samuel W. Williston (1890-1902), P. B. Lawson (1919-1934), Raymond H. Beamer (1914-1954), Kathleen Doering (1922-1965), Joseph Camin (1958-1979), Peter Ashlock (1968-1988), Robert Beer (1950-1988), Robert W. Brooks (Collection Manager, 1988-2002), Byron Alexander (Curator, 1990 - 1996), Michael S. Engel (Curator, 2000 - present), Zachary H. Falin (Collection Manager, 2003 - present), and Caroline S. Chaboo (Assistant Curator, 2008- present). In addition, in 2006 Jennifer C. Thomas (Assistant Collection Manager, 2006 - present) joined the Division's staff aiding the collection and database management activities. Andrew E. Z. Short (Assistant Curator, starting in 2009) will be joining the Division of Entomology in the very near future.

The value of the entomological collections of the Snow Entomological Museum and their need for constant maintenance make continuity of curatorial care imperative. To provide stable fiscal support for this care, and to make the Entomology Museum independent from the fluctuations inherent in the instructional branch of the University, the Museum budget was transferred in 1970 from the Office of Academic Affairs to the Office of Research, Graduate Studies and Public Service. This change was calculated to provide for continuous care of the Entomological Museum by sheltering it from enrollment-related budgetary fluctuations and changing interests and emphases among faculty members in the Department of Entomology. In addition, the Curatorial Staff has traditionally been employed on a 12-month basis rather than the 9-month academic year, to provide for maintenance needs, the on-going business of loan transactions, year-end budgetary matters, and similar activities, althought such appointments ceased after 2002. In fiscal year 1994, the Snow Entomological Museum merged administratively with the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, the McGregor Herbarium and the Museum of Invertebrate Paleontology to form the expanded KU Natural History Museum, and the Snow Entomological Museum formally became the Division of Entomology (1 of 10 divisions) of the KU Natural History Museum.

From the founding of the Entomology Museum until about 1920, Prof. Snow attempted to build a broad representation of North American insects with a particular concentration on development of the collection of insects of Kansas and adjacent plains states and the central and southern Rocky Mountain regions. The collection at the University of Kansas soon became the most important insect collection between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Coast. 

Beginning in 1920, field work by museum personnel emphasized groups of insects being studied by curatorial faculty and their graduate students. For many years Prof.  Beamer led spring and summer collecting expeditions of varying duration with the particular goal of making known the cicadellids (leafhoppers) of North America.  Prof. Hungerford assembled one the most comprehensive collections of aquatic Hemiptera in North America.   More recently, Prof. Michener has assembled one of the World's largest and most comprehensive collections of bees; to which was added by Prof. Engel the Donald & Madge Baker Collection in 2003-2004 and material collected by Engel in Central Asia, significantly expanding the global coverage of bees.  Professors Beer and Camin have accumulated a large collection of slide-mounted Acari (mites), mainly from North America.  Prof. Byers has brought together an important World collection of Mecoptera (scorpionflies and their allies) and a large collection of Tipulidae (crane flies), chiefly of North America.  In the last 10 years, the bee, scorpionfly, and cranefly collections have continued to grow thanks to the effort of Dr. Michener and his students, the late Dr. Byron Alexander (Curator, 1990-1996), Robert W. Brooks (Collection Manager, 1988-2002), Prof. Dr. Michael S. Engel (current, Curator-in-Charge), and Dr. George W. Byers, and the Peter Ashlock collection of lygaeid bugs (over 25,000 specimens) were deposited in the Division of Entomology.  In addition, the late Dr. J. Steve Ashe and his students expanded the Coleoptera collection (most notably the Staphylinidae) as a result of extensive field work in the Neotropics (see Collection Strengths). 

In 2006 the Division of Entomology made its greatest change ever.  The entire Division was moved from its home in Snow Hall on the main campus (after 136 years on main campus!) to a new facility on the University's West Campus.  Design of the new facility was initiated in late November 2005 by Dr. J. S. Ashe and Prof. Michael S. Engel and was completed in large part by Engel alone following Ashe's untimely passing in December 2005 (the plans were finished and approved in February 2006).  Oversight for the move was led by Dr. Zachary H. Falin (current, Collection Manager), Prof. Engel, Lori Schlenker (Administrative Assistant to the Museum Director), and Jordan Yochim (Assistant Director of the Museum), with assistance from Jennifer C. Thomas (Assistant Collection Manager), various graduate students (most notably Stephanie Swenson, Daniel J. Bennett and Ismael A. Hinojosa-Diaz), and a team of dedicated, enthusiastic, and excellent undergraduate students.  All of the specimens and cabinetry was successfully moved to the new facility in July 2006 (at the same time a NSF grant from Prof. Engel funded the acquisition of 75 new cases for the collection, replacing the older, substandard casings) while construction of the offices and labs continued through October 2006. 

January 2008