Asa Fitch (February 24, 1809 – April 8, 1879) was a natural historian and entomologist from

Salem, New York Salem is a town in eastern Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 2,612 at the 2020 census. The town of Salem contains a hamlet also named Salem, former ...

Biography

Asa Fitch was born at Fitch's Point,

on February 24, 1809. His early studies were of both natural history and medicine, which he studied at the newly formed

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

, graduating in 1827. However, in 1838 he decided to start studying agriculture and

entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

. In 1838 he began to collect and study insects for New York state. In 1854 he became the first professional entomologist of New York State Agricultural Society (commissioned by the State of New York). This made him the first occupational entomologist in the United States. His vast studies of many insects helped scientists to solve some of the problems of crop damage caused by insects. Many of his notebooks are now the property of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. Fitch also discovered the rodent

botfly Botflies, also known as warble flies, heel flies, and gadflies, are flies of the family Oestridae. Their larvae are internal parasites of mammals, some species growing in the host's flesh and others within the gut. '' Dermatobia hominis'' is ...

'' Cuterebra emasculator'' in 1856. He died April 8, 1879, at his home in Salem, New York. The Martin–Fitch House and Asa Fitch Jr. Laboratory was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2014.

References

External links

Asa Fitch Notebooks, circa 1827,1872
from the

Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution ...

Salem New York Historical Site

Asa Fitch papers (MS 215). Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitch, Asa 1809 births 1879 deaths American entomologists Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Zoologists with author abbreviations People from Salem, New York Scientists from New York (state)

Biography

References

Further reading

External links