Willis Stanley Blatchley (October 6, 1859, North Madison, Connecticut - May 28, 1940,

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana) was an American

entomologist 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 ...

malacologist Malacology, from Ancient Greek μαλακός (''malakós''), meaning "soft", and λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (molluscs or mollusks), the second-largest ...

, geologist, and author. His studies included

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – gras ...

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from ...

, and the freshwater

molluscs Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

of Indiana. Blatchley described several

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

. His home in

Dunedin, Florida Dunedin ( ) is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from ''Dùn Èideann'', the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa Bay Area, Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater ...

, the Willis S. Blatchley House, is listed on 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 ...

. He was born in Connecticut and his parents moved to

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

in 1860 a year later. He attended high school in Bainbridge and enrolled at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

in 1883, graduating with a B.A. in 1887 and an M.A. in 1891. There he worked under

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Universi ...

and geologist

John Casper Branner John Casper Branner (July 4, 1850 – March 1, 1922)Memorial Res ...

. Blatchley received an honorary degree (LL.D.) from Indiana University in 1921. From 1887-1893 he taught at Terre Haute, Indiana, Terre Haute High School where he was Head of the Science Department from 1887-1893. From 1894-1910 he was State Geologist for Indiana. After being defeated for re-election in 1911, he retired from public office, but continued his natural history work as an amateur. Though much of his work focused on the fauna of Indiana, he traveled to Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Canada, Mexico, and South America (1922–23). Blatchley married Clara A. Fordice (or Fordyce?, 1854–1928), of Russellville, Indiana, Russellville, Indiana, on May 2, 1882. They had two sons, Raymond Silliman Blatchley (February 11, 1883 – September 27, 1953, Los Angeles
biography
and Ralph F. Blatchley (1885–1955, Dunedin, Florida).

Bibliography

*''An illustrated descriptive catalogue of the

or beetles (exclusive of the Rhynchophora) known to occur in Indiana''. (1910) *''Orthoptera of Northeastern America''. (1920) *''Heteroptera of Eastern North America''. (1926) *11 papers (1927–1930) in the ''Florida Entomologist'') on the Scarabaeidae of Florida. *''The Indiana Weed Book'' *''Boulder Reveries'' *''Gleanings from Nature'' *''A nature wooing at Ormond by the sea'' *''Gold and Diamonds in Indiana'' *''Woodland Idyls'' *''South America As I Saw It, The observations of a naturalist'' *''In Days Agone: Notes on the Fauna and Flora of Subtropical Florida in the Days When Most of Its Area was a Primeval Wilderness'' *''Indiana Geology and Natural Resources'' *''Orthoptera of Northeastern America with Essential Reference to the Faunas of Indiana and Florida'' *''Heteroptera Or True Bugs of Eastern North America; with Especial Reference to the Faunas of Indiana and Florida'' *''MY NATURE NOOK or Notes on the Natural History of the Vicinity of Dunedin, Florida.'' *''The fishes of Indiana,: With descriptions, notes on habits and distribution in the state'' *''A Catalogue of the Butterflies Known to Occur in Indiana''

External links

Works at Biodiversity Heritage LibraryISGS
Blatchley as a geologist.Portrait.

Biography and type information.

��brief biography at Univ. Nebraska

��Illinois Natural History Survey
Dr. Willis Stanley Blatchley
��Historical Marker, Dunedin, Florida
Rootsweb
��information about marriage

��Clara Fordice, d. December 8, 1928, Dunedin, Florida
DUNEDIN CEMETERY
Dunedin, Pinellas County, Florida—graves of Willis Blatchley, Clara Blatchley, Ralph Blatchley

References

*Anonymous. Obituary [Willis Blatchley]. ''Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science'' 50: 1-2. *DAVIS, J. J. WILLIS STANLEY BLATCHLEY. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Volume 34, Number 2, June 1941, pages 279–283(5
Core Historical Literature of Agriculture
��Cornell University (see als
Wikispecies entry
��John June Davis, 1885–1965) *William T. Davis, Davis, Wm. T. "Dr. Willis Stanley Blatchley". ''Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society'
36:18-19
(1941) {{DEFAULTSORT:Blatchley, Willis 1859 births 1940 deaths American entomologists American geologists American malacologists Indiana University Bloomington alumni