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Patricia Vaurie

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Patricia Vaurie (née Wilson; September 14, 1909 – March 12, 1982 ) was an American entomologist who specialized in beetles in the families Scarabaeidae and Curculionidae. She worked in the American Museum of Natural History for much of her working life.

Biography

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Patricia Wilson was born in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania in 1909 and grew up in New York. She graduated from Barnard College in 1931 with a degree in English literature. In 1934, she married Charles Vaurie, a dentist and amateaur ornithologist.[1][2] During World War II, Wilson began volunteering in the Department of Insects and Spiders, later known as the Department of Entomology, at the American Museum of Natural History.[1] Although she started as a volunteer, she began publishing her own scientific studies in 1948 and was appointed as a research associate in 1957.[3] She held this role and published work until her death in 1982. Her husband also joined the museum as a volunteer, ultimately being promoted to Curator Emeritus in the Department of Ornithology.[1] Together, they often traveled around the world to conduct research and collect coleopterous specimens for the museum.[2][1] Vaurie's speciality was in beetles, particularly focusing on weevils and tiger beetles. Despite the lack of a formal scientific degree, Vaurie was highly respected in the ornithology field for her extensive written contributions, which totaled 77 publications and included several revisions of a wide range of insect groups.[4][3][1] She was also a member and benefactor of the Coleopterists Society, and was made an Honorary Member after her death in 1982 in recognition of her scientific work and financial contributions [3][5]

Works

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Some of her major works include:[a]

  • 1948 A revision of the North American Languriidae. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 92:123-155.
  • 1950 The blister beetles of north central Mexico (Coleoptera, Meloidae). Amer. Mus. Novitates, no. 1477, pp. 1–68, figs. 1-21.
  • 1954 Revision of the genera Anchylorhynchus and Petalochilus of the Petalochilinae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae). Amer. Mus. Novitates, no. 1651, pp. 1–58, figs. 1–4.
  • 1954 New synonymy in Diplotaxis (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc., vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 49–54.
  • 1955 Revision of the genus Trox in North America (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 106, pp. 1–89, figs. 1-27.
  • 1955 Review of the North American genus Amblycheila (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae). Amer. Mus. Novitates, no. 1724, pp. 1–26, figs. 1–11.
  • 1955 Review of the genus Macrosiagon in Mexico, with notes on Rhipiphorus (Coleoptera, Rhipiphoridae). Amer. Mus. Novitates, no. 1717, pp. 1–19, fig. 1.
  • 1955 (with Mont A. Cazier). Thirteen new species of Diplotaxis from northern Mexico (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Amer. Mus. Novitates, no. 1739, pp. 1–25, figs. 1–3.
  • 1963 Key to Diplotaxis of Baja California (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Pan-Pacific Ent. 39:67-73, figs. 1–19.
  • 1980 Revision of Rhodobaenus. Part 1. Species in South America (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Rhynchophorinae). Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 167, pp. 1–44.
  • 1981 Revision of Rhodobaenus. Part 2. Species in North America (Canada to Panama) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Rhynchophorinae). Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 171, pp. 117–198, figs. 1-65, 1 table.

Notes

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  1. ^ For a full bibliography see Herman (1982).

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Treangen, Molly (September 13, 2023). "Stalking Beetles with Patricia Vaurie". American Museum of Natural History: Gottesman Research Library News. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Short, Lester L. (1976). "In Memoriam: Charles Vaurie" (PDF). Auk. 93 (3): 620–625 – via Searchable Ornithological Research Archive.
  3. ^ a b c "Back Matter". Coleopterists Society Monographs. Patricia Vaurie Series (12). 2013. JSTOR 24773434.
  4. ^ Herman, Lee H. (1982). "Patricia Vaurie: 1909-1982". The Coleopterists Bulletin. 36 (2): 453–457. JSTOR 4008093.
  5. ^ "Coleopterists Society Honorary Members". The Coleopterists Society. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
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