Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
By October 1823
Primary Source Reference:
Thomas Say, "Description of Coleopterous Insects," Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, vol. 3, part 1 (1823): 139-216 (described on pp. 196) / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/24668779
Additional Source Text:
"Read October 22, 1823"
"In the Philadelphia Museum is a fine specimen of this insect, which was probably caught in Pennsylvania."
Notes:
Thomas Say (1787-1834) was an American naturalist. His definitive studies of insects and shells, numerous contributions to scientific journals, and scientific expeditions to Florida, Georgia, the Rocky Mountains, Mexico, and elsewhere made him internationally known. Say has been called the father of American descriptive entomology and American conchology. He served as librarian for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, curator at the American Philosophical Society, and professor of natural history at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1821 he was appointed Professor of Zoology at the Peale Museum, but he evidently did not give the planned lectures.
What Say first designated Engis heros is now Megalodacne heros, the pleasing fungus beetle in the family Erotylidae. It is found in North America.
Current Common Name:
Pleasing fungus beetle
Current Scientific Name
Megalodacne heros
