On September 26, 1924, the ground collapsed beneath a truck in a back alley in Washington, D.C., revealing a mysterious underground labyrinth. In spite of wild speculations, the tunnel was not the work of German spies, but rather an aging, eccentric Smithsonian scientist named Harrison Gray Dyar,
Jr. While Dyar's covert tunneling habits may seem far-fetched, they were merely one of many oddities in Dyar's unbelievable life.
For the first time, insect biosystemist Marc E. Epstein presents a complete account of Dyar's life story. Dyar, one of the most influential biologists of the
twentieth century, focused his entomological career on building natural classifications of various groups of insects. His revolutionary approach to taxonomy, which examined both larval and adult stages of insects, brought about major changes in the scientific community's understanding of natural
relationships and insect systematics. He was also the father of what came to be known as Dyar's Law, a pragmatic method to standardize information on insect larval stages as they grow. Over the course of his illustrious career at the U.S. National Museum, Smithsonian Institution from 1897-1929, Dyar
named over 3,000 species, established the "List of North American Lepidoptera," an unrivaled catalog of moths and butterflies, and built one of the nation's premier lepidoptera and mosquito collections.
However, Dyar's scientific accomplishments are a mere component of this remarkable
biography. Epstein offers an account of Dyar's complicated personal life, from his feuds with fellow entomologists to the scandalous revelation that he was married to two wives at the same time. Epstein also chronicles Dyar's exploration of the Baha'i faith, his extensive travels, his innumerable
works of unpublished fiction, and the loss of his wealth from bad investments. Comprehensive and engaging, Moths, Myths, and Mosquitoes will delight entomologists and historians alike, as well as anyone interested in exploring the zany life of one of America's virtually unknown scientific
geniuses.
PART I: PREPARATORY STAGES
1. The Dyars and the Hannums: An Earlier Generation
2. Dyar, Jr: Early Growth Stages and Development
3. Collecting and Rearing Lepidoptera, and Dyar's Law: 1882-1891
4. Long Collecting Trips and Sawflies: 1889-1897
5. Postgraduate Education:
Classification of Moths and Bacteria
6. Genealogy of the Limacodidae and the Dyars
7. Last Days in New York, L.O. Howard, and a Move to the U.S. National Museum
PART II: BEGINNING A NEW LIFE AT THE USNM AND IN WASHINGTON
8. Life in the District of Columbia and Wellesca
Pollock
9. Building the National Collection, Dyar's "List of Lepidoptera," and the Entomological Society of Washington
10. Battle of the Titans Smith and Dyar, and Their New Love - The "Skeets"
11. Collecting Moths, Mosquitoes, and Travels: 1901-1909
12. Literature Wars and Last
Battles with Smith
13. Advances and Conflicts in Professional Life as a Lepidopterist: 1907-1914
PART III: MRS. ALLEN, DIVORCES, AND THE AFTERMATH OF THE SCANDAL
14. Wellesca's Baha'i Faith, New Wealth and Growing Concerns by Zella as Dyar's Life Begins to Unravel:
1906-1908
15. Marriage Troubles
16. The Separation 1915
17. Divorce Wranglings in Reno
18. Divorces, Appeals, and Bigamy
19. After the Scandal, Dismissal, and Friend Knab: 1917-1918
PART IV: THE FINAL DECADE: ATTEMPTS AT REINSTATEMENT
20. The National Collection of
Lepidoptera, its Workers, and Their Tiffs: 1920s
21. Mosquitoes and Pursuit of Reinstatement
22. Dyar and His Tunnels
23. Personal Life and Baha'is in the 1920s
24. Unity in the UNSM Lepidoptera Section and Acquiring the Barnes Collection
25. Final Days: Trip West, Projects, and
as Custodian
26. Financial Collapse and Final Push for Reinstatement
Epilogue
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Marc E. Epstein is Senior Insect Biosystematist for Lepidoptera at the California Department of Food and Agriculture and Research Associate at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution. He researches and writes on evolution and classification of moths and their
biodiversity, and develops identification tools for moths that threaten agriculture. At the NMNH he was in the Department of Entomology (1988-2003), cofounding the Department's Archives and Illustration Archives. His research on caterpillars, including images and videos, is currently featured in the
NMNH exhibit "More than Meets the Eye" and has been a guest on NPR's "Fresh Air" about his work on the book "Night Visions: the Secret Design of Moths." Dr. Epstein's published work includes a Smithsonian monograph on limacodid moths and the article "Digging for Dyar: the man behind the myth" with
Pamela M. Henson. Degrees: Ph.D. and M.S., Entomology, University of Minnesota -1988 and 1982, B.S., Entomology and Zoology, Colorado State University, 1977. He blogs regularly at http://hyenaswine.wordpress.com.
