Editing Entomology (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}
[[File:TRES18481.jpg|thumb|Plate from ''Transactions of the Entomological Society'', 1848]]
[[File:Compilation of 100 Trigonopterus species - 1742-9994-10-15-3.png|thumb|These 100 ''[[Trigonopterus]]'' species were described simultaneously using [[DNA barcoding]].]]

Entomology is rooted in nearly all human [[culture]]s from [[prehistoric]] times, primarily in the context of [[agriculture]] (especially [[biological control]] and [[beekeeping]]). The natural Roman philosopher [[Pliny the Elder]] (23–79 CE) wrote a book on the kinds of insects,<ref>{{citation|title=Naturalis Historia|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D11}}</ref> while the scientist [[Grammarians of Kufa|of Kufa]], [[Ibn al-A'rābī]] (760–845 CE) wrote a book on flies, {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Dabāb}} ({{lang|ar|كتاب الذباب}}). However scientific study in the modern sense began only relatively recently, in the 16th century.<ref>Antonio Saltini, ''Storia delle scienze agrarie'', 4 vols, Bologna 1984–89, {{ISBN|88-206-2412-5}}, {{ISBN|88-206-2413-3}}, {{ISBN|88-206-2414-1}}, {{ISBN|88-206-2415-X}}</ref> [[Ulisse Aldrovandi]]'s {{lang|la|De Animalibus Insectis}} (Concerning Insect Animals) was published in 1602. Microscopist [[Jan Swammerdam]] published ''History of Insects'', correctly describing the reproductive organs of insects and [[Metamorphosis (biology)|metamorphosis]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Entomology |date=21 March 2024 |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/entomology |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref> In 1705, [[Maria Sibylla Merian]] published the book {{lang|la|Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium}} about the tropical insects of [[Surinam (Dutch colony)|Dutch Surinam]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Lepidoptera, moths and butterflies: Evolution, Systematics and Biogeography |last=Kristensen |first=Niels P. |editor= Kristensen, Niels P.|series=Volume 4, Part 35 of Handbuch der Zoologie:Eine Naturgeschichte der Stämme des Tierreiches. Arthropoda: Insecta|year=1999 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-015704-8 |page= 1 |chapter=Historical Introduction}}</ref>

Early entomological works associated with the naming and classification of species followed the practice of maintaining [[Cabinet of curiosities|cabinets of curiosity]], predominantly in Europe. This collecting fashion led to the formation of natural history societies, exhibitions of private collections, and journals for recording communications and the documentation of new species. Many of the collectors tended to be from the aristocracy, and there developed a trade involving collectors around the world and traders. This has been called the "era of heroic entomology". [[William Kirby (entomologist)|William Kirby]] is widely considered as the father of entomology in England. In collaboration with [[William Spence (entomologist)|William Spence]], he published a definitive entomological encyclopedia, ''Introduction to Entomology'', regarded as the subject's foundational text. He also helped found the [[Royal Entomological Society]] in London in 1833, one of the earliest such societies in the world; earlier antecedents, such as the [[Aurelian (entomology)|Aurelian society]] date back to the 1740s. In the late 19th century, the growth of agriculture, and colonial trade spawned the "era of economic entomology" which created the professional entomologist associated with the rise of the university and training in the field of biology.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Elias, Scott A.|year=2014|title=A Brief History of the Changing Occupations and Demographics of Coleopterists from the 18th Through the 20th Century|journal=Journal of the History of Biology|volume=47|issue=2|pages=213–242|doi=10.1007/s10739-013-9365-9|jstor=43863376|pmid=23928824|s2cid=24812002}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bq05ecMx-owC&pg=PA27|title=Bugs and the Victorians|publisher=Yale University Press|author=Clark, John F.M.|year=2009|pages=26–27|isbn=978-0300150919}}</ref>

Entomology developed rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries and was studied by large numbers of people, including such notable figures as [[Charles Darwin]], [[Jean-Henri Fabre]], [[Vladimir Nabokov]], [[Karl von Frisch]] (winner of the 1973 [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1973/frisch-lecture.html|title=Karl von Frisch – Nobel Lecture: Decoding the Language of the Bee}}</ref> and twice [[Pulitzer Prize]] winner [[E. O. Wilson]].

There has also been a history of people becoming entomologists through museum curation and research assistance,<ref name="Starrs NMNH">{{cite web|last1=Starrs|first1=Siobhan|title=A Scientist and a Tinkerer – A Story in a Frame|url=http://nmnh.typepad.com/100years/2010/08/a-scientist-and-a-tinkerer-a-story-in-a-frame.html|website=National Museum of Natural History Unearthed|publisher=National Museum of Natural History|access-date=19 March 2017|date=10 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319195756/http://nmnh.typepad.com/100years/2010/08/a-scientist-and-a-tinkerer-a-story-in-a-frame.html|archive-date=19 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> such as [[Sophie Lutterlough]] at the Smithsonian [[National Museum of Natural History]]. Insect identification is an increasingly common hobby, with [[butterfly|butterflies]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Prudic |first1=KL |last2=McFarland |first2=KP |last3=Oliver |first3=JC |last4=Hutchinson |first4=RA |last5=Long |first5=EC |last6=Kerr |first6=JT |last7=Larrivée |first7=M |title=eButterfly: Leveraging Massive Online Citizen Science for Butterfly Consevation. |journal=Insects |date=18 May 2017 |volume=8 |issue=2 |page=53 |doi=10.3390/insects8020053 |doi-access=free |pmid=28524117 |pmc=5492067 }}</ref> and (to a lesser extent) [[dragonfly|dragonflies]] being the most popular.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bried |first1=Jason |last2=Ries |first2=Leslie |last3=Smith |first3=Brenda |last4=Patten |first4=Michael |last5=Abbott |first5=John |last6=Ball-Damerow |first6=Joan |last7=Cannings |first7=Robert |last8=Cordero-Rivera |first8=Adolfo |last9=Córdoba-Aguilar |first9=Alex |last10=De Marco |first10=Paulo |last11=Dijkstra |first11=Klaas-Douwe |last12=Dolný |first12=Aleš |last13=van Grunsven |first13=Roy |last14=Halstead |first14=David |last15=Harabiš |first15=Filip |last16=Hassall |first16=Christopher |last17=Jeanmougin |first17=Martin |last18=Jones |first18=Colin |last19=Juen |first19=Leandro |last20=Kalkman |first20=Vincent |last21=Kietzka |first21=Gabriella |last22=Mazzacano |first22=Celeste Searles |last23=Orr |first23=Albert |last24=Perron |first24=Mary Ann |last25=Rocha-Ortega |first25=Maya |last26=Sahlén |first26=Göran |last27=Samways |first27=Michael |last28=Siepielski |first28=Adam |last29=Simaika |first29=John |last30=Suhling |first30=Frank |last31=Underhill |first31=Les |last32=White |first32=Erin |title=Towards Global Volunteer Monitoring of Odonate Abundance |journal=BioScience |date=16 October 2020 |volume=70 |issue=10 |pages=914–923 |doi=10.1093/biosci/biaa092 |url=https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/70/10/914/5899941?login=false}}</ref>

Most insects can easily be allocated to [[order (biology)|order]], such as [[Hymenoptera]] (bees, wasps, and ants) or [[Coleoptera]] (beetles). However, identifying to genus or species is usually only possible through the use of [[identification key]]s and [[monograph]]s. Because the class [[Insecta]] contains a very large number of species (over 330,000 species of beetles alone) and the characteristics distinguishing them are unfamiliar, and often subtle (or invisible without a microscope), this is often very difficult even for a specialist. This has led to the development of [[automated species identification]] systems targeted on insects, for example, [[Digital Automated Identification SYstem (DAISY)|Daisy]], ABIS, SPIDA and Draw-wing.