The Professional Development of an Entomologist

Abstract

An account of the development of biological interest, and specifically interest in bees, by Charles D. Michener. Included topics are the role of graduate students and the relationship between behavioral studies and systematics. Sections are (a) upbringing, including initiation of biological interests, (b) early studies of bees, (c) student

Charles D. Michener (1918–2015): The Compleat Melittologist1

“…Mich later would visit Lawrence to interview, and was quickly made a formal offer of employment. Despite advice to the contrary from his New York colleagues, most notably Dobzhanksy who purportedly told Mich to "let the Kansans stew in their own juices," (Michener, 2007a), he eventually accepted the offer from the University of Kansas. It therefore came to pass that Mich wrote to Mrs. Cockerell in August 1948 7 , "You may be interested to know that in September, I am leaving the American Museum to go to the University of Kansas where in due course I will take over Dr. Hungerford's position.…”

“…Much later, an important book overviewing the subject was produced in collaboration with David J.C. Fletcher, Kin Recognition in Animals (Fletcher & Michener, 1987). While nearly everyone today looks back on this as an important stage in the science, Mich sadly characterized it as "largely a failure from the viewpoint of my professional development" (Michener, 2007a). Ah, if we all could have failures such as this!…”

Bees visiting flowers of Thymus longicaulis (Lamiaceae)

“…The information on sociality and nesting behavior of collected bees were extracted from Michener (2000Michener ( , 2007 and the collected bees were classified as: eusocial, solitary and cleptoparasite. All collected specimens are deposited in the entomological collection of the AGRARIA Department (University of Reggio Calabria, Italy).…”

The Importance of Insects

“…Butterflies in particular first induced many youth to become interested in collecting insects, leading many of them to become professional entomologists, interested in the outdoors and involved in the study of systematic entomology, ecology, and behavior (Michener 2007).…”