Person
Illingworth, James Franklin (1870 - 1949)
- Born
- 1870
Illinois, U.S.A. - Died
- 1949
Hawaii, U.S.A. - Occupation
- Entomologist
Summary
James Illingworth was Chief Entomologist at the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations in Queensland near Cairns from 1917 to 1921. Before that he had considerable experience in crop pest research and management in the mainland United States and Hawaii, and was Professor of Entomology at the College of Hawaii. At the Bureau he worked closely with entomologists Alan Dodd and Edmund Jarvis. Illingworth led the research into pests of sugar cane and, building on the work of earlier researchers, investigated potential natural controls, including birds. His aim was reduce the cost and labour of pest control. A keen bird observer, he was the first to identify systematically bird species preying on pests of sugar cane in Australia. He also pioneered mapping of grub damage in relation to swarms of beetles on their food trees. On his return to Honolulu Illingworth worked in museum entomology research and on problems associated with the local sugar and pineapple industries. He deposited more than 20,000 Australian insect specimens in the Bishop Museum, 6,000 collected by himself, the remainder with assistance from Australian entomologists.
Details
Chronology
- 1901
- Education - MA (zoology), Stanford University, Stanford, California, U.S.A.
- 1912
- Education - PhD, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.
- 1912 - 1917
- Career position - Professor of Entomology, College (later University) of Hawaii
- 1913
- Career event - Commissioned to investigate cane pest control in Fiji
- 1917 - 1921
- Career position - Chief Entomologist, Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations
- 1921
- Life event - Returned to Hawaii
Related entries
Colleague
Published resources
Books
- Illingworth, J. F., Natural enemies of sugar-cane beetles in Queensland (Brisbane: Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations, Division of Entomology, 1921), 47 pp. Details
- Illingworth, J. F. and Dodd, Alan P., Australian sugar-cane beetles and their allies (Brisbane: Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations. Division of Entomology, 1921), 104 pp. Details
Journal Articles
- Bryan, E. H., 'James Franklin Illingworth, 1870-1949', Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society, 14 (1950), 21. Details
- Grigg, Peter, 'Entomology in the Service of the State: Queensland Scientists and the Campaign Against Cane Beetles, 1895-1950', Historical Records of Australian Science, 16 (1) (2005), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR05004. Details
- Scambler, Elinor, C., 'James Franklin Illingworth in far north Queensland: "useful birds" and an overlooked record of insectivory in the Australasian figbird, Sphecotheres vieilloti', North Queensland naturalist, 52 (2022), 4-18. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 30 January 2025