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Ross Bell

April 11, 2024

Ross Taylor Bell (April 23, 1929 – November 9, 2019) was an American entomologist with particular interest in the invertebrate natural history of Vermont, United States, and carabid beetles. Together with his wife, Joyce Rockenbach Bell, his work at the University of Vermont was largely taxonomic, where they described more than 75% of the rhysodine species known to science. Ross also wrote a number of seminal papers in his chosen field.[1]

Ross Bell
Bell (right) with his wife Joyce in 2010
Born
Ross Taylor Bell

(1929-04-23)April 23, 1929
Champaign, Illinois, U.S.
DiedNovember 9, 2019(2019-11-09) (aged 90)
Shelburne, Vermont, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Chicago
Scientific career
FieldsEntomology
InstitutionsUniversity of Vermont
Doctoral advisorW.V. Balduf

Biography edit

Ross Bell was born April 23, 1929, in Champaign, Illinois, to parents Alfred Hannam Bell and Dorothy Bell. He had two sisters - Martha and Enid. The family members were keen naturalists, and family vacations included long drives to various locations in the US where the family would pursue their particular interests in botany, zoology, and geology.

Bell's particular interest in insects began with a childhood gift of an insect collecting kit from his parents. He also received a jar of silk worm larvae, which he reared on mulberry leaves. At age 14, he gained employment at the Illinois Natural History Survey at the University of Illinois where he sorted and identified flies of the families Sarcophagidae, Muscidae and Calliphoridae. The following summer, he took a job with the taxonomic survey, though this turned out to provide him with little scope to develop his skills and interests.

Bell went to high school at the University Laboratory High School in Urbana. He spent his summers at his aunt and uncle's farm in Ohio where, in between farm chores, he would collect and attempt to name insects from the fields and nearby stream.

He spent 1946 to 1949 at the University of Illinois, where he earned a BS in zoology. He then went on to gain his MS with a thesis about the Carabidae (Simplicia) of Illinois. In the early 1950s, under the sponsorship of entomologist W.V. Balduf, he completed his doctoral dissertation about the comparative morphology and phylogeny of Adephaga.

While at Illinois, Bell became friends with 'Butterfly' Bob Snetsinger. Through him, Bell developed interests in life history and larval biology. He also became interested in ecology and became president of the department's ecology club.

Following the completion of his Ph.D., Bell was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to go to India. Before he could take this up, though, he was called for national service, and spent two years at Fort Dietrich, Maryland, then known as America's 'Germ Warfare Centre'. Spending a significant amount of time working with fleas, he discovered a rapid way to differentiate males from females. On discharge, he joined the University of Vermont (UVM), lecturing on field zoology, invertebrate zoology, entomology and mountain ecology.

In the summer of 1956, he went collecting insects in Mexico with Don Van Horn. It was here that he discovered his first undescribed rhysodine beetle. This led to a lifelong fascination which established him as the world expert on these particular beetles.

In the following year, he married Joyce Elaine Rockenbach of Whitestone, Queens, New York City. The two became inseparable companions in the pursuit of entomology. During the 1960s, they began an active program to document the arthropod fauna of Vermont. Their work built the UVM Entomological Collection into a significant resource for Northern New England. In the 1970s and 1980s, Ross and Joyce extended the boundaries for their entomological work beyond Vermont, stretching as far as New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Bell retired from UVM in 2000, but continued to teach a field course in entomology for a further four years. He and his wife continued to study entomology, and in particular rhysodines, until his death.

Ross Bell died in Shelburne, Vermont, at the age of 90, survived by Joyce.[2]

Recognition edit

An issue of ZooKeys was published as a Festschrift for Ross and Joyce Bell, following a meeting of coleopterists held in celebration of their work and of Ross's 80th birthday.[3]

The Coleopterists Society offers an annual Ross Taylor Bell and Joyce Rockenbach Bell Research Grant for "an outstanding proposal for beetle research whose work would otherwise not be funded", favouring taxonomy or systematics.[4]

Rhysodine beetles edit

Bell is primarily known for his lifelong fascination with the beetle subfamily Rhysodinae. Of the 350 known species, Bell identified and classified some 260 of them.[5]

He and Joyce Bell also published a significant number of papers, including:[6]

  • Bell, R. T. 1970. The Rhysodini of North America, Central America and the West Indies. Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America 6: 289-324.
  • Bell, R. T. 1973. New species of Clinidium from Guatemala (Coleoptera, Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 75(3): 279-282.
  • Bell, R. T. 1975. Omoglymmius Ganglbauer, a separate genus (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 29(4):351-352.
  • Bell, R. T. 1979. Zoogeography of Rhysodini: Do beetles travel on driftwood? Pages 331-342 in Carabid Beetles: Their Evolution, Natural History and Classification (T. L. Erwin, G. E. Ball, and D. R. Whitehead, eds.). Proceedings of the First International Symposium of Carabidology. Smithsonoan Institution, Washington, D.C.
  • Bell, R. T. 1985. Zoogeography and ecology of New Guinea Rhysodini (Coleoptera: Carabidae). Pages 221-235 in Taxonomy, Phylogeny and Zoogeography of Beetles and Ants (G. E. Ball, ed.). Dr. W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht.
  • Bell, R. T. 1985. Family: Rhysodidae. A Catalog of the Coleoptera of America North of Mexico. United States Department of Agriculture. Agriculture Handbook Number 529-4:1-4.
  • Bell, R. T. 1991. Rhysodidae (Adephaga). Pages 304-305 in Immature Insects Volume 2 (F. W. Stehr, ed.). Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa.
  • Bell, R. T. 1994. Beetles that cannot bite: functional morphology of the head of adult Rhysodines (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). The Canadian Entomologist 126:667-672.
  • Bell, R. T. 1998. Where do the Rhysodini (Coleoptera) belong? Pages 261-272 in Phylogeny and Classification of Caraboidea. XX I.C.E. (1996, Firenze, Italy) (G. E. Ball, A. Casale, and A. Vigna Taglianti, eds.). Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1962. The taxonomic position of the Rhysodidae. The Coleopterists Bulletin 15:99-106.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1975. Two new taxa of Clinidium (Coleoptera: Rhysodidae or Carabidae) from the Eastern U.S., with a revised key to U.S. Clinidium. The Coleopterists Bulletin 29(2):65-68.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1978. Rhysodini of the World part I. A new classification of the tribe, and a synopsis of Omoglymmius subgenus Nitiglymmius, new subgenus (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Quaestiones Entomologicae 14: 43-88.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1979. Rhysodini of the World part II. Revisions of the smaller genera (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Quaestiones Entomologicae 15: 377-446.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1982. Rhysodini of the World Part III. Revision of Omoglymmius Ganglbauer (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae) and substitutions for preoccupied generic names. Quaestiones Entomologicae 18: 127-259.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1985. Rhysodini of the World Part IV. Revisions of Rhyzodiastes and Clinidium, with new species in other genera (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Quaestiones Entomologicae 21(1): 1-172.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1987. A new species of Clinidium Kirby (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae) from Mexico, and descriptions of the females of two Neotropical members of the genus. Annals Of The Carnegie Museum 56(8-14): 193-196.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1987. A new subtribe, genus and species of Rhysodini from South Africa (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa 50(2): 287-290.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1987. Rhysodine beetles on the Geneva collection: a new species of Yamatosa, and a major range extension for Omoglymmius sakuraii Nakane (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Revue suisse Zool. 94(4):683-686.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1988. Rhysodini of Sulawesi (Indonesia) and nearby islands (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Journal of the New York Entomological Society 96(1): 7-15.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1989. Rhysodine beetles on the Geneva collection II: new species of Yamatosa and Omoglymmius, descriptions of undescribed sexes in other species, and some major range extensions (Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Revue suisse Zool. 96(3):637-642.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1991. The Rhysodini of Australia (Insecta: Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae). Annals Of The Carnegie Museum 60(3): 179-210.
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1993. Rhysodine beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Carabidae or Rhysodidae): New species, new data, and revised keys to Omoglymmius (Subgenera Omoglymmius and Pyxiglimmius). Annals of Carnegie Museum 62(2): 165-185 .
  • Bell, R. T. and J. R. Bell. 1995. The Rhysodini (Insecta: Coleoptera: Carabidae) of Cuba. Annals of Carnegie Museum 64(3): 185-195.

References edit

  1. ^ Spence, John R.; Ball, George E.; Davidson, Robert L.; Rykken, Jessica J. (2011-11-16). "'Bellography': Life and Contributions of Ross and Joyce Bell, two New England Naturalists". ZooKeys (147): 3–13. Bibcode:2011ZooK..147....3S. doi:10.3897/zookeys.147.1999. ISSN 1313-2989. PMC 3286264. PMID 22371660.
  2. ^ "Ross Taylor Bell Obituary (1929 - 2019) the Burlington Free Press". Legacy.com.
  3. ^ Davidson, Robert L. (2011). "Preface". ZooKeys (147): 1–2. doi:10.3897/zookeys.147.2162 (inactive 31 January 2024). PMC 3286255.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
  4. ^ "Ross Taylor Bell and Joyce Rockenbach Bell Research Grant". The Coleopterists Society. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  5. ^ "In This State: Famous in the world of beetles, Ross Bell is Vermont's bug virtuoso". VTDigger. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
  6. ^ "Rhysodini". tolweb.org. Retrieved 2015-12-14.

April 11, 2024
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This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations December 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Ross Taylor Bell April 23 1929 November 9 2019 was an American entomologist with particular interest in the invertebrate natural history of Vermont United States and carabid beetles Together with his wife Joyce Rockenbach Bell his work at the University of Vermont was largely taxonomic where they described more than 75 of the rhysodine species known to science Ross also wrote a number of seminal papers in his chosen field 1 Ross BellBell right with his wife Joyce in 2010BornRoss Taylor Bell 1929 04 23 April 23 1929Champaign Illinois U S DiedNovember 9 2019 2019 11 09 aged 90 Shelburne Vermont U S Alma materUniversity of ChicagoScientific careerFieldsEntomologyInstitutionsUniversity of VermontDoctoral advisorW V Balduf Contents 1 Biography 2 Recognition 3 Rhysodine beetles 4 ReferencesBiography editRoss Bell was born April 23 1929 in Champaign Illinois to parents Alfred Hannam Bell and Dorothy Bell He had two sisters Martha and Enid The family members were keen naturalists and family vacations included long drives to various locations in the US where the family would pursue their particular interests in botany zoology and geology Bell s particular interest in insects began with a childhood gift of an insect collecting kit from his parents He also received a jar of silk worm larvae which he reared on mulberry leaves At age 14 he gained employment at the Illinois Natural History Survey at the University of Illinois where he sorted and identified flies of the families Sarcophagidae Muscidae and Calliphoridae The following summer he took a job with the taxonomic survey though this turned out to provide him with little scope to develop his skills and interests Bell went to high school at the University Laboratory High School in Urbana He spent his summers at his aunt and uncle s farm in Ohio where in between farm chores he would collect and attempt to name insects from the fields and nearby stream He spent 1946 to 1949 at the University of Illinois where he earned a BS in zoology He then went on to gain his MS with a thesis about the Carabidae Simplicia of Illinois In the early 1950s under the sponsorship of entomologist W V Balduf he completed his doctoral dissertation about the comparative morphology and phylogeny of Adephaga While at Illinois Bell became friends with Butterfly Bob Snetsinger Through him Bell developed interests in life history and larval biology He also became interested in ecology and became president of the department s ecology club Following the completion of his Ph D Bell was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to go to India Before he could take this up though he was called for national service and spent two years at Fort Dietrich Maryland then known as America s Germ Warfare Centre Spending a significant amount of time working with fleas he discovered a rapid way to differentiate males from females On discharge he joined the University of Vermont UVM lecturing on field zoology invertebrate zoology entomology and mountain ecology In the summer of 1956 he went collecting insects in Mexico with Don Van Horn It was here that he discovered his first undescribed rhysodine beetle This led to a lifelong fascination which established him as the world expert on these particular beetles In the following year he married Joyce Elaine Rockenbach of Whitestone Queens New York City The two became inseparable companions in the pursuit of entomology During the 1960s they began an active program to document the arthropod fauna of Vermont Their work built the UVM Entomological Collection into a significant resource for Northern New England In the 1970s and 1980s Ross and Joyce extended the boundaries for their entomological work beyond Vermont stretching as far as New Zealand and Papua New Guinea Bell retired from UVM in 2000 but continued to teach a field course in entomology for a further four years He and his wife continued to study entomology and in particular rhysodines until his death Ross Bell died in Shelburne Vermont at the age of 90 survived by Joyce 2 Recognition editAn issue of ZooKeys was published as a Festschrift for Ross and Joyce Bell following a meeting of coleopterists held in celebration of their work and of Ross s 80th birthday 3 The Coleopterists Society offers an annual Ross Taylor Bell and Joyce Rockenbach Bell Research Grant for an outstanding proposal for beetle research whose work would otherwise not be funded favouring taxonomy or systematics 4 Rhysodine beetles editBell is primarily known for his lifelong fascination with the beetle subfamily Rhysodinae Of the 350 known species Bell identified and classified some 260 of them 5 He and Joyce Bell also published a significant number of papers including 6 Bell R T 1970 The Rhysodini of North America Central America and the West Indies Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America 6 289 324 Bell R T 1973 New species of Clinidium from Guatemala Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 75 3 279 282 Bell R T 1975 Omoglymmius Ganglbauer a separate genus Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae The Coleopterists Bulletin 29 4 351 352 Bell R T 1979 Zoogeography of Rhysodini Do beetles travel on driftwood Pages 331 342 in Carabid Beetles Their Evolution Natural History and Classification T L Erwin G E Ball and D R Whitehead eds Proceedings of the First International Symposium of Carabidology Smithsonoan Institution Washington D C Bell R T 1985 Zoogeography and ecology of New Guinea Rhysodini Coleoptera Carabidae Pages 221 235 in Taxonomy Phylogeny and Zoogeography of Beetles and Ants G E Ball ed Dr W Junk Publishers Dordrecht Bell R T 1985 Family Rhysodidae A Catalog of the Coleoptera of America North of Mexico United States Department of Agriculture Agriculture Handbook Number 529 4 1 4 Bell R T 1991 Rhysodidae Adephaga Pages 304 305 in Immature Insects Volume 2 F W Stehr ed Kendall Hunt Publishing Company Dubuque Iowa Bell R T 1994 Beetles that cannot bite functional morphology of the head of adult Rhysodines Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae The Canadian Entomologist 126 667 672 Bell R T 1998 Where do the Rhysodini Coleoptera belong Pages 261 272 in Phylogeny and Classification of Caraboidea XX I C E 1996 Firenze Italy G E Ball A Casale and A Vigna Taglianti eds Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali Torino Bell R T and J R Bell 1962 The taxonomic position of the Rhysodidae The Coleopterists Bulletin 15 99 106 Bell R T and J R Bell 1975 Two new taxa of Clinidium Coleoptera Rhysodidae or Carabidae from the Eastern U S with a revised key to U S Clinidium The Coleopterists Bulletin 29 2 65 68 Bell R T and J R Bell 1978 Rhysodini of the World part I A new classification of the tribe and a synopsis of Omoglymmius subgenus Nitiglymmius new subgenus Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae Quaestiones Entomologicae 14 43 88 Bell R T and J R Bell 1979 Rhysodini of the World part II Revisions of the smaller genera Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae Quaestiones Entomologicae 15 377 446 Bell R T and J R Bell 1982 Rhysodini of the World Part III Revision of Omoglymmius Ganglbauer Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae and substitutions for preoccupied generic names Quaestiones Entomologicae 18 127 259 Bell R T and J R Bell 1985 Rhysodini of the World Part IV Revisions of Rhyzodiastes and Clinidium with new species in other genera Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae Quaestiones Entomologicae 21 1 1 172 Bell R T and J R Bell 1987 A new species of Clinidium Kirby Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae from Mexico and descriptions of the females of two Neotropical members of the genus Annals Of The Carnegie Museum 56 8 14 193 196 Bell R T and J R Bell 1987 A new subtribe genus and species of Rhysodini from South Africa Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa 50 2 287 290 Bell R T and J R Bell 1987 Rhysodine beetles on the Geneva collection a new species of Yamatosa and a major range extension for Omoglymmius sakuraii Nakane Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae Revue suisse Zool 94 4 683 686 Bell R T and J R Bell 1988 Rhysodini of Sulawesi Indonesia and nearby islands Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae Journal of the New York Entomological Society 96 1 7 15 Bell R T and J R Bell 1989 Rhysodine beetles on the Geneva collection II new species of Yamatosa and Omoglymmius descriptions of undescribed sexes in other species and some major range extensions Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae Revue suisse Zool 96 3 637 642 Bell R T and J R Bell 1991 The Rhysodini of Australia Insecta Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae Annals Of The Carnegie Museum 60 3 179 210 Bell R T and J R Bell 1993 Rhysodine beetles Insecta Coleoptera Carabidae or Rhysodidae New species new data and revised keys to Omoglymmius Subgenera Omoglymmius and Pyxiglimmius Annals of Carnegie Museum 62 2 165 185 Bell R T and J R Bell 1995 The Rhysodini Insecta Coleoptera Carabidae of Cuba Annals of Carnegie Museum 64 3 185 195 References edit Spence John R Ball George E Davidson Robert L Rykken Jessica J 2011 11 16 Bellography Life and Contributions of Ross and Joyce Bell two New England Naturalists ZooKeys 147 3 13 Bibcode 2011ZooK 147 3S doi 10 3897 zookeys 147 1999 ISSN 1313 2989 PMC 3286264 PMID 22371660 Ross Taylor Bell Obituary 1929 2019 the Burlington Free Press Legacy com Davidson Robert L 2011 Preface ZooKeys 147 1 2 doi 10 3897 zookeys 147 2162 inactive 31 January 2024 PMC 3286255 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a CS1 maint DOI inactive as of January 2024 link Ross Taylor Bell and Joyce Rockenbach Bell Research Grant The Coleopterists Society Retrieved 3 November 2023 In This State Famous in the world of beetles Ross Bell is Vermont s bug virtuoso VTDigger 11 March 2012 Retrieved 2015 12 14 Rhysodini tolweb org Retrieved 2015 12 14 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ross Bell amp oldid 1201973805, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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