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A shooting star in the distinguished publication history of the American Entomological Society, the Practical Entomologist was published from October 1 865 - October 1867. It was the first journal published in the United States that was entirely devoted to applied or economic entomology (Howard 1930). Farmers and agriculturists were the intended audience, and the publication's purpose was to disseminate information on insects which were "more or less destructive to our annual crops of all kinds" ' in the United States. However brief, the life of the Practical Entomologist provides a glimpse into mid 19th century life and the nascent science of insect pest management in America. The publication's legacy is distinguished by both novelty and vision.
The Practical Entomologist consisted of only two volumes, totaling 260 quarto pages. It might be unknown to many people, except for those who search out the volumes in the Academy of Natural Science's library, university Special Collections, or Google Books. A chronology and description of the life of the Practical Entomologist is in the 100th Anniversary Issue of Entomological News (Sheppard 1989). This article will emphasize the publication's legacy, which is worthy of note and celebration on the 150th anniversary of the American Entomological Society.
The Practical Entomologist emerged during a time of social and scientific transformation. "From Canada to Virginia, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, our little paper takes its monthly journey, and as soon as mail communications are opened through the Southern States, our circulation will be still more largely increasedÖ".2 The date of this issue was February 26, 1866, right after the end of the Civil War. Darwin's Origin of Species was published in 1859, just a few years prior to the Practical Entomologist. Benjamin Walsh, at first an Associate Editor and then Editor of the Practical Entomologist, knew Charles Darwin and attended Cambridge University with him. Although Walsh avoided discussions of evolution in the Practical Entomologist, in other writings he defended Darwin and his theory of species origin (Sheppard 2004).
The Practical Entomologist was to be distributed "gratuitously throughout the country" to farmers and agriculturists. Subscribers were only required to pay the cost of postage, in stamps. Contributions to this publication were expected to come from entomologists throughout the United States,...