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1957
The Lepidopterists'' News
169
mm,
CHARLES HENRY INGHAM (1904-1957)
Those of us who knew CHARLES H. INGHAM were greatly shocked and saddened by his sudden death on 15 August 1957. Born in San Francisco, California, on 26 May 1904, CHARLIE displayed an early interest in Lepidoptera. He and his family moved to the Los Angeles area in 1917. At the age of 17, while still attending school, CHARLIE became associated with Western Auto Supply Co. His part-time work with this company finally led to a permanent position, and later to executive capacity. He remained with Western Auto for 35 years. During this time he devoted every possible week-end and the majority of his yearly vacations to field trips, with the result that he compiled one of the finest private collections of butterflies on the Pacific Coast. His primary interest was in the superfamily Papilionoidea, particularly the genera Papilio, Pieris, and Anthocaris. However, his specialty was in variations within the species and aberrations, and he collected many fine specimens of aberrant Eupbydryas and other genera. He conducted a series of experiments on Euphydrayas in order to determine the relationship of the aberrations to genetics. Unfortunately, he was forced to discontinue these experiments due to the length of time required for completion, the necessity for expensive equipment, and the unavailability of working space. However, he reared hundreds of specimens of many species for studies in variation.
I first met Charlie in 1928 — the year of his marriage to Carmen Bermudez, daughter of the former Nicaraguan Consul in England. He became one of my closest friends and we rarely missed an opportunity to spend our time in the field together, whether for a one or two day local trip or a two or three weeks extended trip to remote desert or mountain regions. He was an ideal field companion, most cooperative, with an even disposition and a wonderful sense of humor. Although he did not include Heterocea in his own collection he received the fullest enjoyment in collecting specimens at light and would "burn the midnight Coleman' as long as the flight lasted. He loved every aspect of the great out-of-doors, being particularly partial to the early spring collecting season. We would generally head in opposite directions while on our field trips in order to cover the most territory in a given area. During the daytime we would often not see each other for hours at a time, then the quiet of an isolated desert mountain range would be shattered by a resounding "moose call", and I would spot Charlie on top of the highest peak. We would later join each other for a cigarette and to compare notes on the specimens collected.
170
Vol.11: nos.4-5
Some of the territories that we worked together included the Providence Mts. in San Bernardino County, California; the New York and Ivanpah Mts.; the Granite Mts. near Victorville; the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mts.; the Santa Monica Mts. and Palos Verdes Hills; the Southern Sierras near the South Fork of the Kern River; the High Sierras including the Mono Lake region and Bishop Creek; and the Colorado River district. In Arizona we spent considerable time collecting in the Tucson area and the Santa Catalina Mts. We also devoted many enjoyable days to field work on the upper Mojave Desert and the Pine Canyon district.
During his earlier activities INGHAM took several trips into the High Sierras and Northern California, collecting with ROBERT F. STERNITZKY and others.
On one occasion he struggled up to Mammoth Lakes in a Model T Ford by himself, over the road that in these days would be considered as "unimproved" and "dangerous but passable." North of the town of Mojave the car lost a bearing. INGHAM hiked across the desert to a deserted ranch house several miles to the east. There was a pile of Model T parts in the backyard. Luckily he found the right part, hiked back to the car, installed it, and was once again on his way, returning home a week later with many fine specimens from Mammoth.
INGHAM kept full records of all the specimens that he collected over a period of years and was very thorough and systematic in everything that he accomplished. JEAN GUNDER, in his publication "Butterflies of Los Angeles County', listed CHARLES H. INGHAM as one of the outstanding lepidopterists in the county. He also had races and aberrations named in his honor.
His publications have consisted of the description of a new race of Ant ho car is reakirtii occurring on Catalina Island — "Anth. reakirtii gunderi Ingham"; an aberration of Pieris beckerii—erP. beckerii ab. gunderi Ingham"; and a joint authorship with LLOYD M. MARTIN on the "Butterflies of the Huntington Lake District."
All of us who knew CHARLIE miss him as a true friend, and when we are in some beautiful and remote desert region we can gaze at a distant peak and imagine his observing our collecting activities from the highest point, even though we can no longer detect his resounding "moose call.'
He is survived by his wife, CARMEN; his children, JEAN, CHARLES, JOYCE, GAY, and MARK; and seven grandchildren.
Christopher Henne, 231 24th Place, Manhattan Beach, Calif., U. S. A.
NEW CODE OF ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE
Volume 14, Parts 1/6 and 7/9 of the Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, published in November 1957, contains the draft of the English text of the International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature, which is to be considered for adoption by the International Congress of Zoology meeting in London this summer. This text, if adopted, will supersede all earlier versions of the Rules. All systematise and other persons interested in problems of nomenclature would do well to obtain a copy of this draft, examine it carefully, and submit to the Secretary of the International Commission any comments or objections they may have. While it is unlikely that any code will be completely satisfactory to all zoologists, dissatisfaction and the need for further changes in the Rules should be reduced if all controversial questions are brought to the attention of the Commission and carefully considered before the draft is presented to the Congress for ratification. Copies may be obtained from the International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, 41 Queen's Gate, London, S.W. 7, England.
P. F. Bellinger