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190 Ruckes & dos Passos: E. L. Bell Vol. 19, no. 3
Eutelia pulcherrima Grt., Hattiesburg, May; Doryodes spadaria Gn., Biloxi, April; Drasteria graphica Hbn., Biloxi, March-April (4); Schizura apicalis G. & R., Biloxi, April; Cleora manitoba Grossbeck, Biloxi, April (4); Pseudoboarmia buchholzaria Lemmon, Biloxi, April; Glena cogna-taria Hbn., Biloxi, April; and Limacodes rectilinea G. & R., Hattiesburg, May. The species listed above as previously unrecorded from Mississippi were determined by Dr. F. H. Rindge, American Museum of Natural History, New York.
Collecting on the Mississippi Gulf Coast ranged from excellent to disappointing. The specimens of S. kalmiae were taken on poles supporting mercury-vapor lights. Such poles were frequently very productive and on some nights 20-35 specimens of Sphingidae were taken on a single pole.
Our appreciation of the significance of much of what we collected was contributed to greatly by having made the acquaintance of active local collectors. We suggest that others, like ourselves, who may reside temporarily in an area due to military service commitments (or for other reasons) and who collect during such time contact local collectors, both for the visitor's benefit and so that their data may be properly included in the appropriate regional compilations.
Appreciation is expressed to Bryant and Katharine Mather who helped make our collecting in Mississippi so worthwhile and for their assistance in the preparation of this short article.
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ERNEST LAYTON BELL (1876-1964 )*
Ernest L. Bell was born November 21, 1876 in Flushing, Long Island, New York, and lived his entire life of 89 years in that town. As a young man he obtained a position with the First National Bank (now the National City Bank), eventually becoming head of the loan department prior to his retirement after World War II.
From early manhood Ernest Bell had a propensity for collecting, first local Indian lore, then stamps and coins. Coin collecting was his prevailing hobby up to the time of his death. Primarily, however, he was an outdoor man with a bent for studying living things. Before turning his attention to entomology, he collected herpetological specimens extensively. His main interest turned to Lepidoptera, primarily butterflies, in 1919. He ultimately decided to specialize on the Hesperioidea.
1 This obituary is abstracted from a manuscript scheduled for publication in the Journal of the New York Entomological Society and kindly made available by the authors.—Editor
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1965
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Journal of the Lepidopterists Society
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191
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Although an amateur, Ernest Rell was an exceptionally gifted taxonomist, and eventually became one of the foremost authorities on New World hesperiids. During his studies he described a number of new genera and a total of over 200 species and subspecies of skippers, very few of which have fallen into synonymy. For many years he cooperated with eminent workers in the field, such as A. W. Lindsey, R. C. Williams, W. P. Corn-stock, K. S. Hay ward, and W. H. Evans, often co-authoring papers with some of them. During Evans7 preparation of his four-volume "Catalogue of American Hesperiidae," Bell was frequently consulted, and after publication of the work made notes of errors in connection with arranging the American Museum collection. These notes resulted in an "Addenda and corrigenda" published in 1951-1955, in which Evans gives Bell credit for most of the corrections which were included.
Ernest Bell was president of the New York Entomological Society in 1933, and in the following year was appointed Research Associate by the American Museum of Natural History, a title which he held until the time of his death. His extensive collections of hesperiids and other insects were donated to the American Museum. He was a charter member of The Lepidopterists' Society, although he did not publish in the Journal. His bibliography on Nearctic and Neotropical Hesperiidae runs to about 60 titles, spanning the years 1920 to 1959, primarily in the Journal of the New York Entomological Society and American Museum Novitates.
Ernest Bell married Mina A. Morrell in 1899, a marriage which lasted until her death in 1952. The Bells made many trips, across the United States, to the Caribbean islands, particularly Jamaica, and to Central America, for the purpose of collecting hesperiids. They also enjoyed vacationing in New England, and for many years a summer month was spent in rural Vermont or New Hampshire.
In 1934 Bell accompanied David Rockefeller and the late Frank E. Lutz on an extensive collecting trip to the Grand Canyon and adjacent territory. As a result, many new hesperiids were added to the known fauna of the southwestern United States.
Ernest Bell was a self-made naturalist, collector, sportsman, lepidopter-ist, and a grand person to have known. To entomologists in this country and abroad his passing leaves a void; it will be regretted by all his friends, acquaintances, and correspondents.—Herbert Ruckes, Flushing, New York and Cyril F. dos Passos, Mendam, New Jersey.
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