Robert L. Metcalf

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Robert Lee Metcalf (born November 13, 1916 in Columbus (Ohio) , † November 11, 1998 in Urbana (Illinois) ) was an American entomologist who made a particular contribution to the discovery of the insecticide group of carbamates . His father Clell Lee Metcalf and his uncle Zeno Payne Metcalf were also entomologists.

Life

Robert L. Metcalf was born in 1916 to McClellen Lee and Cleo Esther Fouch Metcalf. As a child, his father got a job as an entomologist at the University of Illinois , so the family moved to Urbana .

Carbamate Insecticide ( Aldicarb )

In 1939 and 1940, Robert L. received his bachelor's and master's degree there. In 1942 he received his Ph.D. from Cornell University. on the Malpighian vessels of the American cockroach . In 1943 he worked as an entomologist for the Tennessee Valley Authority , developing a chemical control method for mosquitoes in stagnant water. He then went to the University of California, Riverside , where he found the carbamate insecticides. The first successful carbamate, carbaryl , was introduced in 1956.

He was one of the first scientists to turn to insecticide resistance. In 1949 he documented a DDT - and lindane -resistance at houseflies in Southern California. In the 1960s, Metcalf developed insecticide synergists such as piperonyl butoxide .

Metcalf is the author of the introductory book Introduction to Insect Pest Management and the chapter Insect Control in Ullmann's Enzyklopädie der Technischen Chemie .

He was accepted into the National Academy of Sciences in 1967 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1976 . The Ohio State University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1991.

literature

Publications

  1. ^ Robert L. Metcalf: Mode of Action of Insecticide Synergists . In: Annual Review of Entomology . tape 12 , no. 1 , January 1, 1967, p. 229-256 , doi : 10.1146 / annurev.en.12.010167.001305 .
  2. ^ Robert L. Metcalf: Insect Control . In: Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry . 2000, doi : 10.1002 / 14356007.a14_263 .
personal data
SURNAME Metcalf, Robert L.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Metcalf, Robert Lee (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American entomologist
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Columbus (Ohio)
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1998
Place of death Urbana (Illinois)