The Prime Number Club is made up of many “buggy friends.” Many of these friends are named after people that had a huge effect on STEM today. Edith our fly has many of the characteristics of Edith Patch. She loves research, writing, protecting the environment and is persistent.
Meet Edith, Member of the Prime Number Club, Based on Edith Patch, a Famous Entomologist.
Do you know Edith Patch? You should! She studied insects, she wrote books, she was the president of the Entomological Society of America and in 1936 she argued against the use of pesticides so to save birds and insect pollinators.
“Entomology” is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of insects. (No, it’s not the study of the origin of words. That’s etymology.) So, entomology is a meta subject for the insects in the Off Kilta Matilda universe.
Edith Patch was the first female president of the Entomological Society of America. She was the head of the Entomology Department at the University of Maine. Edith earned a Ph.D. in Entomology from Cornell University. Despite gender inequality during the early 1900s, Edith persevered and earned the respect of her colleagues.
She was frequently published in scientific journals and she even published two children's books, Bird Stories in 1921 and Desert Neighbors in 1938.
Most scientists would be excited to have a species named after them. Edith Patch had a larger set of insects named after her when she had an entire genus named of Aphids named after her - Patchia!
Vocabulary:
Entomology - the branch of zoology concerned with the study of insects.
Etymology- the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.
Genus - a principal taxonomic category that ranks above species and below family, and is denoted by a capitalized Latin name, e.g. Leo.
Species - a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding. The species is the principal natural taxonomic unit, ranking below a genus and denoted by a Latin binomial, e.g. Homo sapiens.
*Definitions from Lexico.com.
Learn More:
Leave A Comment