Alpheus Spring Packard Explained

Alpheus Spring Packard Jr.
Birth Date:	February 19, 1839
Birth Place:	Brunswick, Maine
Nationality:	American
Field:	Entomology Palaeontology
Work Institution:	Brown University
Alma Mater:	Bowdoin College, 1861 Harvard University, 1864
Signature:	Alpheus Spring Packard signature PSM V67 D048.svg

Alpheus Spring Packard Jr. LL.D. (February 19, 1839 – February 14, 1905) was an American entomologist and palaeontologist. He described over 500 new animal species – especially butterflies and moths – and was one of the founders of The American Naturalist.^[1]

Early life

He was the son of Alpheus Spring Packard Sr. (1798–1884) and the brother of William Alfred Packard. He was born in Brunswick, Maine, and was Professor of Zoology and Geology at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, from 1878 until his death. He was a vocal proponent of Neo-Lamarckism during the eclipse of Darwinism.^[2]

Career

His chief work was the classification and anatomy of arthropods, and contributions to economic entomology, zoogeography, and the phylogeny and metamorphoses of insects. Packard was appointed to the United States Entomological Commission in 1877 where he served with Charles Valentine Riley and Cyrus Thomas.^[3] He wrote school textbooks, such as Zoölogy for High Schools and Colleges (eleventh edition, 1904). His Monograph of the Bombycine Moths of North America was published in three parts (1895, 1905, 1915, edited by T. D. A. Cockerell).

He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1878.^[4]

Personal life

He married Elizabeth Darby Walcott, daughter of Samuel B. Walcott in October 1867 in Salem, Massachusetts.^{[5] [6]} They would have four children: Martha Walcott,Alpheus Appleton, Elizabeth Darby, and Frances Elizabeth.^{[7] [8]} Elizabeth Darby would die at the age of eight. He died on February 14, 1905, in Providence, Rhode Island, with his wife and children outliving him.^[9]

Writings

• Report on the insects collected on the Penobscot and Alleguash Rivers, during August and September, 1861, Sixth Annual Report of the Secretary of the Maine Board of Agriculture, Augusta, Maine (pp. 373-376) (1861)
• Guide to the Study of Insects (1869; third edition, 1872)
• The Mammoth Cave and its Inhabitants (1872), with F. W. Putnam
• Life-History of Animals (1876)
• A Naturalist on the Labrador Coast (1891)
• Lamarck, the Founder of Evolution: His Life and Work (1901), French translation, 1903.
• Book: First Lessons in Zoology: Adapted for Use in Schools …. 1886. Alpheus Spring Packard. Holt.

References

• Cockerell, T.D.A.. 1920. Biographical Memoir of Alpheus Spring Packard 1839-1905. Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences. 9. 181–236.
• Book: Essig. E. O.. A History of Entomology. 1931. MacMillan Company. 727-729.
• Book: Henshaw. Samuel. The Entomological Writings of Dr. Alpheus Spring Packard. 1887. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Entomology. 5. Alpheus Spring Packard..
• Book: Mallis. Arnold. American Entomologists. 1971. Rutgers University Press. 0-8135-0686-7. 296–302. registration.
• Mead. A. D.. Alpheus Spring Packard (1839-1905). Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 1918. 53. 10. 848–850. 25130026.
• Book: Sorenson. W. Conner. Brethren of the Net: American Entomologists, 1840-1880. 1995. University of Alabama Press.
• Encyclopedia: Sterling. Keir B.. Biographical Dictionary of American and Canadian Naturalists and Environmentalists. Packard, Alpheus Spring Jr.. 1997. Greenwood Press.

External links

• The entomological writings of Dr. Alpheus Spring Packard
  • • • Gallica Two works by Packard
• Brunoniana Biography
• Nomina circumscribentia insectorum On the phylogeny of the Lepidoptera. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 18 (465): 228-236 1895.

Notes and References

1. Cockerell (1920)
2. Sorenson (1995)
3. Mallis (1971)
4. Web site: APS Member History. 2021-05-12. search.amphilsoc.org.
5. Kingsley . John Sterling . June 23, 1888 . Sketch of Alpheus Spring Packard . . 33 . . . March 24, 2023 . In 1867 Dr. Packard was married to Elizabeth Derby, the daughter of the late Samuel B. Walcott, of Salem, Mass. He has four children..
6. Book: Henshaw, Samuel . 1887 . The entomological writings of Dr. Alpheus Spring Packard . . . 5.
7. Web site: 332 South Main Street. Andover Historic Preservation. March 24, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20200926063748/https://preservation.mhl.org/332-south-main-street. September 26, 2020. live.
8. Book: Cockerell, Thomas Dru Alison . 1920 . Biographical Memoir of Alpheus Spring Packard, 1839-1905 . . . 194.
9. Kingsley . John Sterling . March 17, 1905 . Alpheus Spring Packard . Science. 21 . 533 . 401, 404 . 10.1126/science.21.533.401 . 17738738 . 1905Sci....21..401K . March 14, 2023.