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The Dragon Hunters: A Brief History of Christopher Leahy Abstract: The first descriptions of American Odonata were published by European naturalists, including the great Swedish systematist Carl von Linne
(1707-1778), better known as Linnaeus. The first American to become fascinated
with odes was Thomas Say (1787-1834), the "Father of American
Entomology" and perhaps the most brilliant of the so-called the first field guide to odonates, the Manual of the Odonata of New England 1917 to 1923. In 1927 Phillip Garman published The Odonata or Dragonflies of Connecticut, from which the present writer laboriously keyed out his first Sympetrum in the 1960's. Biography:
Christopher Leahy holds the Gerard A. Bertrand Chair of Natural History
and Field Ornithology at the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He has been a
professional conservationist for more than thirty years, most recently as the
Director of Massachusetts Audubon’s Center for Biological Conservation. His
interests in natural history are comprehensive and he is a recognized authority
on birds and insects. His published works include The Birdwatcher’s
Companion (first published by Hill & Wang in 1982 and due to be
re-issued in a new edition by Princeton University Press in the spring of 2004),
The First Guide to Insects
(Houghton-Mifflin, 1987), Introduction to
New England Birds (Massachusetts Audubon, 1990), An Introduction to Massachusetts Insects (1983, Massachusetts
Audubon), and The Nature of Massachusetts
(Addison-Wesley, 1996). Chris is also General Editor of Mass Audubon’s series
of authoritative books on the flora and fauna of Contact Info:
Christopher Leahy, |