Dan Otte facts for kids

Daniel Otte (born on March 14, 1939, in South Africa) is a South African-American scientist. He is an expert on insects, especially crickets and grasshoppers. He is also a talented scientific illustrator.

Daniel Otte has helped us understand a lot about how living things change over time, which is called evolutionary biology. He works as a curator and chairman in the Department of Entomology at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.

Otte grew up and went to school in South Africa. He started his science career at the University of Delaware.

What Daniel Otte Studies

Daniel Otte has studied many interesting things about insects and nature:

• How Insects Communicate: He looks at how crickets and grasshoppers "talk" to each other using sounds and signals.
• How New Species Appear: He researches how new kinds of animals develop and spread to different places.
• Insect Behavior: He studies how insects act in their natural homes.
• Finding New Species: He has discovered many new types of crickets and grasshoppers. He found them in places like the Pacific islands, the Caribbean, the western United States, and Africa.
• Studying Insect Groups: He has put together huge collections of information about crickets and grasshoppers from different parts of the world, like North America, Australia, and Hawaii.
• Creating Online Catalogs: He helped create big online lists of all the known species of grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, stick insects, mantids, and cockroaches.

Books He Illustrated

Daniel Otte has also used his artistic skills to illustrate books for everyone, not just scientists:

• Behavioral Guide to African Mammals by R. D. Estes, published in 1991.
• The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals by R. D. Estes, published in 1992.
• The Birds of North America, where he was a contributing illustrator in 1992.
• Limpopo River Tales, which he wrote and illustrated in 2017.

Online Insect Files

Otte is the main person behind "Orthoptera Species File." This is a huge online catalog that has information about all the world's grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, and other related insects.

The Academy of Natural Sciences has the world's largest collection of grasshoppers and crickets. They were pioneers in putting this kind of insect information online. The Orthoptera Species File helps people learn about these insects, especially grasshoppers, which have historically been a big challenge for farmers.

He also started and is the main author for:

• "Mantodea Species File," which is a catalog of all the praying mantis species in the world.
• "Phasmida Species File," which lists all the stick insect species.

Exploring Biodiversity Around the World

Daniel Otte has traveled and researched in many regions to understand the amazing variety of life on Earth, known as organic diversity. Some of these places include:

• North America: The United States, Canada, and Mexico.
• Central America: The Caribbean Islands and Costa Rica.
• South America: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
• Southwest Pacific: Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia.
• Pacific Islands: Galapagos, Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa, and the Solomon Islands.
• Africa: South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Mali, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.

Awards and Recognition

In June 2009, a special meeting was held to honor Daniel Otte. This event took place at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Canada.

On November 12, 2009, Daniel Otte received the Leidy Award for his excellent scientific work. He received this award at the Academy of Natural Sciences, where he has worked as an entomology curator for 35 years.