Terry Erwin facts for kids

Terry Lee Erwin (December 1, 1940 – May 11, 2020) was an American scientist who studied insects. He was an entomologist at the Smithsonian Institution, a famous museum and research center in the United States.

Early Life and Education

Terry Erwin was born in St. Helena, California. He went to Vallejo High School. He loved learning about living things.

He studied biology at San Jose State College. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1964. Then, he got his master's degree in 1966.

Later, he went to the University of Alberta in Canada. There, he studied carabid beetles. He earned his Ph.D. in 1969. After that, he did more research at Harvard University.

Studying Insects in the Wild

In 1971, Terry Erwin began working for the Smithsonian Institution. He was asked to study beetles in Panama. He used a special method to find insects.

The Fogging Method

Terry Erwin wanted to find out how many insect species lived high up in trees. He used a method called "fogging." This involved spraying a special, mild pesticide mist into the forest canopy. The pesticide was safe and did not harm the trees.

Insects would fall from the trees onto sheets placed on the ground. This allowed him to collect and study them.

Amazing Discoveries

Using this method, Terry Erwin studied Luehea seemannii trees. He found 1,200 different species of beetles living in these trees!

He estimated that about 163 of these beetle species lived only in Luehea seemannii trees. They were not found in other types of trees.

Estimating Global Species

Terry Erwin's research showed that many insects live in tropical trees. He estimated that there are twice as many insect species in tropical trees as there are on the forest floor.

Based on his findings, he made a big estimate. He suggested there could be as many as 30 million different species of arthropods (like insects and spiders) on Earth. This was a very high number at the time. It made many scientists think differently about how much life is on our planet.

Contributions to Science

Terry Erwin was a very active scientist. He helped lead the Society of Systematic Biologists. He also worked as the editor-in-chief for a science journal called ZooKeys.

He discovered and described many new insects. He named over 20 new groups (genera) and more than 400 new species. Other scientists honored him by naming 47 species, two genera, and other groups after him.