Harry Hoogstraal
Encyclopedia
Harry Hoogstraal was an American entomologist
and parasitologist
. He was described as "the greatest authority on ticks and tickborne diseases who ever lived." The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
's Harry Hoogstraal Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Medical Entomology honors his contributions to science.
and M.S.
degrees (1938 and 1942) from the University of Illinois at Chicago
, before his training was interrupted by World War II
to serve as an officer
entomologist (1943–1946) in the United States Army
. He later received Ph.D.
(1959) and D.Sc. (1971) degrees from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. As a master’s degree candidate at the University of Illinois, he organized and led (1938–1941) four multi-disciplinary biological expeditions into the mountain and desert portions of western and southwestern Mexico
. These resulted in the amassing of large, scientifically valuable collections of animals and plants. During World War II, Hoogstraal was assigned to the U.S. Army 19th Medical General Laboratory, near Hollandia
, Dutch New Guinea, where in 1945 he and Willard V. King engaged in a massive taxonomic study of the mosquito
es of that area. Their time for working up and publishing on their large and rich New Guinea
mosquito collection was limited by the forward movement of the war and by the necessity for involvement in other projects in the war's aftermath, but they published descriptions of 36 new species
of mosquitoes from their New Guinea collections in a series of 11 papers that contributed to an understanding of the rich and then largely unknown culicid fauna
of the southwest Pacific. Additionally, their collections, deposited in the U.S. National Museum, have through the intervening years served as a rich resource to many other individuals involved in taxonomic research on Southwest Pacific mosquitoes.
With the end of World War II, Hoogstraal did not seek an early return to the United States
as did most of his Army colleagues. Instead, he took his discharge in Manila
and, under the auspices of the Field Museum, organized a major biological expedition into the interior of the Philippine islands of Mindanao
and Palawan
(1946-1947) and spent the next two years exploring and collecting in those biologically poorly-known islands. The collections resulting from his efforts were the richest ever made from those portions of the Philippines. Following his return from the Philippines in 1948, he joined, as an employee of the United States Navy
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, the University of California
African Expedition in 1948–1949. This began his lifelong sojourn in Africa
. At the completion of this expedition he continued on for a while in Madagascar
and then moved to Cairo
, Egypt
, to organize and become Head of the Department of Medical Zoology, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3 (NAMRU-3), a position which he held for the remainder of his life.
At NAMRU-3 he devoted much of his time to gathering collections of scientifically valuable specimens from remote or little-studied areas of the world and contributing them freely to institutions and specialists everywhere. Eighteen-hour working days were the usual with him. This propensity enabled him to accomplish an enormous amount of work, as demonstrated by the fact that during his lifetime he authored or co-authored more than 500 publications and edited many more. He was at one time or another a member of more than 30 professional societies, served in a volunteer capacity in at least 20 professional and editorial posts, lectured on countless occasions to scientific groups, participated in the graduate training of a number of students, and built and managed for many years an outstanding Department of Medical Zoology at NAMRU-3 in Cairo. During his life he also received a host of professional honors, including the Henry Baldwin Ward Medal, American Society of Parasitologists, 1967; the Presidential Order of Merit, First Class, Arab Republic of Egypt, 1978; and the Walter Reed Medal
, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
, 1978. He was awarded a Doctorat Honoris Causa degree by Ain Shams University
in 1978, and an Honorary
Doctor of Science
degree by the University of Khartoum
in 1983.
(Schmidt & Marx, 1956), the Busuanga squirrel
Sundasciurus hoogstraali (Sanborn, 1952), the Hoogstraal's gerbil
Gerbillus hoogstraali
(Lay, 1975), Hoogstraal's striped grass mouse
, Lemniscomys hoogstraali
(Dieterlen, 1991), the yellow-spotted rock hyrax
Heterohyrax brucei hoogstraali (Setzer, 1956), and the passerine bird Irena cyanogastra hoogstraali (Rand, 1948). Arthropods include the mosquito
es Aedes (Stegomyia) hoogstraali (Knight and Rozeboom, 1946) and Tripteroides (Tripteroides) hoogstraali (Baisas, 1947), the batflies
Brachytarsina hoogstraali (Jobling, 1951) and Strebla hoogstraali (Wenzel, 1966), the stag beetle
Figulus hoogstraali (Benesh, 1958), the longhorn beetle
Tethionea hoogstraali (Gressitt, 1951), the predaceous ground beetle
Bembidion (Cillenus) hoogstraali (Darlington, 1959), the sand fly Sergentomyia (Neophlebotomus) hoogstraali (Fairchild, 1952), the ceratophyllid flea
Foxella hoogstraali (Traub, 1950), the gerrid bug Potamometropsis hoogstraali (Hungerford, 1957), the fly
Idiocera hoogstraali (Alexander, 1946), the ceratopogonid midge
Camptopterohelea hoogstraali (Wirth, 1960), the mallophagan louse
Psittoecus hoogstraali (Guimarães, 1974), the scarabaeid beetle
Onthophagus hoogstraali (Saylor, 1943), the sharpshooter leafhopper
Cofana hoogstraali (Young, 1979), the caddisfly Plectropsyche hoogstraali (Ross, 1947), the proturan insects Eosentomon hoogstraali (Nosek, 1973) and Nosekiella hoogstraali (Nosek, 1980), the macronyssid mite
Parasteatonyssus hoogstraali (Keegan, 1951), the ixodid ticks Ixodes hoogstraali (Arthur, 1955) and Rhipicephalus hoogstraali (Kolonin, 2009), and the harvestman Leiobunum hoogstraali (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1942). Other eponymous species include the protozoan parasites
Leishmania hoogstraali (McMillan, 1965) and Isospora hoogstraali (Prasad, 1961), and the nematode
Icosiella hoogstraali (Schmidt & Kuntz, 1969).
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
and parasitologist
Parasitology
Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question, but by their way of life...
. He was described as "the greatest authority on ticks and tickborne diseases who ever lived." The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene is a non-profit organization of scientists, clinicians, students and program professionals whose longstanding mission is to promote global health through the prevention and control of infectious and other diseases that disproportionately...
's Harry Hoogstraal Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Medical Entomology honors his contributions to science.
Life and work
Hoogstraal earned B.A.Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and M.S.
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
degrees (1938 and 1942) from the University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...
, before his training was interrupted by World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to serve as an officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
entomologist (1943–1946) in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He later received Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
(1959) and D.Sc. (1971) degrees from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. As a master’s degree candidate at the University of Illinois, he organized and led (1938–1941) four multi-disciplinary biological expeditions into the mountain and desert portions of western and southwestern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. These resulted in the amassing of large, scientifically valuable collections of animals and plants. During World War II, Hoogstraal was assigned to the U.S. Army 19th Medical General Laboratory, near Hollandia
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
, Dutch New Guinea, where in 1945 he and Willard V. King engaged in a massive taxonomic study of the mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
es of that area. Their time for working up and publishing on their large and rich New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
mosquito collection was limited by the forward movement of the war and by the necessity for involvement in other projects in the war's aftermath, but they published descriptions of 36 new species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of mosquitoes from their New Guinea collections in a series of 11 papers that contributed to an understanding of the rich and then largely unknown culicid fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
of the southwest Pacific. Additionally, their collections, deposited in the U.S. National Museum, have through the intervening years served as a rich resource to many other individuals involved in taxonomic research on Southwest Pacific mosquitoes.
With the end of World War II, Hoogstraal did not seek an early return to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as did most of his Army colleagues. Instead, he took his discharge in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
and, under the auspices of the Field Museum, organized a major biological expedition into the interior of the Philippine islands of Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
and Palawan
Palawan
Palawan is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region or Region 4. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, and it is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the...
(1946-1947) and spent the next two years exploring and collecting in those biologically poorly-known islands. The collections resulting from his efforts were the richest ever made from those portions of the Philippines. Following his return from the Philippines in 1948, he joined, as an employee of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
African Expedition in 1948–1949. This began his lifelong sojourn in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. At the completion of this expedition he continued on for a while in Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and then moved to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, to organize and become Head of the Department of Medical Zoology, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3 (NAMRU-3), a position which he held for the remainder of his life.
At NAMRU-3 he devoted much of his time to gathering collections of scientifically valuable specimens from remote or little-studied areas of the world and contributing them freely to institutions and specialists everywhere. Eighteen-hour working days were the usual with him. This propensity enabled him to accomplish an enormous amount of work, as demonstrated by the fact that during his lifetime he authored or co-authored more than 500 publications and edited many more. He was at one time or another a member of more than 30 professional societies, served in a volunteer capacity in at least 20 professional and editorial posts, lectured on countless occasions to scientific groups, participated in the graduate training of a number of students, and built and managed for many years an outstanding Department of Medical Zoology at NAMRU-3 in Cairo. During his life he also received a host of professional honors, including the Henry Baldwin Ward Medal, American Society of Parasitologists, 1967; the Presidential Order of Merit, First Class, Arab Republic of Egypt, 1978; and the Walter Reed Medal
Walter Reed Medal
The Walter Reed Medal is a military decoration of the United States Army which was created by an act of the United States Congress on February 28, 1929...
, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene is a non-profit organization of scientists, clinicians, students and program professionals whose longstanding mission is to promote global health through the prevention and control of infectious and other diseases that disproportionately...
, 1978. He was awarded a Doctorat Honoris Causa degree by Ain Shams University
Ain Shams University
Ain Shams University is an institute of higher education located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels.-History:...
in 1978, and an Honorary
Honorary
An honorary position is an unpaid position. Other uses include:* honorary title — awarded as a mark of distinction** honorary citizenship — awarded to aliens who have rendered service to the state...
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
degree by the University of Khartoum
University of Khartoum
The University of Khartoum ia a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Khartoum. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 1956 when Sudan gained independence...
in 1983.
Species named in honor of Harry Hoogstraal
Hoogstraal's name has been extensively memorialized in scientific nomenclature. Ten years prior to his death, the number of species with the latin name hoogstraali (and related derivations such as hoogstraalia, hoogstraaliana, and hoogstraaliter) is said to have numbered more than 200. A selection of these species includes the colubrid snake Telescopus hoogstraaliTelescopus hoogstraali
Telescopus hoogstraali is an endangered species of snake in the Colubridae family.-Geographic region:It is found around the Sinai region, in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories, as well as Jordan.-Habitat:...
(Schmidt & Marx, 1956), the Busuanga squirrel
Busuanga Squirrel
The Busuanga Squirrel is a species of rodent in the Sciuridae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.-References:...
Sundasciurus hoogstraali (Sanborn, 1952), the Hoogstraal's gerbil
Gerbil
A gerbil is a small mammal of the order Rodentia. Once known simply as "desert rats", the gerbil subfamily includes about 110 species of African, Indian, and Asian rodents, including sand rats and jirds, all of which are adapted to arid habitats...
Gerbillus hoogstraali
Gerbillus hoogstraali
Hoogstraal's gerbil, Gerbillus hoogstraali is distributed mainly in southwestern Morocco. There are thought to be less than 250 individuals in existence....
(Lay, 1975), Hoogstraal's striped grass mouse
Striped grass mouse
The eleven species in genus Lemniscomys are the striped grass mice. They are small rodents with striped fur, native to Africa.* Lemniscomys barbarus — Barbary Striped Grass Mouse...
, Lemniscomys hoogstraali
Hoogstral's Lemniscomys
Hoogstral's Lemniscomys or Hoogstral's Striped Grass Mouse is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It has striped makings all over its body and can only be found in Africa.It is found only in Sudan....
(Dieterlen, 1991), the yellow-spotted rock hyrax
Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax
The Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax or Bush Hyrax is a species of mammal in the Procaviidae family. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Southern Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Northern South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda,...
Heterohyrax brucei hoogstraali (Setzer, 1956), and the passerine bird Irena cyanogastra hoogstraali (Rand, 1948). Arthropods include the mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
es Aedes (Stegomyia) hoogstraali (Knight and Rozeboom, 1946) and Tripteroides (Tripteroides) hoogstraali (Baisas, 1947), the batflies
Streblidae
Streblidae are flies in the superfamily Hippoboscoidea, and together with their relatives the Nycteribiidae are known as "bat flies". They are winged or wingless ectoparasites of bats, and often have long legs...
Brachytarsina hoogstraali (Jobling, 1951) and Strebla hoogstraali (Wenzel, 1966), the stag beetle
Stag beetle
Stag beetles are a group of about 1,200 species of beetle in the family Lucanidae, presently classified in four subfamilies Some species grow up to over 12 cm , but most are about 5 cm .-Overview:...
Figulus hoogstraali (Benesh, 1958), the longhorn beetle
Longhorn beetle
The longhorn beetles are a cosmopolitan family of beetles, typically characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than the beetle's body...
Tethionea hoogstraali (Gressitt, 1951), the predaceous ground beetle
Ground beetle
Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, approximately 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe.-Description and ecology:...
Bembidion (Cillenus) hoogstraali (Darlington, 1959), the sand fly Sergentomyia (Neophlebotomus) hoogstraali (Fairchild, 1952), the ceratophyllid flea
Flea
Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood...
Foxella hoogstraali (Traub, 1950), the gerrid bug Potamometropsis hoogstraali (Hungerford, 1957), the fly
Fly
True flies are insects of the order Diptera . They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax...
Idiocera hoogstraali (Alexander, 1946), the ceratopogonid midge
Midge
A midge is a very small, two-winged flying insect. "Midge" may also refer to:-Real:* Midge Costanza , American politician* Mildred Gillars , aka "Midge", American broadcaster of Nazi propaganda during World War II...
Camptopterohelea hoogstraali (Wirth, 1960), the mallophagan louse
Louse
Lice is the common name for over 3,000 species of wingless insects of the order Phthiraptera; three of which are classified as human disease agents...
Psittoecus hoogstraali (Guimarães, 1974), the scarabaeid beetle
Scarabaeidae
The family Scarabaeidae as currently defined consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide. The species in this large family are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family is fairly unstable, with numerous competing theories, and new proposals appearing quite...
Onthophagus hoogstraali (Saylor, 1943), the sharpshooter leafhopper
Leafhopper
Leafhopper is a common name applied to any species from the family Cicadellidae. Leafhoppers, colloquially known as hoppers, are minute plant-feeding insects in the superfamily Membracoidea in the order Hemiptera...
Cofana hoogstraali (Young, 1979), the caddisfly Plectropsyche hoogstraali (Ross, 1947), the proturan insects Eosentomon hoogstraali (Nosek, 1973) and Nosekiella hoogstraali (Nosek, 1980), the macronyssid mite
Macronyssidae
Macronyssidae is a family of parasitic mites in the order Mesostigmata.-Genera:Arachnyssus Ma Liming, 2002* Arachnyssus guangxiensis Ma Liming, 2002* Arachnyssus huwenae Ma-Liming, 2002Argitis Yunker & Saunders, 1973...
Parasteatonyssus hoogstraali (Keegan, 1951), the ixodid ticks Ixodes hoogstraali (Arthur, 1955) and Rhipicephalus hoogstraali (Kolonin, 2009), and the harvestman Leiobunum hoogstraali (Goodnight & Goodnight, 1942). Other eponymous species include the protozoan parasites
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
Leishmania hoogstraali (McMillan, 1965) and Isospora hoogstraali (Prasad, 1961), and the nematode
Nematode
The nematodes or roundworms are the most diverse phylum of pseudocoelomates, and one of the most diverse of all animals. Nematode species are very difficult to distinguish; over 28,000 have been described, of which over 16,000 are parasitic. It has been estimated that the total number of nematode...
Icosiella hoogstraali (Schmidt & Kuntz, 1969).