William Schaus was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 entomologist

Entomology

Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...

.

Life

William was son of William Schaus, Sr., a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

-immigrant art collector and dealer, proprietor of the Schaus Galleries, and of Margaret Connover.

He was educated initially at Exeter Academy

Phillips Exeter Academy

Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...

 and then in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Germany , and was influenced early in his career by Henry Edwards

Henry Edwards (entomologist)

Henry Edwards , known as "Harry", was an English-born stage actor, writer and entomologist who gained fame in Australia, San Francisco and New York City for his theater work....

, although he also studied languages, art and music. Schaus received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from the University of Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

 in 1921, and in 1925 that of honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

.

Along his life he gathered an important collection of over 200,000 specimens of Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 through travels to several countries of the world such as 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...

, Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

, Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, Dominica

Dominica

Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...

, Saint Kitts

Saint Kitts

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island (Saint-Christophe in French) is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean...

, the Guianas

The Guianas

The Guyanas or the Guianas refers to a region in north-eastern South America which includes the following three territories:* French Guiana, an overseas department of France;...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 and Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, and by the purchase of the Dognin

Paul Dognin

Paul Dognin was a French entomologist who specialised in the Lepidoptera of South America.Dognin named 101 new genera of moths Dognin lived at 11 Villa Molitor, Paris 16...

 Collection of about 26,000 specimens of tropical moths

Moths

Moths may refer to:* Gustav Moths , German rower* The Moths!, an English indie rock band* MOTHS, members of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats...

 and about 5,000 specimens of butterflies from the Old World, which was donated in 1901 and 1905 to the American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...

.

In 1919 Schaus joined the Bureau of Entomology of the United States Department of Agriculture

United States Department of Agriculture

The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...

 and, in 1921, began a long association with the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

 as an honorary curator of insects in the United States National Museum

National Museum of Natural History

The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. Admission is free and the museum is open 364 days a year....

, , to which he donated his library and his collection of Lepidoptera subsequent to 1905.

Legacy

He described 329 new genera  and over five thousand new species of Lepidoptera, mostly from tropical America.

The genera Schausia

Schausia

Schausia is a genus of moths of the Noctuidae family. It is named in honor of William Schaus.-Species:* Schausia coryndoni Rothschild, 1896* Schausia dambuza Kiriakoff, 1975* Schausia gladiatoria Holland, 1893...

and Schausiana

Schausiana

Schausiana is a monotypic moth genus of the family Hepialidae. The only described species is S. trojesa which is endemic to Mexico....

were named in his honor, as well as numerous species with the specific

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...

 epithet

Epithet

An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...

 schausi . The common names of the Schaus's Crow

Schaus's Crow

The Schaus' Crow is a species of nymphalid butterfly in the Danainae subfamily. Its common name is due to the author, William Schaus, who first described it. It is endemic to the Philippines.-Source:...

 and Schaus' Swallowtail

Papilio aristodemus

Papilio aristodemus, commonly known as Schaus' Swallowtail, is a species of American butterfly in the Papilionidae family. It is found in the southern Florida with subspecies in the Bahamas, Hispaniola, and Cuba. Historically it occurred in tropical hardwood hammock from South Miami to Lower...

butterflies also refer to him.

Selected works

• Descriptions of new American butterflies 1902. Kessinger Publishing (2010 reprint)