Richard M. Bohart
Dr. Richard M. Bohart has been a member of the Department of Entomology at UC Davis
for more than 50 years. He has led an outstanding career in entomology both as a
scientist and teacher.
Dr. Bohart ("Doc") began his career as an assistant professor at the University
of California Farms at Davis in 1946. Over the next several decades he became well-known
for the courses he taught on general entomology, insect systematics and a summer
field course in insect identification. He served as chair of the Department of Entomology
from 1963 to 1967. He has influenced hundreds and perhaps thousands of students
through his coursework and mentoring of undergraduates and as an advisor of graduate
students, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in their own right.
His scientific research on insect taxonomy and systematics, especially of hymenoptera,
is unparalleled. His publications include three of the most important books on the
systematics of the Hymenoptera including the well-used volume Sphecid Wasps of the
World. His journal publications total over 200 articles. He has revised many groups
of insects, discovered new host-associations or geographic ranges, and described
new species in groups such as Strepsiptera (twisted-winged parasites), Thysanoptera
(thrips), Culicidae (mosquitoes), and Hymenoptera (most notably wasps in the families
Chrysididae, Sphecidae and Vespidae).
Dr. Bohart contributed greatly to the insect collection held by the Department of
Entomology. The collections made by him and his students during the field courses
form the basis for the Bohart Museum's unrivalled collection of the insect fauna
of the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains. He and his wife Margaret also contributed
many specimens from their collecting trips around the world. In addition to the
specimens, he provided generous personal financial support to the collection and
assisted in building what is now a major resource for systematic entomology.