REGULATORY ENTOMOLOGY AND BIOLOGICAL CONTROL: A TRIBUTE TO REECE SAILER

Abstract

Dr. Reece I. Sailer joined the faculty of the Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences in early 1973, an opportune time to conduct biological control research (Fig. 1). He entered arguably the nations largest entomological community with a well-developed research and regulatory infrastructure. His research in insect biological control required taxonomists to provide authoritative identifications and an associated library, well-curated collections of specimens identified to species, and a secure building with limited access to contain exotic arthropods and arthropod pathogens. I committed my career to the creation of this kind of infrastructure for Florida and, with the help of a dedicated staff, obtained and managed many of the resources that supported Dr. Sailer. This work began 49 years ago, in July 1953, when I left the Entomology Department of the University of Florida and accepted a position as an Entomologist in the Entomology Bureau of the State Plant Board (SPB). I had been teaching biological control and apiculture, and was interested in insect taxonomy. Ed Ayers, the recently appointed Plant Commissioner, directed me to build an Entomology Bureau with an extensive insect collection and a regulatory capability second to no other state. Al-