The Training of Practical Entomologists

Abstract

THE increasing demand for fully trained economic entomologists was, I think, evident to all who followed the proceedings of the recent Imperial Entomological Conlerence held in Burlington House. We are laced with the difficulty of ensuring an adequate supply of keen and experienced young men fitted for service in India, the Soudan, and other of the British dominions wherever the requirements may be greatest. The solution of economic problems in entomology is far more difficult than is commonly supposed, and only men of the broadest biological training, coupled with the gift of imagination, are likely to achieve results of lasting value to the community. Under present conditions they are frequently called upon to take up responsible positions after inadequate training and with only a modicum of practical experience. In the training of an economic entomologist two obvious pitfalls have to be avoided: one is a too exclusively academic or laboratory experience, while the other is a too specialised training in economic entomology at the expense of the necessary preliminary grounding in general biology.