Nathan Banks was an American

United States

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

 entomologist noted for his work on neuroptera

Neuroptera

The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order contains some 6,010 species...

, megaloptera

Megaloptera

Megaloptera is an order of insects. It contains the alderflies, dobsonflies and fishflies, and there are about 300 known species.The Megaloptera were formerly considered part of a group then called Neuroptera, together with lacewings and snakeflies, but these are now generally considered to be...

, hymenoptera

Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera is one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. There are over 130,000 recognized species, with many more remaining to be described. The name refers to the heavy wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek ὑμήν : membrane and...

, and acarina

Acarina

Acari are a taxon of arachnids that contains mites and ticks. The diversity of the Acari is extraordinary and its fossil history goes back to at least the early Devonian period. As a result, acarologists have proposed a complex set of taxonomic ranks to classify mites...

 (mites). He started work on mites in 1880 with the USDA. In 1915 he authored the first comprehensive English handbook on mites: A Treatise on the Acarina, Or Mites (Smithsonian Institution, Proceedings Of The United States National Museum, 1905, 114 pages). Banks left the USDA in 1916 to work at the Museum of Comparative Zoology

Museum of Comparative Zoology

The Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum...

 (MCZ) where he did further work on hymenoptera

Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera is one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. There are over 130,000 recognized species, with many more remaining to be described. The name refers to the heavy wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek ὑμήν : membrane and...

 and neuroptera

Neuroptera

The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order contains some 6,010 species...

. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...

 in 1922. He authored more than 440 technical works over the years 1890 to 1951. He was married to Mary A. Lu Gar and they had eight children. (One son was named Gilbert, but no other offspring are known by name.)

External links

• PDF linked here
• US National Mite Collection History--accessed 25 April 2007
• Nathan BANKS - papers on Opiliones--accessed 25 April 2007
• New England Naturalists: A Bio-Bibliography--lists obituaries in professional journals—accessed 25 April 2007
• Checklist and Bibliography of the Megaloptera and Neuroptera of Florida--representative publications by Banks on neuroptera and megaloptera—accessed 25 April 2007
• MCZ Entomology Department--discusses work on hymenoptera—accessed 25 April 2007