Usinger, Robert Leslie

Robert Usinger was born at Ft. Bragg, California, USA, on October 24, 1912. He attended the University of California-Berkeley where he received both his B.S. in 1935 and his Ph.D. in 1939. At that time he accepted a faculty position at University of California-Davis, where he worked until World War II. Following military service, he transferred to Berkeley, where he taught and conducted research. Usinger was a systematist, with expertise in Hemiptera. He traveled the world in pursuit of insects. He published several important books and monographs on systematics and Hemiptera, including “Methods and principles of systematic zoology” (with Mayr and Linsley, 1953), “Aquatic insects of California” (1956), “General zoology” (with Storer, 1965), and “Monograph of the Cimicidae” (1966). He was an active member of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, and the Entomological Society of America, including service as president of the latter organization. Usinger died...