Elizabeth A. McMahan

Elizabeth A. McMahan
BornMay 5, 1924 (1924-05-05)
Pino, North Carolina, US
Died2009 (aged 84–85)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US
Alma materDuke University, University of Hawaiʻi
Known forStudy of termites and assassin bugs[1]
AwardsAward of Excellence, North Carolina Entomological Society
Scientific career
FieldsEntomology, psychology, children's literature
InstitutionsUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, College of Agriculture, Port Antonio, Jamaica
Thesis (1960)

Elizabeth Anne McMahan (1924—2009), known as Betty, was a Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for 26 years.[2] She had a distinguished and varied career as an entomologist, psychologist, cartoonist, writer of children's books, and world traveler.[3][4] She worked in the parapsychology lab of J. B. Rhine at Duke for several years, but left for graduate work in entomology at the University of Hawaiʻi and subsequent research on the feeding, foraging, and social behavior of termites and some of their associate and predator species.[1] Her field work in entomology took her to Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Australia, and India.[5] Two insect species were named for her: the assassin bug Salyavata mcmahanae and the beetle Neophilotermes mcmahanae.[6]

  1. ^ a b Christine A. Nalepa (2010). "Elizabeth Anne McMahan: In Memoriam (1924–2009)". Sociobiology. 56: 1–6.
  2. ^ American Men and Women of Science: A biographical Directory of Today's Leaders in Physical, Biological, and Related Sciences (21st ed.). EBSCO. p. 109.
  3. ^ "Guide to Elizabeth A. McMahan Entomological Research Films and Manuscripts 1983–2010 (NCSU Libraries)".
  4. ^ "Preliminary Guide to the Elizabeth A. McMahan Papers, 1926–2010 and Undated (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)".
  5. ^ McMahan, Elizabeth A. (July 2002). Cammie Turns Ten: About the Author (Amazon books). E.A. McMahan. ISBN 0759688613.
  6. ^ Eric Larson (2009). "Elizabeth McMahan '46, A.M. '48: Making a name in entomology".