Sophie Lutterlough (1910—2009) was an American entomologist. Lutterlough began working at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) as an elevator operator in the 1940s at a time when discriminatory hiring practices prevented African-Americans from working in a curatorial or scientific capacity at the Museum. In the late 1950s, after having gained extensive knowledge of the museum's exhibitions, she asked for and achieved a role in entomological work, eventually restoring hundreds of thousands of insects, classifying thousands. She co-identified 40 type specimens, specimens that stand as the representative example of the species. In 1979, a mite was named in her honor.
Sophie Lutterlough in 1983 at the Smithsonian
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term insect was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arachnids, myriapods, and crustaceans. This wider meaning may still be encountered in informal use.
Plate from Transactions of the Entomological Society, 1848
Example of a collection barcode on a pinned beetle specimen
"The butterfly catcher", painting by Carl Spitzweg
The Entomology Research Collection at Lincoln University, New Zealand, with curator John Marris