Asa Fitch

Who was Asa Fitch?

Dr. Asa Fitch was a natural historian and entomologist from Salem, New York.

His early studies were of both natural history and medicine, which he studied at the newly formed Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1827. However, in 1838 he decided to start studying agriculture and entomology. In 1838 he began to collect and study insects for New York state. In 1854 he became the first professional entomologist of New York State Agricultural Society. This made him the first occupational entomologist in the United States.

His vast studies of many insects helped scientists to solve some of the problems of crop damage caused by insects. Many of his notebooks are now the property of the Smithsonian Institution. Fitch also discovered the Rodent Botfly Cuterebra emasculator in 1856. He died April 8, 1879 in Salem, New York.