James Halliday McDunnough

Who was James Halliday McDunnough?

James Halliday McDunnough was a Canadian entomologist best known for his work with North American Lepidoptera, but who also made important contributions about North American Ephemeroptera.

He didn't start out to be an entomologist, but went to Berlin to be trained as a classical musician, studying under the great violinist Joseph Joachim. After a season as a violinist in a symphony orchestra in Glasgow, Scotland, he decided to change careers. In 1904 he went back to study in Berlin, receiving his doctorate in Zoology in 1909.

Returning to North America, he worked briefly at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and married Margaret Bertels, from Berlin. He soon learned of an important opportunity: a wealthy surgeon in Decatur, Illinois named William Barnes needed an entomologist to serve as curator and researcher for his private collection of North American lepidoptera- probably the best in existence at the time.