Knipling, Edward Fred

▪ 2001

      American entomologist (b. March 20, 1909, Port Lavaca, Texas—d. March 17, 2000, Arlington, Va.), was a pioneering entomologist who, with colleague Raymond Bushland, developed an efficient, pesticide-free method of insect control that was used to eradicate the destructive screwworm fly in North America. After earning B.A. and M.A. degrees from Texas A&M University at College Station and a Ph.D. in entomology from Iowa State University, Knipling went to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in 1931. Involved in research in Texas to control the screwworm fly, he theorized that the pest could be eradicated by sterilizing male flies in large numbers, then releasing them to mate with fertile females; the result, he thought, would be that no fertilized eggs would be produced and the numbers of the insect would drop dramatically. Knipling was unable to test his theory until after World War II, when he and Bushland began sterilizing screwworm flies with an old army X-ray machine. In 1954 sterile flies were dropped on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, and in only nine weeks the screwworm population virtually disappeared. Similar results were achieved across North America, and the technique was later used to control outbreaks of other pests, including the tsetse fly in Africa. From 1953 to 1971 Knipling served as director of entomology at the ARS. He received numerous awards throughout his career, including the National Medal of Science in 1966 and the World Food Prize in 1992.

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