Harold Frederick LOOMIS (1896-1976)

H. F. Loomis, the well-known specialist on millipeds of the West-Indies and Central America, died in Miami, Florida, on July 5, 1976, of cardiac complications, at the age of 79.

Born in Mertensia, New York, on December 23, 1896, he was exposed to Diplopoda early in his life : his uncle G. N. Collins was an early collaborator with O. F. Cook, and Loomis came under the influence of Cook when he joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1914. Several of his early papers were co-authored with Cook, and a similarity in philosophy and technique between the two men was evident in Loomis' writings.

Although a botanist and horticulturist by profession, the taxonomy of millipeds occupied his leisure time for many years, and either alone or in company with Cook he was able to collect material in China, Western United States, the West Indies, and Central America. He was an expert photographer and elegant enlarged photographs illustrated some of his earlier papers. After eight years od residence in Arizona during the 1920's, Loomis was transferred to the U.S. Plant Introduction Station in Miami, where he was thenforced permanently stationed. During the last 13 years of his professional career he was director of this facility, and after retirement in 1858, he maintained a small-office laboratory there where his milliped work was conducted.

Expect for two taxonomic studies (on American callipodoid and cambaloid millipeds)Loomis' papers were basically faunistic in approach. His major work are complete surveys of the millipeds of Hispaniola and of Panama, and a checklist of the millipeds of Central America, all three indispensable basic references for these regions. Loomis described new milliped taxa in 51 papers, publishing a total of nine new families, 129 new genera, and 525 new species (some in collaboration with other authors).

Our personal friendship extended back to 1946 (R.L.H.), and throughout this period of three decades he remained always a most gracious and helpful colleague. With his passing, systematic Diplopodology suffers a grivous loss, and no one stands ready to take his place.

N. B. Causey and R. L. Hoffman, March 1977

See also the paper published by Howard V. Weems, Jr. in The Florida Entomologist, Vol. 60, N°1, p. 26, 1977

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