Word: roth
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...Roth, who received his Ph.D. in insect physiology in 1946, is the specialist to whom biologists turn most frequently for information on cockroaches. "He's probably the foremost cockroach taxonomist. He has a world-renowned reputation. He's a very brilliant and helpful individual," Patterson says...
...While Roth studies only pinned specimens now, in his earlier years with the army, he published some of the basic studies on cockroach behavior. Before chemical sex attractants were termed pheromones, Roth discovered the effect that these female secretions have on the males of their species. The author of 163 publications has also described the life history of several species previously unknown to entomologists...
...cockroaches ends up reading him," says Mary H. Ross, professor of entomology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. "He's certainly the number one authority on the cockroach on any sort of basic information." Ross, who studies the genetics of German cockroaches, says that she frequently refers to Roth's work on the life history of the species she studies...
...Roth downplays his own contributions to the field, talking instead about other specialists whom he says conducted the most significant studies but have since retired or died. "That's the way to become an expert, you outlive the others," jokes the 70-year-old Roth...
...Although Roth has not worked with live specimens for about 10 years, he misses his behavioral studies. "A cockroach on a pin is nothing like the living thing. It doesn't smell the same: it's not waving its antennae at you," he says...