Ross Taylor Bell

1929 - 2019

Ross Taylor Bell

Shelburne - Ross Taylor Bell of Shelburne, VT, died November 9, 2019 at the age of 90. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Joyce Rockenbach Bell.

Ross was born April 23, 1929, in Champaign, Illinois, to Alfred Hannam Bell and Dorothy Becker Bell. He had two sisters, Martha and Enid, who both predeceased him. The family were keen naturalists, and family vacations included long drives to various locations in the USA where the family would pursue their particular interests in botany, zoology, and geology.

Ross was a renowned entomologist who first became interested in insects when his parents gave him an insect collecting kit. At age 14, he started working for the Natural History Survey at the University of Illinois, where he sorted and identified different types of flies. He spent his summers at his aunt and uncle's farm in Ohio where, in between farm chores, he would collect and attempt to name insects from the fields and nearby stream.

Ross attended the University of Illinois from 1946 to 1949, and was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology. He was then awarded a Master of Science degree with a thesis about the Carabidae (ground beetles) of Illinois. In the early 1950's he completed his doctoral dissertation and was awarded a Ph.D. Ross was selected for a Fulbright Fellowship to go to India. Before he could go, however, he was called for national service and spent two years at Fort Dietrich, Maryland, then known as America's 'Germ Warfare Center'. There, he worked with fleas and discovered a rapid way to differentiate males from females. On discharge from the army, he joined the University of Vermont (UVM) faculty lecturing on evolution, field zoology, invertebrate zoology, entomology and mountain ecology. His field entomology course was a favorite among undergraduate students.

A research trip to Mexico in the summer of 1956 gave his career focus when he discovered his first undescribed rhysodine beetle. This led to a lifelong fascination which established him as the world expert on these particular beetles. Throughout the rest of his career, Ross would make a worldwide search for rhysodine beetles and eventually discover and name 265 of the 350 different species of rhysodine beetles now known.

But Ross didn't work alone. In his early days at UVM, Ross met a nursing teacher, Joyce Elaine Rockenbach of Whitestone, Queens, New York City. They were married in Littleton, New Hampshire in 1957. The two became inseparable companions in the pursuit of entomology. During the 1960's, they began an active program to document the arthropod fauna of Vermont. Their work became the foundation of the UVM Entomological Collection and expanded it into a significant resource for northern New England and world carabid beetles. In the 1970's and 1980's, Ross and Joyce extended their entomological work beyond Vermont, stretching as far as Australia (Tasmania) and Papua New Guinea. They have published many research papers as co-authors since 1965. Ross recently published the Carabidae of Vermont and New Hampshire, 2015, Shires Press. Despite chronic health issues over the last two years, a large final manuscript was completed: A Catalogue of the World Rhysodini (Coleoptera: Carabidae), with Sections on Phylogenetics and Zoogeography. It will be published posthumously in the Annals of Carnegie Museum (where around a dozen Bell and Bell papers have been published) at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, where their world-class collection of Rhysodini and exotic Carabidae has been deposited, and where Ross was a Research Associate for nearly forty years.

Ross retired from UVM in 2000. He was a Life Member of the Coleopterists Society and an emeritus member of the Vermont Entomological Society. As a testament to Ross' respectful teaching method and affable personality, he maintained friendships with his graduate students, many of whom have gone on to have careers in entomology. In 2010 BellFest (https://zookeys.pensoft.net/issue/360/) was held to honor Ross's 80th birthday and the distinguished careers of both Ross and Joyce.

Farewell to Ross T. Bell, an extraordinary, legendary individual. Ross will be sorely missed by the scientific community and, of course, his wife.

In lieu of flowers, Joyce asks for donations to the Vermont Entomological Society in Ross' name; c/o Debra Kiel, 147 Allen Irish Rd., Underhill, VT 05489