Political Entomology: The Insectile Challenge to Agricultural Development in the Cape Colony, 1895-1910

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the study of entomology became increasingly important for dealing with injurious insects that undermined rural production. The United States Department of Agriculture employed entomologists from the 1870s, and the flowering of this branch of applied science in the Cape owed much to American experiences. In 1895 the Cape government recruited Charles Lounsbury, an American entomologist. Lounsbury believed that it was possible to manipulate ecosystems in the interests of farmers, and he promoted the role of the state as the progenitor of environmental controls. He exchanged ideas with experts working in America and Australia, contributing to the emergence of scientific networks between anglophone settler states. His work involved both experiments in the laboratory and practical work in the field. A mixture of biological and chemical procedures was introduced to try to control frugivorous pests. Liaising with veterinarians as well as bacteriologists and farmers, Lounsbury confirmed that ticks transmitted several livestock diseases and he suggested the adoption of stock dipping and rotational veld management to reduce their impact. Lounsbury was popular with progressive commercial farmers, who associated arthropodal controls with expectations of increased yields and enhanced profits. By the time of South African Union in 1910, entomology had become an established feature of the Department of Agriculture. Lounsbury's work on ticks also brought him international recognition and reflected the significant contribution government scientists made to the cultural and intellectual life of the Cape Colony.