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Charles Lester Marlatt

American entomologist

Charles Lester Marlatt
Born	1863 Atchison, Kansas
Died	1954
Alma mater	Kansas State Agricultural College
Scientific career
Fields	Entomology
Institutions	Bureau of Entomology (USDA) Federal Horticultural Board Entomological Society of Washington American Association of Economic Entomologists

Charles Lester Marlatt (1863–1954) was an American entomologist. Born in 1863 at Atchison, Kansas, he was educated at Kansas State Agricultural College (B.S., 1884; M.S., 1886), where he was assistant professor for two years. He is the person who introduced the ladybug insect Chilocorus similis into the United States to control the San Jose scale insect,^[1] which was first discovered in San Jose, California in 1880 by John Henry Comstock and named by him. Marlatt worked for the Bureau of Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture. In 1912 he was appointed chairman of the Federal Horticultural Board. He was president of the Entomological Society of Washington in 1897–98 and of the American Association of Economic Entomologists in 1899.

His 1907 description of periodic cicadas remains a classic in the field. In this article, Marlatt proposed a grouping of periodic cicadas into 30 different broods, each given a Roman numeral. Broods I–XVII assigned brood numbers for each of 17 sequential calendar years to 17-year cicadas. Broods XVIII–XXX assigned 13 sequential calendar years to 13-year cicadas. Subsequent research has established that, in fact, not every year produces a brood of periodical cicadas. There are only 15 distinct broods, not 30, but Marlatt's scheme continues to be used.^[2]

Marlatt's red brick home in Washington, DC was built in 1908 and remained in family hands until it was sold in 1970. Located at 1521 16th Street, NW, the Marlatt family maintained the building until selling it in 1970. From 1973 to 1975 the Marlatt Mansion was owned by the government of the USSR, which used it to house the Soviet Embassy’s Office of the Commercial Counselor, as well as offices of the KGB. During that time it is believed to have served as the temporary residence of Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev (source: https://www.iwp.edu/why-iwp/visit-and-contact/). Since 1994 it has served as the main campus building of a private, regionally-accredited graduate school of intelligence and statecraft, The Institute of World Politics. One of Marlatt's granddaughters, a retired CIA officer, visited the mansion in the 1990s.

• Marlatt, C. L. (1898). "A consideration of the validity of the old records bearing on the distribution of the broods of the periodical cicada, with particular reference to the occurrence of broods VI and XXIII in 1898." Bulletin of the U.S. Bureau of Entomology. 18: 59-78.
• Marlatt, C.L (1898). The Periodical Cicada: An Account of Cicada Septendecim, Its Natural Enemies and the Means of Preventing its Injury, Together with a Summary of the Distribution of the Different Broods. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. OCLC 1039550735. Retrieved July 29, 2021 – via Internet Archive. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
• Marlatt, C. L. (1898). "A new nomenclature for the broods of the periodical cicada. Miscellaneous results of work of the Division of Entomology." Bulletin of the USDA Division of Entomology. 18: 52-58.
• Marlatt, C. L. (1902). "A New Nomenclature for the Broods of the Periodical Cicada." USDA, Div. Of Entomology, Circ. No. 45. 8 pp.
• Marlatt, C. L. 1906. "The Periodical Cicada in 1906." USDA, Bureau Of Entomology, Circ. No. 14. 5 pp.
• Marlatt, C. L. (1907). The Periodical Cicada. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. LCCN agr07001971. OCLC 902809085. Retrieved July 26, 2021 – via Internet Archive. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
• Marlatt, C. L. (1907). "The periodical cicada." U.S.D.A. Bureau Entomology Bulletin. 71: 1-181.
• Marlatt, C. L. (1908). "A successful seventeen-year breeding record for the periodical cicada." Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 9: 16-18.
• Marlatt, C. L. (1919). "The '17-year locust' in 1919." U.S.D.A. Circular 127: 1-10.
• Marlatt, C. L. (1923). The periodical cicada. U.S.D.A. Bureau Entomology Bulletin 71: 1-183.
• More, Thomas, Singing Insects of North America, University of Florida map
• Post, Susan L. The Trill of a Life Time, photographs by Michael R. Jeffords, The Illinois Steward, Spring 2004. [1]
• Stannard, Jr., Lewis. The Distribution of Periodical Cicadas in Illinois, 1975.

• Media related to Charles Lester Marlatt at Wikimedia Commons

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)