William Livingston Jellison

William Livingstone Jellison (1906-1995), mycologist, parasitologist, zoologist, entomologist.

W.L. Jellison was a prominent American entomologist, parasitologist, and mycologist known for his extensive research on arthropods, fleas, and their roles in disease transmission, particularly during his long career with the U.S. Public Health Service's Rocky Mountain Laboratory, contributing significantly to understanding vector-borne illnesses like plague and even early Lyme Disease cases.

Career: Rocky Mountain Laboratory: He spent much of his career at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana, a key Public Health Service facility for infectious diseases. Disease Focus: His work centered on fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and other ectoparasites, studying their ecology and relationship to pathogens. Early Lyme Disease: He was involved in identifying ticks and collecting specimens in New York State, likely encountering some of the earliest recognized cases of Lyme Disease, notes this Entomology Society article. Author & Researcher: He authored numerous technical papers and was involved in global health work, including with the UN in China. Specializations: Beyond entomology, he was also a zoologist and mycologist, as noted on Bionomia and Wikispecies.

Legacy: His extensive personal collection of specimens and papers are housed at the Florida State Collection of Arthropods.

"Jellison bot fly" refers to two distinct species of bot flies named in honor of entomologist W.L. Jellison: Cuterebra jellisoni (a robust or rodent bot fly) and Cephenemyia jellisoni (a deer bot fly). Both are obligate parasites in their larval stage.

IPNI standard form: Jellison

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• 1 taxon names authored by William Livingston Jellison

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• Gertsch, W. J. & Jellison, W. L. 1939. Notes on a collection of spiders from Montana. American Museum Novitates 1032: 1–13. hdl: 2246/4824 Reference page.