Person

Bellas, Thomas Edward (Tom) (1937 - 2021)

Born
16 February 1937
Northam, Western Australia, Australia
Died
9 April 2021
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Occupation
Entomologist

Summary

Tom Bellas was an entomologist whose main interest was in chemical communication systems in a wide range of insects. After several years working in the U.S.A. mainly on the western pine beetle, he returned to Australia to join the CSIRO Division of Entomology. He collaborated widely with Divisional experts in the behaviour, neurophysiology, ecology and taxonomy of insects. For many years he was a key member of the team researching semiochemicals where his experience was important in understanding the composition of volatile compounds produced by insects, and their role in host plant location, aggregation, reproduction, and defence. Among his main research subjects were pest species in the orders Lepidoptera and Diptera. His key publications included a bibliography on insects as a source of allergens, and global reviews (with Brian Fletcher) of pheromones in insects other than Lepidoptera and Diptera.

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Details

Chronology

1968 - 1970
Career position - Research scientist, Stanford Research Institute, California, U.S.A.
1970 - 2002?
Career position - Research scientist, CSIRO Division of Entomology

Published resources

Books

  • Bellas, T. E., Insects as a cause of inhalant allergies: a bibliography (Canberra: CSIRO, 1981), 64 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Fletcher, B. S.; and Bellas, T. E., 'Pheromones of Hemiptera, Blattodea, Orthoptera, Mecoptera, other insects, and Acari' in CRC handbook of natural pesticides, Morgan, E. D.; and Mandava, N. B., eds, vol. 4B (Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.A.: CRC Press, 1988), pp. 207-71. Details
  • Fletcher, B. S.; and Bellas, T. E., 'Pheromones of Diptera' in CRC handbook of natural pesticides, Morgan, E. D.; and Mandava, N. B., eds, vol. 4B (Boca Raton, Florida, USA: CRC Press, 1988), pp. 1-57. Details

Journal Articles

  • Rothschild, George, 'Tom Bellas 16 February 1937 - 9 April 2021', Myrmecia, 57 (3) (2021), 14-8. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 22 February 2022

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