Frank Hurlbut Chittenden

Frank Hurlbut Chittenden (3 November 1858 – 15 September 1929) was an American coleopterist and economic entomologist who worked in the US Department of Entomology.

Chittenden was born in Cleveland, Ohio but the family moved to Elyria. He lost his father when he was young and was taken care of by his school-teacher mother. He went to Cornell University but unfortunately for Chittenden, the well-known entomology professor at Cornell, John Henry Comstock was then away in Washington. Chittenden, sponsored by William J. Holland of the Carnegie Museum,[1] found himself studying under W.S. Barnard, who was less experienced in entomology than himself. This led to Barnard being displeased and led to Chittenden leaving with a licenciate degree in 1881 instead of a bachelor's degree. He then lived in Brooklyn and worked at the Brooklyn Museum, and worked as an editor of the Entomologica Americana. He was a founder of the Brooklyn Entomological Society. In 1891 he joined the US Department of Agriculture working as an economic entomologist. He wrote numerous departmental bulletins and several books. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh (then called the Western University of Pennsylvania) in 1904.[2][3]

Chittenden took a special interest in weevils and described a few species, particularly in the genus Sphenophorus. He also described 30 species in the genus Curculio many of which are no longer considered valid.[1]

Chittenden never married and for many years, his mother lived with him and after her death, his widowed sister.[2]