In memory of Roy Snelling
April 23, 2008 by myrmecos
Yesterday I received the sad news that Roy Snelling, one of the most significant figures in modern myrmecology, has passed on. He was on an expedition in Kenya and apparently suffered a heart attack in his sleep.
Roy’s prolific career as a curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County produced dozens of studies on the taxonomy of bees, wasps, and especially ants. Among other accomplishments, his works are the primary reference for the honeypot ants of North America, numerous groups of carpenter ants, and the entire Chilean myrmecofauna. Roy was a devoted desert rat, an aficionado of fine Mexican food, and- and I mean this in the very best way- a curmudgeon’s curmudgeon.
We’ll miss you, Roy.
**update** James Trager writes a thoughtful eulogy in the comments
photo: antweb
O my..
I met him in Cairns on 2006. Quite a unique man.
Deep condolences from me.
RIP.
http://antfarm.yuku.com/topic/6963/t/Roy-Snelling-has-left-the-building.html is a forum thread about him.
I am truly saddened by Roy’s death. We had been collegial friends since the mid-1970s, when I was a masters degree student at the University of Kansas. (I gather that Roy, too, had spent some time at KU, though apparently not as a formal student. I never quite got the details). Some years later, I especially appreciated the several phone calls a year I got from Roy during the 1990s and first few 2000s, when I was not able to be very active myrmecologically.
Roy was personally linked to more myrmecologists than I can name, but figuring especially among them was “Ants of North America” author William S. Creighton, with whom Roy had a long and productive professional interaction. Dr. Creighton’s very important ant collection is now housed at the Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles, where Roy built up one of the most important ant collections in the world during his many years as curator of Hymenoptera for that institution.
Since Roy was never (at least outwardly) one to place much importance on ceremony, and was always one to appreciate dark humor, I feel it appropriate to suggest, in jest — Maybe we should get together a Festschrift! Roy learned really and utterly to hate Festschrift-making during the course of “editoring” the recent one honoring Ed Wilson http://antbase.org/databases/publications_files/publications_eow_festschrift.htm . I hope this gives him a wry and hearty laugh, wherever he is. I’ll really miss him, but at least, I am somewhat cheered to know that he died while on an ant collecting expedition, as I think he would wish it (and as would I).
By the way, Roy was more than just an ant taxonomist, but also a respected bee and wasp taxonomist, an active proponent of Native American rights, an avid and knowledgeable listener of classical music, a connoisseur of all variety of ethnic foods and of good beer, and an outspoken atheist.
A final point, I remember once seeing a photo of three generations of Snelling males and a number of other anty folk out in the California desert together. If there’s such a thing as a myrmecology gene, this is clearly indicative of the dominance of Roy’s alleles! Too, one could say that in view of the number of unrelated myrmecologists whose careers he aided and abetted, his very un-antlike altruism was also an extraordinary thing.
I met Roy in Kenya where he dragged me to collect ants and bees with him in Kakamega Forest and a few other locations. I was doing my fieldwork then and Roy was excited to find someone who could take him around to some nice locations. I was happy to rub shoulders with an authority in the field and was keen to learn from him - especially tit-bits about field techniques - something that I kept getting wrong by myself. We hit it off right away, and kept in contact for several years after that.
I think he was a great personality and a warm human being, and I shared his love for all things natural and mostly for all things Hymenopteran.
My regret is that over the years I lost contact with him, and though every year I met to get in touch with him again and to share some ants with him, I just never got round to it. And now it is too late.
My condolences go out to his family. I am sure he will be much missed. I am sad he died so far away from home, but I think he was doing what he loved to do, and he was at peace in the African wilderness.
Thank you, Roy.
Many thanks for the thoughts. Anyone knowing Roy will know going i his sleep is not his style, but at least he was in the field and not trapped in Southern California
Off to the big ant hill in the sky. Roy, you will truly be missed. I have many great memories of you and I know I am not alone. The ant community is a better place for your contributions both scientifically and personally.
[...] April 25, 2008 by myrmecos A few of the many species described by Roy Snelling: [...]
Roy.–Thanks for your words and for being an example to me. I will remember our conversations on the chaos theory, mysticism, Indian lore versus science, and –of course– the arguments with our pal Juan A. Torres on the subject. I also miss the field trips to Isla de Mona! Thanks for sharing your life with all of us! Nos veremos pronto amigo mio! Un abrazo