Schwarz, Herbert Ferlando, 1883-

Herbert Ferlando Schwarz was an amateur entomologist who specialized in the study of stingless bees (Meliponidae). He was appointed a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History in 1921, a position he held until his death, and was the editor of Natural history magazine from 1921 to 1925. Following the death of Frank E. Lutz in 1943, Schwarz served as acting chairman of the Dept. of Insects and Spiders until 1946.

Schwarz earned degrees in literature and philosophy, then worked as a writer and editor at G.P. Putnam's Sons from 1909 to 1919, also serving in the Field Artillery during World War I. While working with Lutz on the editing of his Field book of insects, Schwarz developed the interest in entomology, and especially bees, that would determine the rest of his career. In 1919 he accompanied Lutz as a volunteer assistant on a collecting trip to Colorado where he met T.D.A. Cockerell, like Lutz an authority on bees. Once established at the AMNH, Schwarz went on many more collecting trips, primarily to the western United States and Panama, as well as the Cauca Valley of Colombia, and published over sixty scientific papers, including definitive works on the Anthidiinae and the Meliponidae. His 1948 work, Stingless bees (Meliponidae) of the Western Hemisphere, published as a Bulletin of the AMNH, became the standard reference on the subject. Schwarz was an active member of the New York Academy of Sciences, and the editor of their publications from 1925 to 1936. He was also a member of the Explorers Club and the New York Entomological Society.