Ernest James Harris (May 24, 1928 – February 20, 2018) was an American entomologist who is best known for his work on Biosteres arisanus, a species of wasp.

He was a student at Pulaski County Training School, which was segregated at the time, and graduated wanting to become an airplane mechanic.

[3] He eventually found a job in Milwaukee, working in a foundry and studying the chemical composition of ores.

In 1962 Harris moved to Hawaii, where he was recruited by Loren Steiner to join the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

A few years after moving to Oahu Harris began a doctoral research programme, during which he studied population trends of Ceratitis capitata (Mediterranean fruit fly) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

[5] Harris extensively studied Biosteres arisanus, a species of wasp that is parasitic for fruit fly eggs.