John Lawrence LeConte MD (May 13, 1825 – November 15, 1883) was an American entomologist, responsible for naming and describing approximately half of the insect taxa known in the United States during his lifetime,[1] including some 5,000 species of beetles.

He worked as a chemical assistant to John Torrey and after receiving his medical degree he briefy practiced medicine.

[3] Influences in his life included Louis Agassiz and Hermann Rudolph Schaum who stayed in the Leconte home.

[4] While still in medical college, in 1844, John Lawrence traveled with his cousin Joseph LeConte to the Great Lakes.

Starting at Niagara Falls, they visited Detroit and Chicago and traversed Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois before returning up the Ohio River to Pittsburgh and on to New York.

[2] After graduating from medical college John Lawrence LeConte made several trips west, including to California via Panama in 1849.