Maria Elizabeth Smith Fernald (May 24, 1839 – October 6, 1919) was an American entomologist who wrote a major reference book, A Catalogue of the Coccidae of the World.
[4] She became interested in entomology through her husband and began her education in the subject in the 1870s by collecting insects for him around Maine State College in Orono, where he was teaching at the time.
[1] Fernald developed into a capable and respected entomologist, an expert on the Coccidae, Tortricidae, and Tineidae families of moths and one of only a handful of women in a field that would remain almost exclusively male for another century.
Three years later, the first of a devastating series of European gypsy moth plagues broke out—the first major outbreak since the insect's arrival in North America two decades earlier.
[3] Fernald had taken over the entomological work at the Experiment Station in Charles's absence, and thanks to her knowledge of Lepidoptera, she was able to quickly identify the caterpillars responsible for that first infestation, providing the key to subsequent control efforts.