David was a force in the world of vector entomology, and spent decades working to eradicate New World screwworm from the Americas, and to control stable fly. His life’s work took him from Chiapas, Mexico to Central and South America, Australia, and Nebraska farms. He enjoyed working with young scientists, local youth and advising new orchid growers. David was a wonderful, loving husband, father, and grandfather. His enthusiasm for insect collecting and rambling through his prairie with his dog Baka at his side are remembered with love.
David was born in South Bend, Indiana, on Feb. 19, 1955, to Lloyd and Nancy (Kiebler) Taylor. He attended Washington High School in South Bend, graduating in 1973. He worked summers as a counselor at Camp Eberhart in Michigan where he sailed his beloved Hobie catamaran and taught woodcraft.
David spent most of his career in Lincoln at the USDA-ARS Midwest Livestock Insects Research Laboratory, and as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Nebraska. He was a mentor to entomology students and fellow researchers. He also enjoyed teaching his course on veterinary entomology.
In the words of his colleague Dr. Norman Leppla:
Dr. David B. Taylor was one of the most important pioneers in applied insect genetics who put his unique knowledge to use in constructing effective strains for mass rearing the New World screwworm fly, harmful mosquitoes, and pest filth flies. Soon after graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a Ph.D. degree in biology, mosquito evolution, and genetics, he accepted a very challenging assignment to provide scientific support at Tuxtla Gutierrez in southern Mexico for screwworm eradication, the world’s first large-scale use of sterile insects to eradicate a dangerous pest of livestock and periodically humans. Due to his exceptional ability and experience in mass rearing screwworms, he was invited to submit articles for the nascent International Arthropod Mass Rearing and Quality Control Workgroup that was eventually affiliated with the International Organization for Biological Control. He also contributed a chapter, Rearing systems for screwworm mass production, to one of the foundational books in the field. Clearly, Dr. Taylor was dedicated to pest management strategies that protect people and animals from harmful insects without adverse environmental side effects. When screwworm production declined precipitously and threatened to disrupt the international eradication program, Dr. Taylor served as a key member of an expert panel assembled to restore the quantity and quality of the flies. This was an extremely difficult charge because the screwworm factory employed more than a thousand personnel who produced flies 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. He knew much more about mass producing screwworms than anyone else on the panel and was instrumental in restoring essential production. When the international screwworm program recently began to fail again, he volunteered to serve on another review panel, this time in Panama where production had been moved from Mexico. Due to his untimely passing, Dr. Taylor was unable to serve once more but provided invaluable guidance in a soon-to-be-published article, New World Screwworm (Diptera: Calliphoridae): Past, Present and Future.
In the words of his colleague Dr. Chris Geden:
In addition to his pioneering research with screwworm, Dr. Taylor spent 25 years working on biology and management of fly pests associated with animal production facilities. This included a ground-breaking study of the economic impact of stable flies and many contributions on fly management, including biological control agents such as parasitic wasps and entomopathogenic nematodes. During his years as a USDA scientist, Dr Taylor published 80 scientific papers and gave invited presentations to a wide range of national and international audiences.
After his retirement in 2021 as adjunct professor emeritus, David became Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Medical Entomology. He remained enthusiastically active in the Livestock Insect Workers Conference, a group of scientists working on livestock pests. He always looked forward to seeing old friends and meeting young scientists at these meetings.
While earning his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 1983, he met Lorraine Leiser while studying mosquitoes in the Vector Biology Lab. Lorraine said the mosquitoes preferred biting him rather than her, so it was a good match.
They married June 9, 1984, at the Taylor family farm in South Bend. Two days later, they left for David’s new job in Chiapas, Mexico, in a Chevette packed with wedding presents and insect-collecting equipment. This was the start of 42 wonderful years of enjoying nature together both internationally and in the US.
David joined the Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) as a research geneticist assigned to the New World screwworm fly. While in Mexico, David and Lorraine enjoyed weekend trips to the surrounding forests of Chiapas. Their favored vehicle was Dave’s duct tape covered AMC Gremlin. This car, though ugly, could blast up a narrow mountain road, startling local motorists. They went into the mountains on mosquito-collecting expeditions, but found wild orchids, igniting a lifelong interest in the plants.
David’s excitement about orchids never faded. With the help of many friends, he attached a used greenhouse to his Hickman home and filled it with spectacular orchids until it was nearly impossible to walk inside. The 2004 Hallam tornado destroyed the greenhouse, but he rebuilt, expanded, and stuffed it full of even more orchids.
He won 16 American Orchid Society awards for his plants. He traveled monthly to the American Orchid Society Mid-America Judging Center in St. Louis to become a certified orchid judge. He judged orchid shows for many years, and was an active member of the Omaha Orchid Society. David was always ready to help diagnose a problem or share a division of one of his plants with a new grower.
After Mexico, David and the now-expanded family (Benjamin Sherrett: born 1987; Brian Andrew: born 1989) moved to Fargo, North Dakota, where David became Lead Scientist at the USDA-ARS screwworm research group.
Shortly after, the family moved to Nebraska, and David and Lorraine became interested in prairie ecosystems. They purchased a six acre farmstead property just outside of Hickman, Nebraska, and David recreated a thriving native prairie on more than half of the property. He devoted some of the other space to his wonderful tomato garden: 24 large plants per one tomato-eater (himself).
David and his sons joined Hickman Boy Scout Troop 64. He became an adult leader of the troop, sharing his love of the outdoors through countless campouts, hikes and outdoor experiences. He founded a Venturing crew chapter in Hickman so young women in the community could have the same opportunities as his sons, and so he could take his family on more outdoor adventures like backpacking, rock climbing and Philmont Scout Ranch.
David Taylor is survived by his wife Lorraine Leiser; sons Benjamin (Whitney) Taylor, Brian (Claire) Taylor; grandchildren Arthur Taylor, Almarinda Taylor, Annadora Taylor; brother, Stephen (Suzette) Taylor; and sister Katherine Taylor.
A celebration of life will be held 11:00 am December 5, 2026, at Roper and Sons South Chapel, 3950 Hohensee Drive, Lincoln, Nebraska.
Luncheon to follow immediately after.
Please share any memories and stories with us at the memorials link below. We know he touched many and would welcome anything you want to share.