Mary Ball was an Irish naturalist and entomologist most noted for her studies of Odonata and for her discovery of the curious phenomenon of stridulation in aquatic bugs. The Ball family lived in Youghal, County Cork. Mary had two brothers — Robert and the curiously named Bent — and one sister, Anne, a well-known algologist. The family was Protestant and "involved in trade." Robert encouraged Mary in her early insect studies, … Wikipedia
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