A peer-reviewed open-access journal ZooKeys 148: 1–13 (2011) Kumar Krishna, in appreciation 1 doi: 10.3897/zookeys.148.2008 EDITORIAL www.zookeys.org Launched to accelerate biodiversity research Kumar Krishna, in appreciation Michael S. Engel1,2, David A. Grimaldi2 1 Division of Entomology, Natural History Museum, and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 1501 Crestline Drive – Suite 140, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66049-2811, USA 2 Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York 10024-5192, USA Corresponding author: Michael S. Engel (
[email protected]) Received 4 November 2011 | Accepted 8 November 2011 | Published 21 November 2011 Citation: Engel MS, Grimaldi DS (2011) Kumar Krishna, in appreciation. In: Engel MS (Ed) Contributions Celebrating Kumar Krishna. ZooKeys 148: 1–13. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.148.2008 It is with admiration and fondness that we dedicate this special issue of ZooKeys to Professor Kumar Krishna, dean of Isoptera research. This collection of papers is a hum- ble testament of appreciation by the various biologists who are dedicated to studying termites, insects that are popularly maligned but actually of profound behavioral and ecological importance. Kumar’s influence extends beyond the scope of isopterological studies and so several of the papers included herein are from contributors on other lineages of insects who have been similarly inspired by his indomitable spirit. Kumar grew up in Dehra Dun in northern India, in the foothills of the Himalayas. His father was a physician, and was also one of the first Indians to be commissioned in the British army, in fact serving as a major in World War I.