Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart (8 April 1778 – 25 November 1855) was a French

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

specialising in the study of

flies Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwin ...

. He worked on world species as well as European and described many new

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

Biography

Early life

Macquart was born in

Hazebrouck Hazebrouck (, , , ) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France. It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1880, when French was taught ...

, on 8 April 1778. He was interested in natural history from an early age due to his older brother who was an

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

and a Fellow of the Société de Sciences de l’Agriculture et des Arts de la Ville de Lille and whose

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

collection became the foundation of the societies museum, the

Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille The Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille, or Lille Natural history, Natural History Museum, was founded in 1822. It houses zoology, zoological and geology, geological collections. Its holdings have recently been enhanced by ethnographic specimen ...

. A second brother founded a botanic garden with a collection of over 3000 species of plants. Macquart, too became interested in natural history. In 1796, he joined the staff of General Armand Samuel then campaigning in the Revolutionary Wars. He was a secretary and draftsman. The general staff was stationed in

Schwetzingen Schwetzingen (; ) is a German town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, around southwest of Heidelberg and southeast of Mannheim. Schwetzingen is one of the five biggest cities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district and a medium-sized centre between ...

, then

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the d ...

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. He left the army in 1798 returning to Lille with German books, insects and birds.

French Diptera, Meigen and Marriage

He then worked full-time on insects and studying in the library and on 27

Nivôse Nivôse (; also ''Nivose'') was the fourth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''nivosus'' 'snowy'. Nivôse was the first month of the winter quarter (''mois d'hiver''). It started between 21 and 23 ...

, Year 11 of the French Revolutionary Calendar (1802) he was elected a Fellow of the Société de Sciences de l’Agriculture et des Arts de la Ville de Lille. Soon he began travelling around France and went several times to Paris where he met

Pierre André Latreille Pierre André Latreille (; 29 November 1762 – 6 February 1833) was a French zoology, zoologist, specialising in arthropods. Having trained as a Roman Catholic priest before the French Revolution, Latreille was imprisoned, and only regained hi ...

who suggested to specialize on Diptera, following the pioneering work of

Johann Wilhelm Meigen Johann Wilhelm Meigen (3 May 1764 – 11 July 1845) was a German entomologist famous for his pioneering work on Diptera. Life Early years Meigen was born in Solingen, the fifth of eight children of Johann Clemens Meigen and Sibylla Margare ...

. After some time in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

he married and moved from

Lestrem Lestrem (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. about north of Béthune and west of Lille by the banks of the Lawe River. History In 1940 the hamle ...

where he became mayor, from 1817 to 1852, then a member of the

Conseil général The departmental councils ( ; singular, ''conseil départemental'' ) of France are representative assemblies elected by universal suffrage in 98 of the country's 101 departments. Prior to the 2015 French departmental elections they were known ...

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

.Pierre Lesieu,
Lestrem Un livre pour raconter l’histoire d’un ancien maire et entomologiste de renom
, ''

La Voix du Nord ''La Voix du Nord'' (; or 'The Voice of Nord') is a regional daily newspaper from the north of France. Its headquarters are in Lille. History ''Voix du Nord'' was one of the underground newspapers of the French Resistance founded in German- ...

'', 11 October 2017 At this time he began intensive studies of Diptera examining the collections of

Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (; 12 September 1777 – 1 May 1850) was a French zoologist and anatomist. Life Blainville was born at Arques-la-Bataille, Arques, near Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, Dieppe. As a young man, he went to Paris to study a ...

Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (; 15 April 177219 June 1844) was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theorie ...

André Étienne d'Audebert de Férussac Baron André Étienne Justin Pascal Joseph François d'Audebert de Férussac (30 December 1786 – 21 January 1836) was a French naturalist best known for his studies of molluscs. (Two of his given names are sometimes spelt Just or Juste instead o ...

Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier, comte de Saint-Fargeau Amédée Louis Michel le Peletier, comte de Saint-Fargeau (9 October 1770 – 23 August 1845), also spelled Lepeletier or Lepelletier, was a French people, French Entomology, entomologist, and specialist in the Hymenoptera. In 1833, he served as ...

Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville (; his name, before the French Revolution, Revolution, included a Nobiliary particle, particle: Audinet de Serville) was a French entomologist, born on 11 November 1775 in Paris. He died on 27 March 1858 in La Fert ...

Alexandre Louis Lefèbvre de Cérisy Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander * Alexandra (disambiguation) * Xano (disambiguation) Xano is the name of: * Xano, a Portuguese hypocoristic of the name " Alexandre (di ...

Gaspard Auguste Brullé Gaspard Auguste Brullé (7 April, 1809 – 21 January, 1873) was a French entomologist. Passionate about insects from a young age and through the intervention of Georges Cuvier, he participated in the Morea expedition organised by Jean Baptiste ...

and

François Louis de la Porte, comte de Castelnau François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire; 1 ...

in France. He also went to Hamburg where

Wilhelm von Winthem Wilhelm von Winthem (1799–1847) was a naturalist and entomologist from Hamburg, Germany, who was chiefly interested in Diptera and Hymenoptera. Well placed in a port city, von Winthem built a world collection.Joachim Steetz. 1848. Nekrolog err Wi ...

had assembled the largest collection of Diptera in the world. At the age of 25 he was one of the founders of the ''Société d’Amateurs des Sciences et Arts de la Ville de Lille''. Many of his publications were published in the ''Mémoires'' of this Society. He also expanded the natural history holdings of the Musee d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille. His early taxonomic work included the ''Insectes diptères du nord de la France'', published in Lille in 4 parts from 1826-1829. This prompted Latreille to enlist him as the author of the Diptera volumes of

Suites à Buffon Les ''Suites à Buffon'' is a French 19th-century scientific publication. Les ''Suites à Buffon'' carries the complete title ''Suites à Buffon formant avec les œuvres de cet auteur un cours complet d'histoire naturelle embrassant les trois r ...

under his editorship. This arrangement was continued by

Nicolas Roret Nicolas-Edme Roret (29 May 1797 Vendeuvre-sur-Barse Département – 18 June 1860, Paris) was a French editor and publisher known for an important series of manuals (''Manuels'') and encyclopaedia An encyclopedia is a reference work or comp ...

when Latreille became ill. Two volumes were published (1834-1835) as ''Histoire naturelle des insectes Dipteres'' where non-European as well as European Diptera were treated. In 1839, Macquart visited

, then aged 75, in Stolberg, purchasing his notes and drawings and bringing his collection to Paris where it is now in the

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...

. This established Macquart as Meigen's successor and Paris as the centre of Dipterology.

Exotic Diptera

The only works on exotic (non-European) Diptera at this time were those of

Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann (7 December 1770 – 31 December 1840) was a German physician, historian, naturalist and entomologist. He is best known for his studies of world Diptera, but he also studied Hymenoptera and Coleoptera, al ...

particularly ''Diptera exotica'' (1820–1821) and ''Aussereuropaischen Diptera'' (1828-1830). Wiedemann had not seen the imposing collections in Paris and these were to occupy Macquart for the rest of his life. He described nearly 2,000 new species in his ''Insectes diptères exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus'' (1838–1855) which lists the collections examined to that date. They are those of:

Jules Dumont d'Urville Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (; 23 May 1790 – 8 May 1842) was a French List of explorers, explorer and French Navy, naval officer who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. As a botanist an ...

with René-Primevère Lesson (the largest including material from the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

, the coast of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, the southern and western

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

);

Justin Goudot Justin Goudot (1802 – c. 1850) was a French explorer, and naturalist collector. Goudot was born in Jura, France. He was attached to the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris as a collector naturalist. From 1822 to 1842 he was charged b ...

who had explored

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

from 1822 (and continued to until 1842); a Louis Pilate who was based in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

U.S.A. but lived for five years in

Mérida, Yucatán Mérida (, ) is the capital of the List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Yucatán, and the largest city in southeastern Mexico. The city is also the seat of the Mérida Municipality, eponymous municipality. It is located slightly inland fro ...

;

Auguste Sallé Auguste Sallé (21 October 1820, Paris – 5 May 1896, Paris) was a French traveller and entomologist who specialised in Coleoptera. Following expeditions to the Southern States of the USA, the West Indies, Central America (especially Mexico), ...

, a young collector later to become a Paris insect dealer with South American connections; Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny who between 1826 and 1823 had travelled, on a mission for the

Paris Museum Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, into

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

returning France with an enormous collection of more than 10,000 natural history specimens;

Peter Claussen Peter Clausen (approximately 1801–1872), often misspelt as Peter Claussen, and also known as Pedro Claudio Clausen and Pedro Dinamarquez Clausen, was a Danish natural history collector born in Copenhagen, who was known for his work between 1834 ...

(c. 1804–1855) a Danish naturalist who collected in

, a M. Giesebrecht,

(Diptera from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

) and three members of a Belgian Commission for the exploration of tropical countries, August Giesebreght (1810–1893), Nicholas Funk (1817–1896) and

Jean Jules Linden Jean Jules Linden (12 February 1817,Jean Linden, expl ...

(1817–1898). Material continued to pour into the museum from these and other sources as Macquarts reputation spread.

Later life

In 1845, Macquart went to Switzerland to see

Maximilian Perty Josef Anton Maximilian Perty (17 September 1804, Ornbau – 8 August 1884, Bern) was a German naturalist and entomologist. He was a professor of zoology and comparative anatomy at the University of Bern.revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. This was his last journey outside Paris. He died on 25 November 1888, aged 77, in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, and is buried there.

Societies

Macquart was a Member of the

Entomological Society of Stettin The Entomological Society of Szczecin (), more commonly known as the Entomological Society of Stettin or Stettin Entomological Society, based in Szczecin (formerly Stettin), was one of the leading entomological societies of the 19th century. Most Ge ...

, the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

and the

Société entomologique de France Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A. Lactalis is the largest dairy p ...

Selected works

*1811. Mémoire sur les plantations dans le département du Nord. ''Séance Publique de la Société des Sciences de Lille'', 4, 116–131. (first published paper) *1819. Notice sur les insectes Hemiptères du genre Psylle. ''Seanc Soc Sci Agr Arts Lille'' 5: 81-86. *1826 ''Insectes diptères du nord de la France'' 1 and 2 ''Asiliques, bombyliers, xylotomes, leptides, vésiculeux, stratiomydes, xylophagites, tabaniens'' Lille : impr. L. Danel. *1827 ''Insectes diptères du nord de la France'' 3 ''Platypézines, dolichopodes, empides, hybotides'' Lille : impr. L. Danel. *1829 ''Insectes diptères du nord de la France'' 4, Syrphies Lille : impr. L. Danel. *1834-1835. ''Histoire naturelle des insectes. Dipteres'' Paris : Roret. *1838 ''Insectes diptères exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus''. Two volumes. Paris: Roret. All these works are available as free electronic texts from the

National Library of France National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, Gallica. *1839 ''Diptéres''. In ‘ Histoire naturelle des Iles Canaries,’ by

Philip Barker Webb Philip Barker Webb (10 July 1793 – 31 August 1854) was an English botanist. Life Webb was born to a wealthy, aristocratic family; his father was the lord of the manors of Witley and Milford, Surrey, Milford, in Surrey, England. Webb was ...

and

Sabin Berthelot Sabin Berthelot (4 April 1794 – 10 November 1880) was a French naturalist and ethnologist. He was a resident of the Canary Islands for part of his life, and co-authored ''L'Histoire Naturelle des Îles Canaries'' (1835–50) with Philip Barker ...

, vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 97. Paris. *1842 Diptères exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus ''Mémoires Soc Sci Agr Arts Lille'' 1841(1): 62-200. *1843 Diptères exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus ''Mémoires Soc Sci Agr Arts Lille'' 1842: 162-460. *1848 Diptères exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus ''Mémoires Soc Sci Agr Arts Lille'' 1847(2): 161-237. *1850 Facultés intérieures des Animaux invertébrés. 8vo. Lille. This includes an 80-page autobiography. *1855 Diptères exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus ''Mémoires Soc Sci Agr Arts Lille'' (2)1: 25-156.

Collections

*Natural History Museum, Lille, France *

Hope Department of Entomology The Oxford University Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's natural history specimens, located on Parks Road in Oxford, England. It also contains a lecture theatre which is used by the univers ...

Oxford University Museum, England *

Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History ( ; abbr. MNHN) is the national natural history museum of France and a of higher education part of Sorbonne University. The main museum, with four galleries, is located in Paris, France, within the Ja ...

Paris Natural History Museum, France.

External links

''Index Novus Litteraturae Entomologicae''
Full bibliography
EOL
''

Encyclopedia of Life The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It aggregates content to form "pages" for every known species. Content is compiled from existing trusted ...

'' Taxa described by Macquart. Complete and many supported by images. Type 'Macquart' into the search box
Systema Dipterorum Nomenclator
Full list of Diptera taxa described by Macquart
BHL
''Insectes diptères du nord de la France'' Lille, Impr. de Leleux

1823-33 Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number) * One of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short story ''God's Dice'' * ''Eighteen'' (film), a 20 ...

Volumes 1-4
BHL
''Histoire naturelle des insectes. Dipteres'' Paris : Roret.
BHL
''Diptères exotiques nouveaux ou peu connus'' Mémoires Soc Sci Agr Arts Lille
Images of the Macquart collection
via gbf

Notes

References

*Sichel, J. (1855) ''Ann. Soc. ent. France Paris, Bull.'' (3)3: CXIV. *Lhoste, J. (1987) ''Les Entomologistes francais'' 1750 - 1950. INRA, OPIE: 127 - 128, Portr.-Zeichnung

1036 Year 1036 ( MXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – In Naples, Duke Sergius IV abdicates and retires to a monastery; he is succeeded by his son John V. * A Zirid expe ...

*Macquart, P.J.M. (1850) ''Facultés intérieures des animaux invertébrés.'' Roret, Paris, lxxxii + 272. *Pont, A. C. (1996) ''Dipterists Digest'' 2(2): 49 - 70 2117 *Pont, A.C. (2012) Muscoidea (Fanniidae, Anthomyiidae, Muscidae) described by P. J. M. Macquart (Insecta, Diptera) ''Zoosystema'' 34 (1): 39-111
online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macquart, Pierre-Justin-Marie 1778 births 1855 deaths People from Hazebrouck French entomologists Dipterists