Jacques Carayon (11 November 1916 – 1997) 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 ...

, best known for his pioneering research into

traumatic insemination Traumatic insemination, also known as hypodermic insemination, is the mating practice in some species of invertebrates in which the male pierces the female's abdomen with his aedeagus and injects his sperm through the wound into her abdominal ca ...

.James A. Slater (1997) "Jacques Carayon (1916-1997) an Appreciation," ''Journal of the New York Entomological Society,'' Vol. 105, No. 3/4 (Summer - Fall, 1997), pp. 238-242 Carayon was Chairman of

Entomology 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 ...

at the National Museum in Paris from 1975 to 1985.''Parassitologia,'' Official Journal of the Italian Society of Parasitology, vol 50, no. 3-4, December 2008, p183

Career

Carayon was born on November 16, 1916, in

Toulouse, France Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, the eldest of three children. His father, a

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

, died in 1938. This loss, coupled with an illness of his own, prevented Carayon from pursuing his medical studies, and he instead studied natural history in Paris. In 1946 and 1947, Carayon undertook expeditions to

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

and

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, and attended international entomological congresses across Europe and North America, before being elected to the Permanent Committee on International Entomological Congresses in 1980. Carayon spent his entire career based in Paris. He was President of the

Entomological Society of France 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 ...

from 1956, and Chairman of

at the National Museum in Paris from 1975 to 1985 or 1986.

Personal life

Carayon married Gabrielle Carayon in 1947. His wife, a technician herself, became Carayon's assistant, and her

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

work was crucial to research. He owned a house in

Provence, France Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. I ...

, from which he conducted fieldwork during the summer months. In 1990, Carayon was involved in an

automobile accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collision, collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, Utility pole ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, which left him in a coma, with physical injuries from which he never fully recovered.

Legacy

Upon Carayon's death in 1997, colleague James A. Slater wrote that "hemipterology has lost one of its greatest and certainly one of its most versatile students... Prof. Carayon unquestionably deserves a place, not only as one of the leaders in Hemipterology in this century, but as one of the leading figures in the entire history of the science." Carayon undertook pioneering research into

, and, in 1966, he was the first to suggest the

spermalege The spermalege (also known as the organ of Berlese or organ of Ribaga) is a special-purpose organ found in female bed bugs that appears to have evolved to mitigate the effects of traumatic insemination. The spermalege has two embryologically distin ...

structure in bedbugs as a female counter-adaptation.Carayon, J. (1966) Traumatic insemination and the paragenital system. In ''Monograph of Cimicidae (Hemiptera—Heteroptera)'' (ed. R. L. Usinger), pp. 81–166. College Park, MD: Entomological Society of America.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carayon, Jacques French entomologists 1916 births 1997 deaths Scientists from Toulouse 20th-century French zoologists National Museum of Natural History (France) people

Career

Personal life

Legacy

See also

References