Jan Karel Bechyně (19 September 1920 – 9 March 1973) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

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 ...

and a leading authority on

leaf beetle The beetle family Chrysomelidae, commonly known as leaf beetles, includes over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making it one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle families. Numerous s ...

s (Chrysomelidae). He was the son of photographer and nephew of architect .

Career

Bechyně studied at the University of Prague, graduating in 1948 with a thesis titled "Příspěvek k poznání filogenese a zoogeography rodu ''Tymarcha'' Latr" (on the phylogeny and zoogeography of the genus ''Tymarcha'' Latr). He emigrated from the Czech Republic (then

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

) in 1948 and never subsequently returned. He worked in natural history museums in Munich and at the

Museum of Natural Sciences The Museum of Natural Sciences (, ; , ) is a Brussels museum dedicated to natural history. It is a part of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (; ), itself part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSP ...

in Brussels before moving to Los Angeles and later South America, where he researched in Brazil, San Salvador, and Peru before gaining a professorial post at the University of Maracay in Venezuela. Bechyně was the first to propose combating the

Colorado potato beetle The Colorado potato beetle (''Leptinotarsa decemlineata''; also known as the Colorado beetle, the ten-striped spearman, the ten-lined potato beetle, and the potato bug) is a beetle known for being a major pest of potato crops. It is about lo ...

with pests in Europe. His wife, Bohumila Špringlová, shared his interest in entomology and continued to represent Jan at entomological conferences after his death. The beetle species '' Clinidium bechyneorum'' is named for Jan and B. Bechyne, noting that their "fine series of ''Clinidium'' have made the Rhysodine fauna of Venezuela the best known of any South American country."

Selected publications

References

External link

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bechyne, Jan 1920 births 1973 deaths Czechoslovak zoologists Czech entomologists Coleopterists People from Přibyslav