Jiří Paclt


Jiří Paclt was a Czech-Slovak botanist and entomologist. Although born and raised in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, he spent the majority of his work life in the Slovak part that later became Slovakia. His scientific work is characterised by a wide scope of interests and activities, ranging from botany over mineralogy to entomology.

Personal life and education

Jiří Paclt was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia to Marie, a housewife, and Emil Paclt, a mechanical engineer working in the Chief Technical Council at Czechoslovak State Railways. He grew up in Prague, where he went to primary school from 1931 to 1936, followed by high school from 1936 to 1944. After graduation, he was assigned as a laborer to the company Autoavia as part of the Protectorate "Totaleinsatz". After the end of World War II, he enrolled at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Charles University in Prague. He completed his studies in October 1948 with rigorous examinations in botany and zoology and defended his diploma thesis entitled "Monografie rodu Catalpa", graduating on 3 June 1949 and receiving the title of RNDr. He published his diploma thesis from 1950 to 1954 in seven parts in English as "Synopsis of the genus Catalpa ". As an employee of the Institute of Experimental Phytopathology and Entomology at the Center of Biological and Ecological Sciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Ivanka pri Dunaji, he conducted his doctoral studies as an external student. On 5 June 1972 he received the scientific title of Candidate of Biological Sciences based on his thesis "Defense reactions and premature pathogenic extinction of woody plants".
Jiří Paclt was married to his wife Vera, née Vaněčková, with whom he had three children: the daughters Helena and Eva, and the son Roman. After many years of various health problems, Paclt died on 18 September 2015 at the age of 90.

Scientific work

From 1949 to 1954, Paclt worked as a researcher at the Forest Research Institute in Bratislava. In the following years until 1962, he was a researcher at the Institute of Biology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, where he first worked in the Faunistic Laboratory, and later in the Zoology Department. He spent almost 30 years of his work life, from 1962 to 1990, at the Institute of Experimental Phytopathology and Entomology in Ivanka pri Dunaji, from where he eventually retired.
Both his diploma and doctoral thesis focused on botanical topics, and Paclt continued with research in botany throughout his work life. His main focuses were phytopathology, cecidogenesis, non-pathogenic cancer growth, non-pathogenic nodule growth, facultative and obligatory nodosities, mycotic causes of wilting of some fruit tree species, and the problem of early death of apricot trees. He was a knowledgeable expert in the research field of flaws of timber, especially the red heartwood core of beeches and the variegation of beech wood.
Throughout his life, Paclt worked on various groups of hexapods. His main groups of interest were springtails, proturans, diplurans, jumping bristletails, silverfish, butterflies and moths, beetles and mayflies, of which he studied the morphology, taxonomy, systematics, ecology and zoogeography.
Among his accomplishments in mineralogy are the record of fichtelite from Slovakia and of subfossil liptobiolite from Israel.

Described taxa

He described 34 new species and subspecies, 49 genera, three subfamilies and two families, and he introduced 12 nomina nova:

[Acari] – mites and ticks

Belba bartosi Paclt & Winkler, 1961

[Diplura]

Campodea vihorlatensis Paclt, 1961Deutojapyx Paclt, 1957Didymocampa Paclt, 1957Evalljapyx leleuoporum Paclt, 1976Japyx ascanius Paclt, 1965Japyx izmir Paclt, 1957Japyx kosswigi Paclt, 1965Japyx turcicus Paclt, 1965Acrocampa Paclt, 1957Adinocampa Paclt, 1957Camachancampa Paclt, 1957Catacampa Paclt, 1957Chaocampa Paclt, 1957Cocytocampa Paclt, 1957, nomen novum for Microcampa Silvestri, 1934Dyseocampa Paclt, 1957Holocampa Paclt, 1957Idiocampa Paclt, 1957Metajapyx strouhalae Paclt, 1957Mimocampa Paclt, 1957Mixocampa Paclt, 1957Monojapyx Paclt, 1957Notojapyx Paclt, 1957Notojapyx tillyardi pagesi Paclt, 1957, nomen novum for Japyx tillyardi relata Womersley, 1939Ombrocampa Paclt, 1957Pleocampa Paclt, 1957Tricampodella Paclt, 1957Tychocampa Paclt, 1957Ultrajapyx Paclt, 1957
  • Plusiocampinae Paclt, 1957
  • Syncampinae Paclt, 1957

[Archaeognatha] – jumping bristletails

Haslundichilis beckeri Paclt, 1960Hybographitarsus zebu Paclt, 1969Hypermeinertellus Paclt, 1969Mixomachilis Paclt, 1972, now a synonym of MesomachilisMixomachilis remingtoni Paclt, 1972, now a synonym of Mesomachilis nearcticusNeomachilellus nevermanni Paclt, 1969Petridiobius Paclt, 1970Petridiobius arcticus Paclt, 1970Petrobius canadensis Paclt, 1969Pseudomachilanus Paclt, 1969Pseudomachilanus sechellarum Paclt, 1969Machilontus sutteri borneensis Paclt, 1969
  • Petrobiinae Paclt, 1970

Collembola">springtail">Collembola – springtails

Aposinella Paclt, 1971Choreutinula Paclt, 1944, nomen novum for Beckerella Axelson, 1912Cyphoderus trinervoides Paclt, 1965Diamantinum Paclt, 1959Folsomia anglicana Paclt, 1952Folsomia sexoculata Paclt, 1952Handschinphysa Paclt, 1945, nomen novum for Microphysa Handschin, 1925Neohypogastrura Paclt, 1944Odontella arvensis Paclt, 1961Pogonognathellus Paclt, 1944, nomen novum for Pogonognathus Boerner, 1908Prorastriopes canariensis Paclt, 1964, current generic combination Fasciosminthurus canariensisProrastriopes strasseni Paclt, 1964, current generic combination Fasciosminthurus strasseniProrastriopes webbi Paclt, 1964Rastriopes schultzei Paclt, 1959Tomocerus terrestralis Paclt, 1957

[Zygentoma] – silverfish

Acanthinonychia Paclt, 1963Apteryskenoma Paclt, 1953, nomen novum for Bakerella Womersley, 1928Anarithmeus Paclt, 1962Anisolepisma Paclt, 1967Battigrassiella Paclt, 1963, nomen novum for Grassiella Silvestri, 1912Comphotriura Paclt, 1963Ctenolepisma boettgeriana Paclt, 1961Ctenolepisma confusum Paclt, 1967Diabateria Paclt, 1963Dodecastyla Paclt, 1974Dromadimachilis Paclt, 1969Hemilepisma Paclt, 1967, nomen novum for Braunsina Escherich, 1904Heteromorphura Paclt, 1963Hybographitarsus Paclt, 1969Hypermeinertellus weidneri Paclt, 1969Lasiotheus Paclt, 1963, a subgenus of Gastrotheus Casey, 1890Leniwytsmania Paclt, 1957Lepidina dunckeri Paclt, 1974Lepidotriura Paclt, 1963Metagraphitarsus Paclt, 1969Neonicoletia Paclt, 1979Neonicoletia quinterensis Paclt, 1979Nicoletia phytophila Paclt, 1961Paracrotelsa Paclt, 1967Proatelurina Paclt, 1963Trichodimeria Paclt, 1963Tricholepisma Paclt, 1967Trinemura subarmata Paclt, 1982Trinemurodes mertoni Paclt, 1961Verhoeffilis Paclt, 1972Wygodzincinus Paclt, 1963

[Ephemeroptera] – mayflies

Ephacerella Paclt, 1994, nomen novum for Acerella Allen, 1971

[Coleoptera] – beetles

Deuteroleptidea Paclt, 1946, nomen novum for Leptidea Mulsant, 1839; an unnecessary replacement name, now synonym of the Cerambycinae genus ''Nathrius''

[Lepidoptera] – butterflies and moths

Eucedestis Paclt, 1951, now a synonym of the ermine moth genus CedestisEudalacina Paclt, 1953, now a synonym of the ghost moth genus EudalacaKenneliola Paclt, 1951, nomen novum for Crobylophora Meyrick, 1880; now a synonym of the Tortricidae genus CydiaLossbergiana pseudodimiata Paclt, 1953, now a synonym of the ghost moth Dalaca pallens

[Aves] – birds

Neolepidothrix Paclt, 2009, nomen novum for Lepidothrix Bonaparte, 1854

Plants

Shiuyinghua Paclt, 1962, currently placed in Paulowniaceae

Taxa named after Paclt

Several taxa have been named in honor of Jiří Paclt, such as Pseudosinella paclti Rusek, 1961, Litocampa paclti Condé, 1981 and one generic taxon Pacltiobius Kaplin, 1995, currently treated as a subgenus of Petridiobius.

Publications

Jiří Paclt was a polyglot and published in Czech, Slovak, French, English and German. His very good understanding of Latin and Ancient Greek became evident in his comments on the misrepresentation of scientific names of animals. Furthermore, he did transcriptions from Cyrillic into Latin, but also conversely into Cyrillic, as well as into Japanese, Chinese and Arabic.
When publishing works in Slovakia he often used the name Juraj, the Slovakian form of his first name, instead of the Czech form Jiří.
Paclt published more than 350 scientific articles, most of them without any co-author. An extensive bibliography of his bibliography can be found in Matoušek.