The Cryptophagidae collection (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) deposited at the Zoological Museum of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (ZMKU) is described. The main authors of the collection are well-known researchers from the 1910–1930s, Orest Marcu and Karl Penecke. This is the largest collection of cryptophagids among the natural museums of Ukraine containing 304 specimens belonging to 85 species of 13 genera. In addition, 15 specimens of 5 species belonging to the families Erotylidae, Biphyllidae and Languriidae were among Cryptophagidae specimens. The collection, according to information available in the ZMKU, came to the museum not earlier than 1947 as the indemnity for the results of the II World War, most likely from Chernivtsi, where Marcu and Penecke worked. The vast majority of specimens is collected in the territory of modern Romania and Ukraine, and many specimens came from Chernivtsi. A table with an overview of all key details of the specimens is given, in which there are 6 fields: the name of the species on the label, details on the species identification, number of specimens, collection locality with the name of collector and remarks on the specimen, in particular, the instructions for decoding collection sites from the original labels. Annotations are made on the amount of the collection and the most important specimens and re-identification for each of the 13 genera. Some specimens are lost, probably during numerous collection migrations. In particular, some species (Cryptophagus simplex, C. lapidicola, C. nitidulus, Caenoscelis subdeplanata, Atomaria grandicollis, A. peltata, etc.) are represented in the collection only by the labels. The collection is important for the analysis of the composition of the fauna of the Carpathian region in the broad sense, since some species are encountered in the collection rarely; therefore it is important to clarify their locations to form the most comprehensive list of species of the Cryptophagids in the region. Several species of the family were included on the actual list of the fauna of the region on the basis of the study of this collection, in particular: Atomaria linearis, A. analis, A. apicalis, A. gravidula, Cryptophagus fasciatus, C. setulosus, etc.
Increasing the role of the NovSU zoological museum in environmental education of the population
