New data on some Russian herpetologists. Communication 3

Unknown biographic data about I. S. Darevsky, D. B. Krasovsky, and S. A. Chernov are presented. This information was obtained during work with the museum collection of the Gorsky State Agrarian University (Vladikavkaz), that of E. N. Pavlovsky’s Chair of Biology at S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy, and the archive of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The type specimens of bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) deposited in the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. Contribution IV. Family Andrenidae, genus Andrena Fabricius, 1775, species described by F. Morawitz

The type specimens for names of bee taxa in the genus Andrena Fabricius, 1775 of family Andrenidae described by F. Morawitz and deposited in the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg) are reviewed. Name-bearing types of 68 species are illustrated and detailed information is provided. Lectotypes are designated here for the following 32 nominal taxa: Andrena adjacens Morawitz, 1875, A. anthracina Morawitz, 1880, A. atrohirta Morawitz, 1893, A. croceiventris Morawitz, 1871, A. ehnbergi Morawitz, 1888, A. formosa Morawitz, 1877, A. glasunowi Morawitz, 1894, A. inconspicua Morawitz, 1871, A. laticeps Morawitz, 1877, A. melanura Morawitz, 1877, A. mongolica Morawitz, 1880, A. mucronata Morawitz, 1871, A. nigrobarbata Morawitz, 1871, A. nylanderi Morawitz, 1865, A. ochracea Morawitz, 1872, A. opaca Morawitz, 1868, A. orbitalis Morawitz, 1871, A. paliuri Morawitz, 1877, A. pretiosa Morawitz, 1893, A. ranunculorum Morawitz, 1877, A. rotundilabris Morawitz, 1877, A. sahlbergi Morawitz, 1888, A. salicina Morawitz, 1877, A. schencki Morawitz, 1866, A. semirubra Morawitz, 1875, A. sexguttata Morawitz, 1877, A. sylvatica Morawitz, 1877, A. transitoria Morawitz, 1871, A. truncatilabris Morawitz, 1877, A. tscheki Morawitz, 1872, A. virago Morawitz, 1894, A. curiosa Morawitz, 1877.

Type Specimens of the Small-Headed Flies (Diptera, Acroceridae) in the Collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg

A catalogue of the types (holotypes, paratypes, and a lectotype) of the species of the family Acroceridae described by L.F. Hildebrandt, F.D. Pleske, and E.P. Nartshuk, deposited in the collection of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia, is presented. Photographs of the specimens and labels of the holotypes and lectotype are given.

Contribution to the taxonomy of human-infesting chiggers (Acariformes: Trombiculidae) in Europe

Three species of chigger mites, which are supposed to be agents of human trombiculiasis in Europe, have been studied based on museum collections and specimens collected by the authors. Trombicula toldti Winkler, 1953 has been transferred to the monotypic genus Blanciella Vercammen-Grandjean, 1960. The type species of this genus, Blanciella deschiensi (Vercammen-Grandjean, 1956), was synonymized with Blanciella toldti comb. nov., and B. toldti was re-described. Lectotype of B. toldti was designated based on the type material donated to Zoological Institute RAS (St. Petersburg, Russia). The lectotype of Kepkatrombicula desaleri (Methlagl, 1928) was found in Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris, France), and the previously designated neotype of K. desaleri has been set aside. Both B. toldti and K. desaleri have been recorded for the first time in Switzerland infesting goats (Capra hircus L., 1758). Human parasitism by Neotrombicula inopinata (Oudemans, 1909) in the UK has been confirmed for the first time with an examined museum specimen.

The neotype designation for Podismopsis gynaemorpha Ikonnikov, 1911 (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

The grasshopper genus Podismopsis Zubowsky, 1900 consists of 39 species distributed in Europe (Switzerland, Austria, Montenegro, and Romania), Russia (European part, Siberia, Far East), Mongolia, China, Korea, and Japan (Zubowsky, 1900; Lu et al., 2011; Storozhenko, 2021; Cigliano et al., 2021). One of them, Podismopsis gynaemorpha Ikonnikov, 1911, was described from Evseevka village (Russia, Primirskii krai) based on two males (Ikonnikov, 1911). Majority of types of the species described by Ikonnikov are deposited in the collection of the Zoological Museum of the Moscow State University (Storozhenko, 1990) while a part of type specimens are stored in the collections of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. I carefully examined both these collections and found that the syntypes of Podismopsis gynaemorpha are lost. Here the neotype of this species is designated, described and illustrated for stability of nomenclature and according to Article 75 of the Code (ICZN, 1999).

An annotated type catalogue of freshwater sculpins (Cottoidei) described by Lev Berg

The catalog is represented by type specimens of species and subspecies of cottoid fishes described by Lev S. Berg which are kept in the ichthyological collection of the Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia. The collection contains type specimens representing 14 taxa (species and subspecies) of the two families Abyssocottidae and Cottidae. In total, Lev S. Berg described one family, Cottocomephoridae, five genera, Abyssocottus, Asprocottus, Baicalocottus, Batrachocottus and Cottinella, 10 species and four subspecies. Four genera and 10 species are currently considered valid.

Translation of N.B.K. Sänger’s (1871) “Peripatus capensis Gr. and Peripatus leuckartii n. sp.” (Onychophora), along with remarks about the author and significance of his work

ABSTRACT The basic biology of onychophorans was revealed slowly and controversially during much of the 19th century. Communications were in Latin, French, Spanish, German and English. This information was synthesised in the monumental monographs of Bouvier in 1905 and 1907. However, amongst this multicultural endeavour is a significant Russian contribution by Nikolai Sänger, a student of Professor Leuckart of the Zoological Institute in Leipzig, Germany. Sänger requested a specimen of Onychophora from the Institute’s collection for serial sectioning. This resulted in a detailed account of the anatomy of Peripatopsis capensis. Sänger’s description of the extensive slime glands was the first to recognise them as the hallmark of onychophorans for defence and prey capture, and not the male reproductive system as previously claimed. Based on these morphological observations, he correctly concluded that onychophorans are not hermaphrodites and, furthermore, are “predominantly predaceous” animals. He further appropriately assigned the slime glands and salivary glands to the slime papilla segment, despite the lack of embryological data at that time. Sänger also identified the excretory organs (nephridia) and their openings, although he erroneously assigned them to a dual role of excretion and respiration. Moreover, he highlighted the importance of the position of the genital opening as a diagnostic character, described the ventral/preventral organs as “subcutaneous glandules”, identified the neurilemma enclosing the central nervous system, and recognised “oval holes of different sizes” in each nerve cord that were subsequently demonstrated to represent giant fibres. Of interest to parasitologists, he discovered a larval acanthocephalan encysted within the cutaneous muscles of his specimen of P. capensis, suggesting that onychophorans act as a secondary host for this parasite. Sänger’s memoir concludes with a brief but important description of the first species of Onychophora recorded from Australia, “northwest of Sydney, New Holland”. This species is now known as Euperipatoides leuckartii with a neotype designated from a specific location northwest of Sydney.

Scientists from Zoological Museum and Zoological Institute of RAS — researchers of biological diversity and biological resources of the Caspian Sea

The origins of the study of the Caspian Sea date back to the 18th century, when the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences was founded. The first explorers of the Caspian were academicians P.S. Pallas and S.G. Gmelin. In the 19th century, the study of Caspian fish was continued by K.E. von Baer and O.A. Grimm. Karl von Baer from 1853 to 1857 made four scientific trips to the shores of the Caspian Sea. He pioneered the fundamentals of sustainable fisheries. The main result of the expedition of K.E. von Baer — N.Ya. Danilevsky was the Charter of the Caspian fish and seal fisheries, approved by the government in 1865. According to the results of O.A. Grimm expedition 1874–1876 many new species of worms and crustaceans were discovered and it was found that from 278 species of fish, 150 are found nowhere else. The study of the biodiversity of fish and their parasite fauna in the first half of the last century was continued by scientists of the Zoological Institute N.M. Knipovich, A.N. Svetovidov, A.L. Behning, V.A. Dogel and B.E. Bykhovsky. In 2004, sciemtists of ZIN RAS published the “Catalogue of Agnathans and Fishes of Fresh and Brackish Waters of Russia with comments on nomenclature and taxonomy”, which includes valid names of taxa of agnathans and fish ranging from type to subspecies inhabiting fresh and brackish waters (up to 13 g/l) of the Azov and Caspian Seas and the freshened estuaries of the rivers of the northern and Far Eastern seas (18 orders, 43 families, 175 genera and 486 species). At present, scientists of ZIN RAS continue to study the fish resources of the Caspian Sea.

Herpetological century: Centenary Anniversary of the Laboratory of Herpetology of the Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences

The publication describes the history of the formation of the Department/Laboratory of Herpetology in the Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences and previously unknown facts of the biography of its staff. An overview of the events dedicated to the celebration of the centenary anniversary of the establishment of the Department is given.

Types of the Dipterans of the Families Cypselosomatidae, Micropezidae, and Tethinidae (Diptera, Acalyptratae) in the Collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg

A catalogue of the types (holotypes, paratypes, lectotypes, and paralectotypes) of the species of the families Cypselosomatidae, Micropezidae, and Tethinidae (Diptera, Acalyptratae) described by T. Becker, V.L. Beschovski, E.P. Nartshuk, A.L. Ozerov, A.I. Shatalkin, and Á. Soós, deposited in the collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, is presented. The lectotype of Calobata nigrolamellata Becker, 1907 is designated. Photographs of the specimens and their labels are given.