V. A. Richter

To the memory of M. A. Kozlov (1936–2006)

Already in his first year at the University, Michail Alexeevich started active entomological research under supervision of I.M. Oliger. One of his first scientific papers which deals with representatives of the order Coleoptera was published in 1960 jointly with the supervisor. In 1959, after taking several additional examinations and learning German, Michail Alexeevich was transferred to the Faculty of Biology and Soil Science, Leningrad State University. In 1962, he graduated from the University (the Entomology Department) and in the same year was taken on the staff of the Zoological Institute as a Museum guide. In 1967, after defending his candidate thesis on proctotrupoid parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera, Proctotrupoidea) of the European part of the USSR, he became a member of the staff of the Laboratory of Insect Systematics. In 16 years, in 1983, Michail Alexeevich defended his remarkable doctoral thesis “Scelionids (Hymenoptera, Proctotrupoidea, Scelionidae), their systematic position, morphological and biological characteristics, distribution, evolution, phylogeny, classification and economic importance,” and in 1991 he was given the title of Professor. For his scientific achievements, in 1992, Michail Alexeevich was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Chuvash Republic, and, in 1997, the title of the Honored Scientist of Chuvashia was conferred upon him.

On the fauna of tachinids (Diptera, Tachinidae) from Yakutia

Abstract144 tachinid species were recorded from Yakutia, among which 29 species, e.g., Drino galii B. B., Cleonice keteli Ziegler, Anthomyiopsis nigrisquamata Zett., Eulabidogaster setifacies Rd., Leucostoma meridianum Rd., and L. simplex Fall., were found there for the first time. Peculiarities of the distribution of some steppe species in Yakutia are considered.

On the tachinid fauna of the southeastern part of European Russia (Diptera, Tachinidae)

A list of tachinids (Diptera, Tachinidae) of the southeastern European part of Russia comprising 74 species is given. Eight species (Bithia jacentkovskyi, Estheria bohemani, Zeuxia nudigena, Stomina iners, Opesia descendens, Labigastera pauciseta, Cylindromyia rufifrons, Besseria reflexa) are for the first time recorded from Russia, three species (Acemya rufitibia, Atylomyia loewi, Crapivnicia donabilis), from the European part of Russia, and 25 species, from the southeastern European part of Russia. The male of Crapivnicia donabilis Richter found in Astrakhan Province is described. The genus Crapivnicia Richter is assigned to the tribe Goniini, based on the examination of the abdomen of C. donabilis female from Kalmykia which has shown the presence of dark microtype eggs.

New data on the morphology of the robber-fly genus Theurgus V. Richter, 1966 (Diptera, Asilidae)

Detailed photographs of the external structures of Theurgus kerzneri Lehr, 1974 and Th. zimini V. Richter, 1966 are given. Structures of the male genitalia in the genus Theurgus V. Richter, 1966 are illustrated for the first time.

A new species of the robber-fly genus Oligopogon Loew (Diptera, Asilidae) from Armenia

A new species of the genus Oligopogon Loew, O. armeniacus sp. n., is described from Armenia. The holotype is deposited in the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg.

A new species of robber flies, Dysmachus formosus sp. n. (Diptera, Asilidae) from the Lower Volga area

An illustrated description of a new species of robber flies, Dysmachus formosus sp. n., is given, with keys which enable differentiation of the new species from similar congeners.

Tachinid (Diptera, Tachinidae) parasitoids of sawflies (Hymenoptera, Symphyta)

A list of 31 genera of tachinid parasitoids of sawflies is given. Despite the ecological and habitual similarity of sawflies and Lepidoptera, utilization of sawflies by tachinids was not as successful from the evolutionary point of view as utilization of Lepidoptera. Parasitism of tachinids in sawflies is evidently secondary; it appeared repeatedly and originates from parasitism in Lepidoptera. Most genera of tachinids are polyphagous. Endoparasitic Hymenoptera are koinobionts similarly to tachinids. The direct contact of the parasitoid with active mobile host larva not only results in complication of behavior and its specialization, but also promotes formation of different morphological innovations faster than that in idiobionts.

Notes on the Morphology of the Robber Flies (Diptera, Asilidae)

The position of antennae in the ventral part of head in the species of the genus Eremodromus Zimin is considered. It is different in the three species: the antennae are situated close to the mystacal bristles (E. noctivagus), distant from them (E. gracilis), and near the border between dorsal and ventral parts of head (E. zimini). All three species have reduced pulvilli. It is shown that both species of Theurgus Richter have a single straight apical anteroventral spur on the middle tibia.

A new genus and a new species of tachinids (Diptera, Tachinidae) from Wrangel Island

Aesia gen. n. with the type species Aesia acerbiana sp. n. is described from Wrangel Island. The new genus belongs to the tribe Blondeliini (as indicated by a short prealar bristle of the mesonotum and by the cerci separated in apical 0.4). It is not similar to any Palaearctic genus of tachinids. In the key to the species of Blondeliini of North and Central America and the West Indies it comes to the genus Eucelatoria but differs from it in having eyes covered with long and dense hairs, the lower facial margin protruding forwards and well visible in lateral view, proboscis with elongate prementum, abdomen of the female not modified, without a keel and piercer. Aesia acerbiana sp. n. was reared from a larva of a tiger moth (Arctiidae), Acerbia alpina Quensel collected in the tundra landscape.

In memory of G. S. Medvedev (1931–2009)

Gleb Sergeevich Medvedev was born on January 21, 1931, in Askania-Nova Village (Novotroitsk District, Kherson Province), in the family of the talented biologist Sergei Ivanovich Medvedev, one of the best world experts in lamellicorn beetles and one of the most competent entomologists in the USSR. Gleb Sergeevich inherited love for nature from his father. In 1950 he entered the Biological Faculty of Kharkov State University and on graduating from it, on November 1, 1955 he got a postgraduate scholarship the Zoological Institute (ZIN) of the USSR Academy of Sciences, already possessing good knowledge of insects and experience in field work. His candidate’s thesis The Types of Eco-Morphological Adaptations of Darkling Beetles (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) of Turkmenia was supervised by O.L. Kryzhanovskij. In the course of this work Gleb Sergeevich took part in expeditions in different regions of Turkmenia (West Kopet Dag, Badghyz, and Southeast Kara Kum). In December 1960 the head of the laboratory A.A. Stackelberg wrote to the ZIN management: “G.S. Medvedev is undoubtedly one of the most promising researchers in the Department [of Coleoptera] and there is reason to suppose that he will become one of its leading scientists.” Having successfully maintained his thesis on May 4, 1961 at A.N. Severtsov Institute for Animal Morphology in Moscow, G.S. Medvedev was appointed secretary of the journal Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie [Russian for “Entomological Review”] in 1962. His series of papers on the taxonomy, biology, and eco-morphological adaptations of darkling beetles of Turkmenia was awarded the first prize at the annual ZIN competition for the best scientific publication in 1963. On September 1, 1965 Gleb Sergeevich got a position of senior researcher and on September 20, acting head of the Laboratory of Insect Systematics, and on December 18 he was elected to this position.