Victor Ivanovich Motschulsky (sometimes Victor von Motschulsky, russian: link=no, Виктор Иванович Мочульский, 11 April 1810, in
St. Petersburg – 5 June 1871, in
Simferopol) was a Russian
entomologist
Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...
mainly interested in
beetles.
Motschulsky was an
Imperial Army colonel who undertook extended trips abroad. He studied and described many new beetles from
Siberia,
Alaska, the United States, Europe, and Asia. While he tended to ignore previous work and his own work on classification was of poor quality, Motschulsky made a massive contribution to entomology, exploring hitherto unworked regions, often in very difficult terrain. He described many new
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
and
species, a high proportion of which remain valid.
Travels
Motschulsky's travels included:
*1836 - France, Switzerland and the
Alps, northern Italy and
Austria
*1839–1840 - Russian
Caucasus,
Astrakhan,
Kazan and
Siberia
*1847 -
Khirgizia
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...
*1850–1851 - Germany, Austria,
Egypt, India, France, England,
Belgium and
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
*1853 - United States of America, Panama, returning to St. Petersburg via
Hamburg,
Kiel and
Copenhagen
*1853 - Germany, Switzerland and
Austria
Works
Motschulsky published 45 works, mostly on
biogeographic, faunistic or
systematic
Systematic may refer to:
Science
* Short for systematic error
* Systematic fault
* Systematic bias, errors that are not determined by chance but are introduced by an inaccuracy (involving either the observation or measurement process) inheren ...
aspects of entomology. Many of these works are based on studies of insect collections that were created by a large number of other naturalists, especially Russians who had been to
Siberia. Most of his works are on
Coleoptera
Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...
, but some are on
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...
and
Hemiptera
Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...
. He also made collections of other arthropod groups including
myriapods sometimes describing species under the name of "Victor".
A selection of more important works revealing Motschulsky's scope:
*
*''Die Kaefer Russlands. I. Insecta Carabica''. Moscow: Gautier, vii + 91 pp. + 9 tables. (1850).
*
*''Études entomologiques''. 10 volumes (1852–1861).
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Motschulsky, V. I.. "Coléoptères de la Sibérie orientale et en particulier des rives de l'Amour". In: Schrenk’s ''Reisen und Forschungen im Amurlande'' 2: 77–257, 6 color plates, St. Petersburg (1861).
*
*Catalogue des insectes reçus du Japon. ''Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou'' 39 (1): 163–200 (1866).
Collection
Motschulsky's vast collection is divided between
Moscow State University, the
Zoological Museum of Saint Petersburg, the
Natural History Museum of Berlin and the
German Entomological Institute
The Senckenberg German Entomological Institute (german: Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, SDEI or DEI) is a German entomological research institute devoted to the study of insects. Founded in 1886, the institute has an extraordin ...
.
Sources
*
Essig, E.O., 1972. ''A History of Entomology''. Hafner Publishing Co., New York. 1,029 pp.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motschulsky, Victor Ivanovich
Coleopterists
Russian lepidopterists
Biologists from the Russian Empire
Scientists from Saint Petersburg
1810 births
1871 deaths