Entomologists at Altai State University and Azerbaijan discovered a new species of carpenter-moths

24 August 2020 Department of Information and Media Communications
The authoritative German scientific journal "Zoology in the Middle East", indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, published the results of the research work of Professor of the Department of Ecology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology of the Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of Altai State University, Doctor of Biological Sciences Roman Yakovlev, together with a senior researcher of the Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Natalia Snegova.

This is the third work published by the entomologists of Altai State University in collaboration with colleagues from Azerbaijan. It was realized thanks to a business trip of biologists from the flagship university of Altai Krai - Professor R.V. Yakovlev and Doctor of Biological Sciences, Head of the Department of Zoology and Physiology of Altai State University, Professor A.V. Matsyura, to Baku in 2018.

The article of scientists of Altai State University and Azerbaijan is devoted to a new species of carpenter-moths - (Cossidae). This is a family of moths of the suborder of moths, which are agricultural pests. When studying samples of Cossidae stored in the collections of the Zoological Institute of St. Petersburg and the Institute of Zoology of Azerbaijan, researchers identified significant external differences of the new species from similar Palaearctic species of the genus Cossidae.

"Now we can apply for a joint grant with the Azerbaijani side, if Russia-Azerbaijan RFBR grants are announced. The presence of a good groundwork in the form of three articles on the fauna of the Transcaucasus is a good reason to prepare a joint project, ideas for which already exist. Our new article is devoted to the discovery of a new species from Central Azerbaijan, which we named after Rustam Effendi (1934–1991), a famous Soviet entomologist who devoted his work to the study of the entomofauna of Transcaucasia. As a result of his many years of research, 213 species of diurnal butterflies were found in Azerbaijan", Roman Yakovlev specified.

The new species of carpenter-moths predominantly inhabits the Aghdash region of central Azerbaijan, is distributed in the northeast of the Shirvan plain and in the south of the foothills of Ajinoura, on the banks of the Kura and Turianchay rivers, in the juniper forests of the Turianchay National Park. The period of departure of this species of insects is from June to August.

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