Scientists from Altai State University explore hot spots of the biodiversity of the planet

8 June 2021 Department of Information and Media Communications
The authoritative Montenegrin ecological journal Ecologica Montenegrina, specializing in the publication of the results of the study of global biodiversity, presented the joint research work of entomologists from Altai State University and Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University.

Professor of the Department of Ecology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology of the Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of Altai State University Roman Yakovlev together with Professor of the Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University Vadim Zolotukhin published an article with the results of studies of one of the hot spots of biodiversity - the Western Ghats (Southwest India) and Sri Lanka, within which two new genera of butterflies from the tropical family Metarbelidae were described.

The material for research was obtained as a result of processing the collections of the British Museum of Natural History (London) and natural science museums in Germany.

“A number of insect groups, including pests of fruit trees - metarbelids, remain very poorly studied. With my colleague from Ulyanovsk, Professor Vadim Zolotukhin, who died suddenly on June 3 of this year, we prepared a series of manuscripts dedicated to the complete revision of this group in South Asia (Hindustan, Himalayas, Indochina, Malacca, Big and Small Sunda Islands). The second part of the detailed revision was published on May 27. There, we gave descriptions of two new genera of these secretive insects from India and Sri Lanka. The remaining 6 parts of the revision will be published in the next 2-3 years. It is interesting that the material for this kind of work is often samples collected by our colleagues in the distant past. For example, for this article we used specimens caught in Ceylon in 1907 and 1913."

Biodiversity hot spots are 36 regions of the world with the richest flora and fauna which have been significantly affected by human activities. The study of the nature of these regions is the most urgent task of modern zoologists and botanists.

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