Vesti Altai: AltSU’s young scientist built an impressive collection of bugs

26 April 2021 Department of Information and Media Communication
News program Vesti Altai showed a video about a young scientist from the Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of the flagship Altai State University, who built an impressive collection of bugs. The biologist is looking for new species of insects.

Artyom Tarasov, student journalist of the flagship Altai State University:

These scientists have several golden rules: use closed clothing that is tight to the body, do not wear gloves and do not get in the eye with tweezers. This is the joke of biology students studying bedbugs.

With the arrival of heat, insects wake up, including bugs familiar to everyone in student dormitories. In Barnaul, a young scientist Valentin Rudoy is engaged in these research. Although, he specializes not in bedbugs that live in homes, but in those that live in nature.

Valentin Rudoy, Master's student at the Institute of Biology and Biotechnology of the flagship Altai State University:

We find bugs in nature during the expedition in different ways and methods. The most effective and good method is the method of mowing with juicy vegetation. Some species fly into the light at night, when we catch nocturnal butterfly forms. There have been such cases when they arrived. Pitfall traps are also used.

Valentine collects bugs during summer expeditions. He does this mainly during the day time - it is then that insects like to bask in the sun. In search of bugs, he has already managed to visit the most inaccessible corners of southern Mongolia and Kazakhstan and build an impressive collection of exhibits. Valentine has 29 new types of bugs for various territories. Species differences are identified by external morphological characteristics. In unclear situations, the genitals are taken from the bug, which are thus a unique feature of the species.

Valentin has not yet found species which are unknown for science, only new ones for a territory. Although, he admits that he is now working on an interesting one.

The study of the biodiversity of our planet is part of the so-called basic research, which is sometimes called useless for innovation. But our hero reminds us: for example, it was the structure of the dragonfly that formed the basis for the development of quadcopter technology.

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