Insect Taxonomy Research Group

		Head of Research Aleksey Yu. Solodovnikov CSc.(Candidate of Biological Sciences), Docent, Curator of Entomology at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, Head of the "Solodovnikov Lab" E-mail: asolodovnikov@snm.ku.dk

About the Research Group

The research group was created in 2020, with the future prospects of becoming a joint “mirror” lab of the Natural History Museum of Denmark (University of Copenhagen).


Main Research Areas

The group researches rove beetles (Staphylinidae) – the largest family of coleoptera insects – by combining new technologies, mainly in the field of phylogenetics, with classical taxonomic methods. Their work is based on studying specimens from all across the world.

At the same time, the group is focused on the systematic study of Russia’s entomofauna. In particular, they are interested in answering some of the more general questions about the evolution, the fauno- and clado- genesis, as well as the origins and the biogeographic connections of North Eurasia’s biomes.  

An additional focus of the group is on investigating the possibilities of using predatory beetles as agents of biological pest control in agriculture.

Services provided: identification of rove beetles and insect pests in agriculture and forestry.

Research Team

Research associate (Postdoc)
Igor A. Orlov, PhD (Biosystematics)
E-mail: i.a.orlov@utmn.ru 


Research associate (Postdoc)
Maria A. Salnitskaya, CSc. (Candidate of Biological Sciences in Zoology), St. Petersburg State University



Affiliated Research Group Members

• Sergey V. Kravchenko, PhD student (Entomology), X-BIO Institute, Tyumen State University

Research Projects

• Russian Science Foundation (RNF), project No. 20-14-00097 (2020-2022): Insects of Russia through the prism of digital visualization of collections. PI: A. Yu. Solodovnikov, CSc. Grant receiving organization: Zoological Institute (Russian Academy of Sciences [RAS]), St. Petersburg.

• RNF, project No. 20-74-00130 (2020-2022): Introduction of rove beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) – the largest family of arthropods – as an effective model group for monitoring the soils of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of Russia. PI: M. A. Salnitskaya, CSc.

• Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science (2020/2021): S. V. Kravchenko’s internship at the University of Copenhagen.

Selected Publications

• Orlov I., Solodovnikov A., Leschen R.A.B. 2019. Systematics and biogeography of the subantarctic Leptusa (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Homalotini) // Systematics and Biodiversity. 17(1). 60-79.

• Salnitska M.A., Solodovnikov A. 2019. Rove beetles of the genus Quedius (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) of Russia: a key to species and annotated catalogue // ZooKeys. 847. 1-100. 

• Shaw J.J., Orlov I., Solodovnikov A. 2020. A new genus and species of Staphylininae rove beetle from the Peruvian Amazon (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) // ZooKeys. 904. 103-115.

Scientific Collaborations

• Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science (RAS), St. Petersburg
• A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, RAS, Moscow
• Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
• Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids, and Nematodes, Ottawa, Canada
• Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
• Baltic Journal of Coleopterology, Daugavpils University, Latvia

Photo

Illustration for an article in the European Journal of Entomology.