History of the Sector

The Sector (then Department) of Entomology was established in 1932 . Its first head was Boris Sergeevich Kuzin (1903-1975), who had been taking this position until 1935. B.S. Kuzin was a well-known evolutionary biologist who studied variability of insects. As a taxonomist, he specialized in beetles, especially in the blister beetles.

From 1936 the Sector was headed by an Anatoly Nikolaevich Zhelokhovtsev (1903-1976) until his death, a recognized expert in the curation of insect collections. For a short period during the Great Patriotic War, A.N. Zhelokhovtsev, who left for the front, was replaced by Nikolai Nikolaevich Plavilshchikov (1892-1962), a leading expert in the longhorn beetles (family Cerambycidae) and a well-known popularizer of biological science. In the pre-war period, A.N. Zhelokhovtsev established good working contacts with major Russian taxonomists who donated considerable materials on insects to the Sector and identified its collection specimens. A.N. Zhelokhovtsev studied the sawflies (family Tenthredinidae), and the collection of the Palearctic members of this hymenopteran group became the largest in the world.

Immediately before the 2d World War, an expert in wasps, G.A. Kostylev (1889-1942), worked in the Department. He died early due to poisoning received in his youth at the metallurgical production.

After the War, several talented young entomologists worked at the Museum for a short time (O.L. Kryzhanovsky, D.V. Panfilov, G.A. Viktorov, and others). They were replaced by L.V. Zimina (a specialist in a number of the dipteran families), S.I. Keleynikova and Z.F. Chuvakhina (both specialized in the beetles), who closely connected their professional activity with the Museum. Later, E.M. Antonova and R.A. Kamenskaya joined the Department.

After the death of A.N. Zhelokhovtsev, a new generation of young people appeared in the Department: A.I. Shatalkin (became the head of the Department/Sector), A.V. Sviridov, and later A.L. Ozerov, A.V. Antropov, G.Y. Lyubarsky, and N.B. Nikitsky. From 1976 to 1982, V.A. Alekseev (a specialist in parasitic wasps) and D.N. Fedorenko (a specialist in ground beetles) worked in the sector. 

In 1992, the Sector became headed by A.L. Ozerov. Since 1996, A.A. Gusakov (a specialist on scarabeid and some other beetles) began working as an assistant curator. Since the early 2000s, N.E. Vikhrev has been actively cooperating with the sector, which has organized a number of insect collection trips to the poorly studied areas in Russia and some other countries, and he curates collections of some dipteran families.

In 2020, a specialist on the weevil beetles and straight-winged insects V.Yu. Savitsky joined the Sector and became its Head in 2022.