Beetles or Coleoptera (scientific Latin name) are the order
including the largest number of species not only in the class of
insects (Insecta), but also in the entire animal kingdom
(Animalia). Not less than a quarter of all animal species on
our planet are beetles. Beetles occur in every part of the
world and in nearly every type of habitat. Beetles are studied
by a special area of zoology - coleopterology. Studies of
beetles have been conducted at the Zoological Institute of the
Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), St.Petersburg, since its
foundation. The well-known coleopterists E. Menetries,
A.P. Semenov-Tian-Shansky, G.G. Jacobson,
A.N. Reichardt, M.E. Ter-Minasian,
O.L. Kryzhanovsky and many others worked at the Zoological
Institute. The Coleoptera Department at the Laboratory of
Insect Taxonomy of the Zoological Institute is the centre of
Coleoptera studies in Russia. The Head of the Department and
the Laboratory is the eminent coleopterist Prof.
G.S. Medvedev. Coleopterists of the Zoological Institute
in co-operation with their colleagues from other research
institutions decided to establish and maintain in the Internet a
special Web-site on Coleoptera and coleopterists, which should
be of interest to specialists and to those who have only started
to take interest in beetles, or have just come across our pages.
Welcome to the world of beetles and specialists studying them!
