On the anniversary date from the scientific heritage of professor N.G. Skopin

Abstract

50 years have passed since the publication of the work of Nikolay Georgievich Skopin, Professor of the Department of Zoology, Karaganda State University “Darkling beetles (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae). Questions of comparative morphology and system. A review of the fauna of Kazakhstan”. This is a sufficient period of time to understand, overestimate or forget the scientific works of the scientist. In this article, we have made a modest attempt to highlight the scientific heritage of our senior mentor and scientist, the teacher of our teachers. The first rector of the Karaganda State University, Evney Buketov, highly appreciated the entomological research of N.G. Skopin and initiated the preparation of the mentioned final work. Skopin’s research focused on the systematics of a very complex group, and as a tenebrionidologist, he was both talented and authoritative in his field. His name is forever associated with the history of the study and classification of darkling beetles. The effectiveness of his system of identification by larval characteristics and male genitalia has been demonstrated in the distinction between separate genera and species. N.G. Skopin described 32 superspecies taxa and even more species. It is important to note that a number of these taxa while remaining valid, retain the surname Skopin in their nomenclature. Foreign specialists turned to him for his expert opinion on the identification of Tenebrionidae species and other coleopterological material. The world’s most prominent entomological museums boast a plethora of specimens amassed and identified by Skopin.