Vladimir Veniaminovich Popov

* 7.9.1902
† 3.11.1960

Vladimir Veniaminovich Popov

# Entom.;
Popov, Vladimir Veniaminovich [Benjamin] (1902-1960)

V. Popov was born on 7 (19) September 1902 in the Yfa province, in a forestry officer's family. He finished a common school, the Semipalatinsk [at present, in eastern Kazakhstan) gymnasium (secondary school) and the college preparatory courses of the Ural Institute for Mines (Ekaterinburg). In 1920-1924, young V. Popov worked as a researcher in the Division for Entomology of the Ural Provincial Museum in Ekaterinburg. In 1924, he was sent by the head of the Museum to the Institute of Applied Entomology and Phytopathology in Leningrad (this institute was closed in the later 1930s) for raising the level of his professional skill. After graduating this institute in 1927, V. Popov begun to work in the Zoological Museum (since 1930, Zoological Institute) of the Academy of Sciences of USSR: as a laboratory assistant; since 1930, a junior researcher; since 1940, a senior researcher; since 1945, the head of the Laboratory of Terrestrial Invertebrates (at present, Laboratory for Insect Taxonomy).
In 1938, V. Popov was conferred the degree of Candidate of Biological Sciences on the basis of his total scientific publications. In 1943, he defended the dissertation «Morphological Trends Related with Parasitism in Bees» for the degree of Doctor of Biological Sciences. In 1950, he was given the title of Professor of Zoology, in 1953, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. V. Popov took part or was the organiser of many expeditions, during which he caught a lot of bees and other hymenopterans: in Central Kazakhstan in 1928; southern Turkmenia in 1931; Armenia in 1932; north-eastern Kazakhstan in 1932; Tajikistan in 1934, 1943-1944 (stationary investigations, when the Zoological Institute was evacuated to Dushanbe because of the War II), 1946, and 1948; south-western Turkmenia in 1937, Uzbekistan in 1937, Uzbekistan and Kirghizia in 1938; north-western Kazakhstan in 1949; south-western China in 1955-1956. He died on 3 November 1960 from myocard infraction.
In total, V. Popov published 121 papers; most of them (109) deal with melittology. His earlier publications treat on the variability of Bombus and Psithyrus species (see 1923, 1924a, 1924b, 1927a, 1927b, 1930). This series was finished by a taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic fauna of Psithyrus (see 1931). Then, he had revised some genera, mostly of parasitic megachilids and anthophorids (see 1932a, 1933b, 1934a, 1935a, 1936f, 1937a, 1938, 1944a, 1951a, 1955b; Popov & Yasumatsu, 1935), and also Morgania (see 1933a), Ctenoplectra (see 1936a; Popov & Guiglia, 1936), Macropis (see Popov & Guiglia, 1936), Panurginus and Camptopoeum (see 1936b), Eremaphanta (see 1940a, 1957b), Andrena (subgenera Lepidandrena, Plastandrena, Parandrenella, Plastandrena and Trochandrena; see 1940b, 1949d, 1958b), Poecilomelitta and Meliturgula (see 1951d), Hoplitis (subgenera Tridentosmia and Liosmia, see 1952b, 1960b), Heriades (subgenus Eutrypetes, see 1955d), Morawitzella and Trilia (see 1957a), Dufourea and Halictoides (see 1959a), and Jaxartinula (1963).
As results of the examination of the materials caught in expeditions above, V. Popov published annotated lists of bees usually provided with descriptions of new species: from Kazakhstan (see 1934b, 1952d, 1954b), Tajikistan (see 1935b, 1949b, 1951c), Turkmenia (see 1936e, 1952a, 1960e), Middle Asia as whole (see 1962b, 1967a), and Iran (see 1967b).
Some of his papers are excellent essays on studied taxa including their morphology, geographic history, phylogenetic relations, ecology (landscape preferences and trophic links), and biology: Fideliidae (see 1939a), Osiris (see 1939b), Eremaphanta (see 1955a, 1957b), Oxaeidae (see 1941c), Xylocopa (see 1947b), Dianthidium (see 1947c), Habropoda (see 1948f), Pararhophitini (see 1949a), Amegilla (see 1950c), Clisodon (see 1951b), Anthocopa subg. Erythrosmia (see 1954a), Radoszkowskiana (see 1955b), Ctenoplectra (see 1956c), Halictoides [Dufourea] (see 1958a), Macropis and Epeoloides (see 1958c), Formicapis (see 1960d), Protosmia and Chelostomopsis (see 1961), Xylocopini (see Popov & Ponomareva, 1961), Hoplitis subg. Megalosmia (see 1962a), Trachusa and Trachusomimus (see 1964).
Of his other publications, the following ones are especially important: generic classification of Dioxynae (1947a), Anthidiinae (see 1950a), and Melectini (1955c), subgeneric classification of Prosopis [Hylaeus] (see 1939c), morphological trends related with parasitism and evolution of parasitism in bees (see 1945a, 1945b, 1948c, 1953b). Since 1945, V. Popov was a supervisor of many investigations in the USSR directed to the study of pollinators various agricultural plants, mostly lucerne; his interest in this topic resulted in some useful publications (see 1950d, 1951e, 1956a, 1956d, 1958e).
V. Popov described 2 new bee tribes (Pararhophitini and Ctenoplectrini), 13 genera (Allodioxys, Dioxoides, Eremaphanta, Eupavlovskia, Jaxartinula, Kumobia, Meganthidium, Mesanthidium, Metadioxys, Morawitzella, Notolonia, Parammobatodes, Pseudostelis, and Trachusomimus), 17 subgenera (in genera Amegilla, Ammobates, Andrena, Anthocopa, Dianthidium, Heriades, Macropis, Meganthidium, Prosopis [Hylaeus], and Psithyrus) and 102 species belonging to following genera: Ammobates (9 species), Andrena (15), Anthidium (1), Anthocopa (1), Anthophora (1), Camptopoeum (2), Chalicodoma (1), Coelioxys (7), Ctenoplectra (2), Dioxys (8), Dufourea (1), Epimethea (1), Eremaphanta (4), Habropoda (2), Halictoides [Dufourea] (4), Heriades (7), Hoplitis (2), Icteranthidium (1), Jaxartinula (1), Kumobia (2), Meliturgula (1), Morgania (1), Nomia (1), Notolonia (1), Osmia (2), Panurginus (1), Parammobatodes (1), Paranthidiellum (1), Poecilomelitta (3), Protosmia (1), Psithyrus (4), Schmiedeknechtia (1), Stelis (3), Systropha (1), Tarsalia (1), Trilia (2), and Xylocopa (4); also 20 new subspecies and 38 varieties (mostly of Psithyrus, on their taxonomic state see Pesenko, 2000c).

Published biographies and obituaries: [Anonym] (1961). - Beitr. Ent. (Berlin), 11: 3-4 [in German].
Bei-Bienko, G. Ya. & A. A. Stackelberg (1961). - Zashchita Rast. (Moscow), 1961 (3): 63 [in Russian].
Stackelberg, A. A. (1961). - Ent. Obozrenie (Leningrad), 40 (1): 235-239 [in Russian].
Jaczewski, T. (1962). - Polskie Pismo Ent. (Wróclaw), 31 (27): 411-412 [in Polish].
Iuga-Raica, V. (1963). - Anal. Romino-Sovietice, Sér. III-A. Biologie (Bucharest), 17 (1): 140-141 [in Romanian].
Stackelberg, A. A. (1967). - Trudy Zool. Inst. Akad. Nauk SSSR (Leningrad), 38: 3-5 [in Russian].
Tobias, V. I. (1967). - Trudy Zool. Inst. Akad. Nauk SSSR (Leningrad), 38: 6-10 [in Russian].
aus Denisia 11/2003

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