Kapeliukh Ya., Prorochok N., Rizun V.
Catalogue of stag beetles (Coleoptera, Lucanidae) deposited in the Museum of Nature of the Nature Reserve “Medobory”, Hrymailiv, Ukraine // Catalogue of the digitized collections, deposited in the State Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Issue 5. Acarological, entomological & ornithological collections. – Lviv, 2025. – P.37-46.
DOI:
Key words: Coleoptera, Lucanidae, collection, State Museum of Natural History NASU
The Nature Reserve "Medobory" is located within the Chortkivskyi and partially Ternopilskyi districts of Ternopilska province (oblast). The reserve’s territory runs mainly along a narrow hilly Tovtry Ridge, which is an ancient barrier reef formed along the coastline of a shallow, warm Miocene sea. That sea stretched in a narrow strip for almost 200 km across the Podilska Upland from the Kremenetskyi Ridge and Voroniaky massif (south of Pidkamin) to the Dnister River near Kamianets-Podilskyi. The highest peak of the reserve is Bohyt Mt. (414 m a.s.l.). A significant part of the reserve territory (over 93%) is covered with oak-hornbeam, hornbeam-oak, oak-hornbeam-ash and oak-beech forests. Small but unique areas of steppe, rocky steppe and meadow-steppe vegetation with rare plant formations are also present. The Museum of Nature of the Nature Reserve "Medobory" was founded in 1998. Today the museum has about 540 exhibits. The stuffed animals presented in the Museum of Nature, have been made by employees of the research department of the reserve: Ya.I. Kapeliukh, A.I. Kapustynskyi and I.P. Dobryvoda. From the beginning, the organization of expositions adheres to the principle of forming a zoological collection of vertebrates from dead animals only, found in the reserve and its surroundings. The Museum is a multifunctional research and educational unit within the Medobory Nature Reserve. Its potential is used for implementation of natural education, educational and career guidance work among visitors. The museum's activities are provided by employees of the environmental and educational work sector and the research department of the reserve. In addition to the exhibits on display, the museum has a herbarium and an entomological collection. The entomological collection includes about 10 thousand insect specimens, collected mainly by Ya.I. Kapeliukh, and represents the entomofauna of the reserve and its surroundings. The history of entomological research in the territory of the Nature Reserve “Medobory” was described by Y.I. Kapeliukh (Капелюх, 2013), and rare species of the fauna, including insects, were listed in the article by the group of authors (Капелюх, Ходинь, Капустинський, Добривода, 2019). The family of stag beetles is represented in the collection by four species Dorcus parallelipipedus (Linaeus, 1785), Lucanus cervus (Linnaeus, 1758), Platycerus caraboides (Linneaus, 1758) and Sinodendron cylindricum (Linnaeus, 1758), which are stored in the entomological box No.79. Of these, two species (L. cervus (L.), S. cylindricum (L.)) were collected by Ya. I. Kapeliukh in the territory of the Kremenets Mountains National Nature Park (Maslyatyn Mt., 6 km SW of Kremenets), which was previously, until 2009, a branch of the Nature Reserve “Medobory”.
References
1. Капелюх Я.І. 2013. З історії ентомологічних досліджень на території
природного заповідника «Медобори». Наукові записки Державного
природознавчого музею. Львів. Вип. 29. С.61-66
2. Капелюх Я.І., Ходинь О.Б., Капустинський А.І., Добривода І.П. 2019.
Раритетні види фауни природного заповідника «Медобори». Наукові записки
Тернопільського національного педагогічного університету імені
Володимира Гнатюка. Серія Біологія. Вип. 3(77). С.18-31.
