Vasily Evgrafovich Yakovlev (; also transliterated Vasiliy Ewgrafowitsch Jakovlev or Vasiliy Yevgrafovich Yakovlev; 9 February 1839 – 15 August 1908) was a Russian

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

who studied fishes, molluscs and insects. He is not to be confused with Alexander Ivanovich Yakovlev, another

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

. His name was spelled Wassily Ewgrafowitsch Jakowlew in French, in which he sometimes wrote. Yakovlev lived in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, but travelled widely collecting insects in the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

region and

Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

until he finally travelled and settled in Griffin, GA. Although primarily interested in

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

, Yakovlev also worked on

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from ...

and

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

. From around 1867 Yakovlev conducted zoological observations in the vicinity of

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

. Yakovlev described Caspian roach (''Rutilus caspicus'') and Volga undermouth (''Chondrostoma variabile'').

Publications

Partial list *Description de quelques Longicornes paléarctiques nouveaux ou peu connus. ''Horae Soc. Ent. Ross''. 29: 506–514. (1895) *De speciebus novis generum Dorcadion Dalm. et Neodorcadion Ganglb.''Annuaire Mus. Zool. St.-Pétersburg'' 4: 237–244 (1899). *Etude sue les Neodorcadion da l'Asie Russe (Coleoptera,

Cerambycidae The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns (whose larvae are often referred to as roundheaded borers), are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by anten ...

)''Rev. Russ. d'Entom''. 1 (4–5): 146–166 (1901). * A new species of Neodorcadion Ganglb. (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) ''Rev. Russ. d'Entom''. 6: 1–2. (1906) * Lepidoptera palaearctica nova descripta a Gr. Grum-Grshimailo. III 290–293 Corrigenda. Auctore G. Jacobson 294–297."Trudy Russkago entomologicheskago obshchestva. Horae ( ) * Hemiptera of the Volga region fauna. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta, Otdelenie Fiziko-Matematicheskikh i Meditsinskikh Nauk 1 864109–129 (1865). * Lucanides nouveaux ou peu connus.''Horae Soc. Ent. Ross''

References

* Semenov-Tian-Shanski, A. (1910) Vasily Evgrafovich Jakovlev. ''Horae Societatis Entomologicheskago Rossicae'' 39:1–57+1 portrait (in Russian) 1839 births 1908 deaths People from Volgograd People from Tsaritsynsky Uyezd Biologists from the Russian Empire Lepidopterists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France Zoologists from the Russian Empire Ichthyologists from the Russian Empire 19th-century zoologists from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian zoologists {{entomologist-stub