Nicholas Sergeevich Obraztsov (1906–1966) was a Russian-American scholar,

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 ...

, and leading specialist of the tortricoid

microlepidoptera Microlepidoptera (micromoths) is an artificial (i.e., unranked and not monophyletic) grouping of moth families, commonly known as the "smaller moths" ( micro, Lepidoptera). These generally have wingspans of under 20 mm, so are harder to iden ...

Early life and career

Obraztsov was born on 18 August 1906 in Rostov on the Don, Russia, to Dr. Sergei Nikolaevich Obraztsov and his wife, Ludmila Nikolaevna Obraztsova. From 1922 to 1934, he studied natural history, science, chemistry, and mathematics at the Institute for Pedagogy in Nikolaev. He furthermore obtained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

form the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

in 1951. After various positions in Kiev, Konigsberg and Munich he emigrated to the US in 1951 where he became a

research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Bachelor's degree such as a master's degree or a PhD. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical Scho ...

of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

in New York City and of the

United States National Museum The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

in Washington, D.C.

Research

The subjects of his research were revisions of the family Ctenuchidae of the world and of the family

Tortricidae The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the genu ...

, first of the

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

, later of the

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

and

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

regions. By systematically indexing the lepidopterological literature Obraztsov created a catalog with more than 30,000 entries and became the recognized leading specialist in his field. The most significant results of his taxonomy were published in the journal ''Tijdschrift voor Entomologie'' in 1955. In addition, Obraztsov published more than 130 other scientific works from 1926 to 1966. Numerous species of Tortricidae were first systematically categorized by Obraztsov, including '' Argyrotaenia urbana'', '' Cochylidia contumescens'', '' Choristoneura lambertiana'', and '' Cochylidia oblonga''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obraztsov, Nicholas Sergeevich 1906 births 1966 deaths Soviet emigrants to the United States American lepidopterists Russian lepidopterists Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni People associated with the American Museum of Natural History 20th-century Ukrainian zoologists 20th-century American zoologists