Nikolay Grigoryevich Erschoff, also Nikolaj Grigor'jevitsch Erschov, Erschow or Yershov (; 23 April 1837 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

– 12 March 1896 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 ...

) was a Russian

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 ...

mainly interested in

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 ...

. He received his secondary education in St. Petersburg, then, at the request of his father he remained a merchant, but attended lectures on zoology and chemistry at the Medico-Surgical Academy and worked at the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences . While still at the boarding school, under the guidance of

Édouard Ménétries Édouard Ménétries (Paris, France, 2 October 1802 – St. Petersburg, Russian Empire, 10 April 1861) was a French entomologist, zoologist, and herpetologist. He is best known as the founder of the Russian Entomological Society. Ménétries w ...

, he studied mainly Russian Lepidoptera . Erschff assembled one of the best collections of butterflies, most of which he brought as a gift to the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences and is currently stored at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. Ershov took an active part in the affairs of the

Russian Entomological Society The Russian Entomological Society is a Russian scientific society devoted to entomology. The Society was founded in 1859 in St. Petersburg by Karl Ernst von Baer, Johann Friedrich von Brandt who was then the director of the Zoological Museum of ...

Selected works

*1868. Für die St.-Petersburger Fauna neue Schmetterlinge. ''Тр. Рус. энтомол. о-ва'', т. 5, с. 97–99. *1872. Diagnoses de quelques especes nouvelles de Lépidoptères appartenant a la faune de la Russie Asiatique. ''Horae Societatis Entomologicae Rossicae''. 8: 315–318. *as Erschow, N.G. 1874. Lepidopteren von Turkestan. ''Stettiner Entomologische Zeitung'', 35: 386–417. *1877. Diagnosen neuer Lepidopteren aus den verschiedenen Provinzen des Russischen Reiches. ''Horae Societatis Entomologicae Rossicae'' 12: 336–348. *1885. Verzeichniss von Schmetterlingen aus Central Sibirien. ''Mémoires sur les Lépidoptères'', 2: 208–211. *1892. Verzeichniss von Schmetterlingen aus Central Sibirien. ''Mémoires sur les Lépidoptères'', VI: 670–672, pl. XVI.

Collection

Erschoff's insect collection is in the Zoological Collection of the Russian Academy of Science.

References

Lepidopterists from the Russian Empire 1837 births 1896 deaths Biologists from the Russian Empire 19th-century scientists from the Russian Empire Scientists from Moscow {{entomologist-stub