Zoological Museum of Odessa National University after I. I. Mechnikov
Displays of Zoological Museum of Odessa National I. I. Mechnikov University. Photo from website
The zoological museum of Odessa National I. I. Mechnikov University was founded at the beginning of the 19th century and is one of the oldest museums in Ukraine. Scientific collections hold more than 50,000 specimens, containing unique material from the 19th century including an entomological collection by Prof. E.E. Ballion, an anthropological collection by I. I. Mechnikov and a craniological collection of mammals collected in the Northwestern part of the Black Sea region. Amongst the unique exhibits is the fully mounted skeleton of a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) measuring 27 meters.
Within the entomological collection of the Zoological museum of Odessa National I. I. Mechnikov University there are dragonflies from various parts of the Ukraine (Odessa, Kherson, Zakarpats’ka provinces and Crimea), Moldova, Suez Canal and Gulf of Aden. All material is dried and held on entomological pins.
In the odonatological collection from the middle of the 20th century by I. V. Maltsev and S. Ya. Blinstein, new data on dragonflies from southwestern Ukraine were obtained. The most interesting records of species which are rare in the regional fauna were: Brachytron pratense (Muller, 1764), Libellula quadrimaculata Linnaeus, 1758, Anax ephippiger (Burmeister, 1839) and Lestes macrostigma (Eversmann, 1836). These species were recorded from several sites from which data are limited. This information has enlarged our knowledge on the distribution of Odonata in the area of study.
