Alexandr Rasnitsyn

Alexandr Pavlovich Rasnitsyn is a Russian entomologist, expert in palaeoentomology, and Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation. His scientific interests are centered on the palaeontology, phylogeny, and taxonomy of hymenopteran insects and insects in general. He has also studied broader biological problems such as evolutionary theory, the principles of phylogenetics, taxonomy, nomenclature, and palaeoecology. He has published over 300 articles and books in several languages. In August 2008 he was awarded the Distinguished Research Medal of the International Society of Hymenopterists.

Biography

Alexandr Rasnitsyn was born on 24 September 1936 in Moscow. As a schoolboy Alex was active in the Society of Young Biologists at the Moscow Zoo. In 1955 he became a student at the Biological Faculty of the Moscow State University and in 1960 he graduated with honors from the Department of Entomology. His Master thesis was "Hibernation in the ichneumon-fly subfamily Ichneumoninae". The same year Rasnitsyn joined the Laboratory of Arthropods at the Paleontological institute, Academy of Sciences of USSR. In 1967 he received his Ph.D. in biology from the Paleontological Institute with the thesis "The Mesozoic Hymenoptera Symphyta and the early evolution of Xyelidae". After defending in 1978 his Dr. hab. (doktor nauk) thesis "The origin and evolution of Hymenoptera" Rasnitsyn became Head of the Laboratory of Arthropods. In 1991 he received the title of a Biology Professor. In 1996 he resigned from heading the Laboratory and continued there as a principal research worker, but after the new leader, Vladimir Zherikhin, died in 2001 Rasnitsyn again became the acting Head of the Laboratory (2002—present).

Between 2001 and 2005 Rasnitsyn served as President of the International Palaeoentomological Society. Since 2007 he is serving on the Council of the Russian Entomological Society. new genera and over 800 new species of fossil insects from various orders. Suborder †Aneuretopsychina Rasnitsyn et Kozlov, 1990 – a suborder of Mecoptera with the family Aneuretopsychidae Rasnitsyn et Kozlov, 1990 Superfamily †Karatavitoidea Rasnitsyn, 1963 – a Mesozoic superfamily of the infraorder Orussomorpha Newman, 1834 with the family Karatavitidae Rasnitsyn, 1963 Superfamily †Bethylonymoidea Rasnitsyn, 1975 – a Mesozoic superfamily of Hymenoptera Apocrita with the family Bethylonymidae Rasnitsyn, 1975. The ancestor group of Aculeata. Family †Parapamphiliidae Rasnitsyn, 1968 – later was included into Sepulcidae Rasnitsyn, 1968 as the subfamily Parapamphiliinae Rasnitsyn, 1968 Family †Xyelydidae Rasnitsyn, 1968 – a Mesozoic family of Hymenoptera Symphyta from the superfamily Pamphilioidea Family †Maimetshidae Rasnitsyn, 1975 – a Cretaceous family of Hymenoptera Apocrita from the superfamily Ceraphronoidea Family †Anomopterellidae Rasnitsyn, 1975 – a Mesozoic family of Hymenoptera Apocrita from the superfamily Evanioidea Family †Ichneumonomimidae Rasnitsyn, 1975 – a Mesozoic family of Hymenoptera Apocrita. Systematic position uncertain, probably a relative of Ichneumonoidea Family †Permonkidae Rasnitsyn, 1977 – a family of Miomoptera Family †Electrotomidae Rasnitsyn, 1977 – a family of Tenthredinoidea from Baltic amber Family †Praeichneumonidae Rasnitsyn, 1983 – a Lower Cretaceous family of the superfamily Ichneumonoidea Family †Strashilidae Rasnitsyn, 1992 – a family of Mecopteroidea. Hypothetical ancestors of Anoplura Family †Saurodectidae Rasnitsyn et Zherikhin, 2000 – a Mesozoic family of Mallophaga Family †Andreneliidae Rasnitsyn et Martinez-Delclos, 2000 – a family of Hymenoptera Apocrita of the superfamily Evanioidea Family †Tshekarcephalidae Novokshonov et Rasnitsyn, 2000 – a Paleozoic family of uncertain systematic position Family †Daohugoidae Rasnitsyn et Zhang, 2004 – a family of Hymenoptera Symphyta of the superfamily Siricoidea Family †Khutelchalcididae Rasnitsyn, Basibuyuk et Quicke, 2004 – a family of Chalcidoidea Family †Radiophronidae Ortega-Blanco, Rasnitsyn et Delclos, 2010 – a Mesozoic family of Ceraphronoidea Subfamily †Archexyelinae Rsan., 1964 – a subfamily of Xyelidae Newman, 1834 Subfamily †Dolichostigmatinae Rasnitsyn, 1968 – a subfamily of Anaxyelidae Martynov., 1925 Subfamily †Cleistogastrinae Rasnitsyn, 1975 – a subfamily of Megalyridae Schletterer, 1889 Subfamily †Ghilarellinae Rasnitsyn, 1986 – a subfamily of Sepulcidae Rasnitsyn, 1968 Subfamily †Trematothoracinae Rasnitsyn, 1986 – a subfamily of Sepulcidae Rasnitsyn, 1968 Subfamily †Archaeoscoliinae Rasnitsyn, 1993 – a subfamily of Scoliidae Subfamily †Karataoserphinae Rasnitsyn, 1994 – a subfamily of Mesoserphidae Kozlov, 1970 Subfamily †Iscopininae Rasnitsyn, 1980 – a subfamily of Pelecinidae Haliday, 1840. Tribe †Angaridyelini Rasnitsyn, 1966 – a tribe of the subfamily Macroxyelinae Ashmead, 1898 of the family Xyelidae Tribe †Cretodinapsini Rasnitsyn, 1977 – a tribe of the subfamily Megalyrinae of the family Megalyridae as well as some taxa of higher rank:

Rasnicynipidae Kovalev, 1996 (a replacement name for Rasnitsyniidae Kovalev, 1994)— a fossil family of Cynipoidea with the genus Rasnicynips Kovalev, 1996 (a replacement name for Rasnitsynia Kovalev 1994) Alexarasniidae Gorochov, 2011 — a fossil family of Polyneoptera with the genus Alexarasnia Gorochov, 2011 Alexrasnitsyniidae Prokop & Nel, 2011 — a family of the Paleozoic order Diaphanopterodea with the genus Alexrasnitsynia Prokop & Nel, 2011 Plumalexiidae Brothers, 2011 — a fossil family of Hymenoptera with the species Plumalexius rasnitsyni Brothers, 2011 Rasnitsynaphididae Homan & Wegierek, 2011 — a fossil family of Aphidoidea with the species Rasnitsynaphis Homan & Wegierek, 2011 Rasnitsynitini Kasparyan, 1994 — a tribe of the fossil subfamily Townesitinae of the family Ichneumonidae with the genus Rasnitsynites Kasparyan, 1994 Rasnitsynella Krivolutzkii, 1976 — a fossil genus of Acarina Rasnitsynia Pagliano et Scaramozzino 1989 (a replacement name for Oligoneuroides Zhang 1985) — a fossil genus of Braconidae Rasnitsynitilla Lelej, 2006 — a genus of Mutillidae Alicodoxa rasnitsyni Emeljanov et Shcherbakov, 2011 — fossil genus and species of Fulgoroidea of the family Dictyopharidae Palerasnitsynus Wichard, Ross et Ross, 2011 — a fossil genus of Trichoptera of the family Psychomyiidae Rasnitsynala Zessin, Brauckmann et Groening, 2011 — a genus of Odonata from the family Erasipteridae

Publications A.P. Rasnitsyn is an author of more than 300 books and articles, including 17 monographs.

Major works Rasnitsyn AP (1969) Origin and evolution of lower Hymenoptera. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta Akademii Nauk SSSR 123: 1–196 [In Russian, with English translation by Amerind Co., New Delhi, 1979]. Rasnitsyn AP (1975) Hymenoptera Apocrita of the Mesozoic. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta Akademii Nauk SSSR 147: 1–134 [In Russian]. Rasnitsyn AP (1980) Origin and evolution of Hymenoptera. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta Akademii Nauk SSSR 174: 1–192 [In Russian]. Rohdendorf BB, Rasnitsyn AP, editors (1980) Historical development of the class Insecta. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta Akademii Nauk SSSR 175: 1–269, +8 pls. [In Russian]. Rasnitsyn AP, Quicke DLJ, editors (2002) History of Insects. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, xii+517 pp. . Rasnitsyn AP (2005) Selected Works on Evolutionary Biology. KMK Scientific Press, Moscow, Russia, iv+347 pp [In Russian] [Collection of earlier papers, except for: “Dynamics of taxonomic diversity: An afterword of 2004”, pp. 247–248]. Zherikhin VV, Ponomarenko AG, Rasnitsyn AP (2008) Introduction to Palaeoentomology. KMK Scientific Press, Moscow, 371 pp. [In Russian].