Victor Motschulsky

Motschulsky was an Imperial Army colonel who undertook extended trips abroad. He studied and described many new beetles from Siberia, Alaska, the United States, Europe, and Asia. While he tended to ignore previous work and his own work on classification was of poor quality, Motschulsky made a massive contribution to entomology, exploring hitherto unworked regions, often in very difficult terrain. He described many new genera and species, a high proportion of which remain valid.

Travels

Motschulsky's travels included:

• 1836 - France, Switzerland and the Alps, northern Italy and Austria
• 1839–1840 - Russian Caucasus, Astrakhan, Kazan and Siberia
• 1847 - Khirgizia
• 1850–1851 - Germany, Austria, Egypt, India, France, England, Belgium and Dalmatia
• 1853 - United States of America, Panama, returning to St. Petersburg via Hamburg, Kiel and Copenhagen
• 1853 - Germany, Switzerland and Austria