Nikita Kluge

Area of Taxonomic Interest: Ephemeroptera, Insecta

Country: Russia

Homepage: http://insecta.bio.spbu.ru

Elected: December 2021

Summary of Research & Education:

Nikita Kluge graduated from Leningrad (now S.-Petersburg) State University, Biological Faculty, Department of Entomology in 1981. In 1987, he obtained his Ph.D. in the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2002 he obtained his Sc.D. in S.-Petersburg University defending doctorate theses “Revision of supraspecific taxa of mayflies — Ephemeroptera (First experience of applying new principles of rank-free systematics)”. Since 2002, he has been appointed as a professor with the Department of Entomology of the S.-Petersburg university.

His research is focused on three closely related subjects: (1) principles of zoological nomenclature; (2) general system of insects; and (3) systematics of Ephemeroptera. He has done taxonomic and nomenclatural revisions of more than 400 mayfly species, most of which were new or little known. His work on the general system of insects and the systematics of mayflies leads him to elaborate on the Dual Nomenclatural System, which allows for distinct names for all zoological taxa of any taxonomic levels, independent of the number of these levels and independent of acceptance or non‐acceptance of formal taxonomic ranks. In contrast to some other recent proposals, this nomenclatural system allows for the usage of all zoological names in strict agreement with the current International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. The new approach to the zoological nomenclature allowed him to compile the first (and still the only) catalogue of non‐typified zoological names restricted by names of taxa within Arthropoda and higher than Arthropoda, “Nomina circumscribentia insectorum” (http://insecta.bio.spbu.ru/z/nom/index.htm) ; the same approach is used by him in the taxonomic catalogue “Ephemeroptera of the World” (http://insecta.bio.spbu.ru/z/Eph-spp/index.htm) which allows to input all data from literature sources as equal ones, without preliminary sorting their classifications as “correct” and “incorrect” ones. The Dual Nomenclatural System is tightly connected with the method of phylogeny reconstructing which Nikita have termed “cladoendesis”. Besides examination of morphology and metamorphosis of Ephemeroptera, Nikita investigates such features of morphology and metamorphosis of various other insects, which help to reconstruct insect phylogeny using the cladoendsis.

Contact Details:

Dr. N.J. Kluge
Department of Entomology,
Saint-Petersburg State University,

Universitetskaya nab., 7/9, Saint Petersburg, 199034, Russia.

E-mail: n.kluge (at) spbu (dot) ru