Research interests
Taxonomic inventory of ecologically specialized, plant-mining Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera: Nepticuloidea), with updated ecological and morphological characteristics of the family.
The aim of our studies is the taxonomic inventory of plant tissue-mining pygmy moths (Nepticulidae) and the updated ecological and morphological characteristics of the family. To achieve this goal, the following tasks are set: 1) perform an assessment of the significance (value) of publications on the topic of the dissertation as published products of biodiversity and present the results of the analysis of the taxonomic inventory of Nepticulidae and taxa related to this family (Opostegidae and Tischeriidae) in the scope of the global fauna; 2) after preparing an overview of the traces of larval activity (leaf mines) of Nepticulidae occurring in Lithuania, to present conclusions and recommendations regarding the use of the traces of larval activity of Nepticulidae in the diagnostics of species; 3) after revealing new host plants of Nepticulidae and after performing the analysis of the trophic relationships of the family, supplement the ecological characteristics of Nepticulidae with new data on trophic specialization; 4) based on the ecological and morphological studies of Nepticulidae collected in the Transcaucasia (Armenia), as well as some material received from the Neotropics (Argentina and Colombia), to document, describe and publish new species of Nepticulidae and supplement the morphological characteristics of the family.
Annotation of the dissertation
The aim of the thesis is the taxonomic inventory of plant tissue-mining pygmy moths (Nepticulidae) and the updated ecological and morphological characteristics of the family. To achieve this goal, the following tasks are set: 1) perform an assessment of the significance (value) of publications on the topic of the dissertation as published products of biodiversity and present the results of the analysis of the taxonomic inventory of Nepticulidae and taxa related to this family (Opostegidae and Tischeriidae) in the scope of the global fauna; 2) after preparing an overview of the traces of larval activity (leaf mines) of Nepticulidae occurring in Lithuania, to present conclusions and recommendations regarding the use of the traces of larval activity of Nepticulidae in the diagnostics of species; 3) after revealing new host plants of Nepticulidae and after performing the analysis of the trophic relationships of the family, supplement the ecological characteristics of Nepticulidae with new data on trophic specialization; 4) based on the ecological and morphological studies of Nepticulidae collected in the Transcaucasia (Armenia), as well as some material received from the Neotropics (Argentina and Colombia), to document, describe and publish new species of Nepticulidae and supplement the morphological characteristics of the family.
Scientific articles published in journals (books), listed in “Clarivate Analytics Web of Science Master List” database (without a citation index):
- Dobrynina, V., Baryshnikova, S., Budrys, E., Rimšaitė, J., Bidzilya, O. (2021) Taxonomic papers as published products of the biodiversity inventory: if not the Impact Factor (IF) or Quartiles (Q), then what determines their importance estimated on the basis of the Research Interest Score? Biologija, 67 (2): 93–113.
- Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Dobrynina, V. (2022) What are the most typical leaf mines of Nepticulidae? Identified diagnostic characters and their detection frequency. Biologija, (1): 1–13.
- Diškus, A., Dobrynina, V. (2022) Trophic relationships and mining seasons of the Nepticulidae of Lithuania: an updated survey. Biologija, 68 (2): 91–100.
- Dobrynina, V. (2022) Do some characters of leaf mines of Nepticulidae depend on anything else than the species characteristics itself? Biologija, 68 (2): 101–109.
Other recent peer reviewed scientific publications (books, books’ chapters, collections of articles, articles, textbooks, etc.):
- Stonis, J.R., Diškus, A., Dobrynina, V., Remeikis, A., Buchner, P. (2022) Vadovas Lietuvos mažųjų gaubtagalvių minoms pažinti (su nuoroda į elektroninę minų diagnostinę priemonę). Vilnius, Gamtos tyrimų centras, 122 p.
- Stonis, J.R., Dobrynina, V. (2022) History of the investigation of the Lithuanian Nepticulidae. Diagnostics of mines of the Lithuanian Nepticulidae. An identification tool. Available at https://leafmines.info/ (08-12-2022).
- Stonis, J. R., Diškus, A., Dobrynina, V., Remeikis, A., Buchner, P. (2022) Vadovas Lietuvos mažųjų gaubtagalvių minoms pažinti (su nuoroda į elektroninę minų diagnostinę priemonę) Gamtos tyrimų centras, Vilnius, 122 pp. https://doi.org/10.35513/2022.Nepticulidae
- Navickaitė, A., Diškus, A., Stonis, J. R., Dobrynina, V. (2011) Taxonomic catalogue of the world Nepticuloidea and Tischerioidea (Lepidoptera) described by members of the Biosystematics Research Group (Lithuania) up to 2009. Acta Zoologica Lituanica, 21 (2): 113–132.
- 2022-07. Scientific research expedition to Armenia (in collaboration with the Academy of Sciences of Armenia).
- 2022-07. Scientific internship at the Centre of Zoological and Hidro-Ecological Research of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Yerevan.
- 2021-06/07. Scientific internship at the Institute for Evolutionary Ecology of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences (Kyiv, Ukraine).
International scientific conferences:
- Dobrynina V. 2022. Dynamics of global biodiversity inventory: species descriptions of three model, plant-mining lepidopteran families. The COINS 2022 (Vilnius, 2022-02-28 – 2022-03-03).