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The new cases that indicate the repeated entry of alien species, including invertebrates (molluscs, insects and other arthropods), to the Transcarpathian region (i.e. Zakarpattia Oblast) of Ukraine are considered. One of the main reasons of appearance of species in new territories is anthropochory — the transfer of specimen by human factors: road, air, water, or rail transport. This plays a significant role in the spread of living organisms to new territories. Usually the term is used for the transfer plants, but in this work and in a previous work of one of the authors, we focus on animal organisms, mainly invertebrates – insects and other arthropods, as well as molluscs. Most often, it happens unforeseen, but cases of intentional transportation of animals with their subsequent planned release into the environment are known too. Alien species of plants and animals entered Ukraine repeatedly through Transcarpathia. Unintentional spread of new species of animals through the territory due to the transportation of various foods and other kinds of goods, raw materials, including wood, and agricultural products. The paper presents not only the primary records of gastropods, arachnids, insects and other invertebrates, as well as some vertebrates found in trailers, etc., but also the findings of animals that have already been able to form self-reproducing populations in the region. In general, the authors had the opportunity to regularly inspect trailers during 2003–2007 and 2010–2017, working with imported raw materials (route from Italy via Slovenia and Hungary). Specimens were found on worn or old pallets with traces of moisture and soil, as well as traces of invertebrates that feed or live in wood and wood-destroying fungi. Dead insects were found in the cracks and between the boards (bedbugs, butterflies, beetles, orthopterans, and arachnids). There were also finds of live animals, which sometimes we managed to catch and photograph. The most important of them are presented by the authors in this publication.

The paper presents an analytical review of focal animal species as those that are important in sharing natural history knowledge and in the development of environmental initiatives. A detailed analysis of the history and experience of using such animals in the practice of education and museology in the world and in Ukraine is presented. Among the most famous areas of the topic are as follows: 1) attention to wild animals versus attention to domestic ones, 2) formation of a pool of zoo-mascots for different activities and increase the ranking of such species or groups of species, 3) development of zoosymbolism in all forms of activities related to nature (scientific societies, publications, schools-seminars, natural history museums), 4) formation and development of the idea of years of animals (mammal of the year, bird of the year, insect of the year), and 5) formation, share, and development of ideas of special days (bat night, lark day, etc.). The analysis of world and Ukrainian experience showed that the most effective forms of dissemination of knowledge are as follows: 1) production of various small printed products (stickers, calendars, envelopes, stamps, prints), 2) production of more complex forged or minted products (badges, coins, medals), 3) use of paraphernalia on various consumer goods (caps, T-shirts, mugs, balloons, fountain pens, notebooks), 4) holding special promotions, quizzes, contests or quests on thematic days (European Bat Night, International Bird Day, Whale Protection Day), and 5) production and participation in the production of special media products or initiation of social networks (social advertising, documentaries, round tables on the radio and flash mobs on social networks). All these forms of activity can be developed within the "background" work of natural history museums, among them the simplest and least expensive are the days and years of certain animal species that can be performed within the existing exhibitions, complementing such events with interactive forms of work with visitors (competitions, excursions, lectures, presentations of thematic paraphernalia). All this is aimed at sharing knowledge and increasing social attention to the issues of biological diversity, sustainable nature and sustainable community development.

The results of the revision of taxonomy and species richness of silken-fungus beetles of the Ukrainian Carpathians are presented. In the scope of work, all taxonomic and faunistic summaries of the group from 1820 to current studies are included. Three groups of sources are chosen as basis: the author's original research, analysis of collections of natural history museums, and analysis of literature. Considerable attention is paid to taxonomic changes due to which a variety of synonymic names appeared. A short annotation on species richness and on the most important changes in recent taxonomy is given for genera and subgenera, as well as brief information for each species on actual collected specimens. Estimations of species abundance and key biotopes or altitudinal zones, statuses of presence and possible rarity are given. The indices of actual and expected richness of silken-fungus beetles are specified by systematic groups, which showed the highest richness for two genera — Atomaria (50 species belonging to the two subgenera — Atomaria and Agathengis) and Cryptophagus (44 species). On the other hand, 4 genera are monotypic, of which Spavius, Pteryngium, Paramecosoma, and Ootypus are monotypic worldwide, whereas Sternodea is represented only by one species in the Carpathian region (S. baudii). Of the total number of species (116) indicated by different literature sources and actual records for Ukraine, the presence of 78 species is confirmed by the author’s original records and results of analysis of zoological collections. The remaining 38 species are indicated by ambiguous records in the literature (including adjacent countries) and they are not confirmed by descriptions or collection specimens. Eight species representing the genera Antherophagus (1), Atomaria (2), and Cryptophagus (5) are given for the region’s fauna for the first time. It is shown that the largest number of species and genera is common for forsted piedmont areas, and less so for high elevations. An increase in the number of species is expected in case of further research in Bukovina and, in general, in the north-eastern macroslopes of the Carpathians.

Johann Hochhuth was one of the most significant amateur collectors and naturalists of the 19th century in Ukraine and other countries of Eastern Europe. His collection of Coleoptera has an immense amount of scientific material which is actual even nowadays. Cryptophagidae in Johann Hochhuth's collection is only a small but significant part of collection which can be used as a comparative material for newer gatherings. The author provides some historical facts about the collector and a detailed description of his silken-fungus beetles collection. This collection consists of 214 Cryptophagidae specimens belonging to 50 species of the family. The author also revised all of the specimens, clarified the identification of the species, updated the identification or species names if they weren't revised earlier, and indicated the most unique specimens of the collection. The collection includes only specimens from the territory of Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, and some specimens collected by other collectors, such as Wilhelm Rosengauer (Austria and Germany), Christian Suffrian (Germany), Ernst von Ballion (Russia), Oleksandr Czekanowski (Ukraine) and others. The collection is undoubtedly important for the study of morphological peculiarities of some rare species of the Cryptophagidae family compared to recently collected specimens. The accumulation of the information about the silken-fungus beetle fauna of Ukraine will make it possible to generalise the list of species in the studied region. This entomological collection is part of the history of the formation of modern large zoological collections through the difficult path from J. H. Hochhuth's collection, the part of M. Cherkunov's collection, the natural history collections of the Pedagogical Museum of Kyiv to the collections of the National Museum of Natural History, NAS of Ukraine. Its materials are a complete composition of Cryptophagidae species that were collected in the territory of Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast in the middle of the 19th century. This article also contains important biographical information on Johann Heinrich Hochhuth’s life, education, and scientific achievements.

The ХХVI Theriological School "Wild Mammals in Transformed Landscapes" held on 17–21 June 2019 was organised by the National Museum of Natural History NAS of Ukraine, Department of Forest Biology, Game Management and Ichthyology of Zaporizhzhia National University, and the National Reserve "Khortytsia". More than 37 zoologists representing 23 institutions of four countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and France took part in the conference. This School-Seminar consisted of several thematic blocks: keynote session, thematic reports and discussions on the main topic, current research and approbation of theses results, workshops and field studies, "Bat Night" event and photo contest "The Boar and Its Family in the Lens". The program of the School was fully implemented. Workshops on collecting and analysis of pellets and on in vivo study methods of bats revealed new species in the mammal fauna of Khortytsya Island, in particular Mus spicilegus, Sylvaemus tauricus and Pipistrellus nathusii, and also confirmed the presence of a number of other species of shrews, bats and rodents. The Dniester Canyon National Nature Park was chosen as the venue of the next Theriological School in autumn 2020. Also, the leadership of the Theriological Society decided to hold an inter-school seminar "Mammals in Pellets of Birds of Prey" in autumn or winter of 2019 in Kamianets-Podilskyi.

The article is devoted to the study of beetle collection of the family Cryptophagidae (Coleoptera), part of Volodymyr Lazorko’s collection stored at the Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, as well as to the estimation of the representation of different species of the family in the collection in general and particularly in relation to the fauna of the Carpathians. The article describes the collection consisting of 263 specimens of 48 species of two subfamilies — Cryptophaginae and Atomariinae, which are stored in two separate boxes and pinned by entomological needles. The main collecting locations of specimens are given, as well as detailed analysis of the collection and annotation for genera presented among the specimens of the collection. Particular attention is paid to Volodymyr Lazorko’s biography, which allows decrypting of pieces of information indicated on the labels, especially when the collecting location is specified, and, in some cases, even the collector’s name when it is not Lazorko himself. A separate section is devoted to the general review of the collection and its chronological features, which mainly consist of specimens collected in the period from the early 1930s to the mid1940s. Specimens collected either prior or after this period, in most cases, were conveyed from other European collectors and redefined. While reviewing the material, considerable importance was given to changes in the taxonomy of the family, due to which several genera and species were published and stored under different names, which are currently exclusively synonymous. All such cases are noted in the description of the collection and in brief abstracts to the genera along with information on collection specimens, including the names of the regions and places of collection (in some cases location names are not fully decrypted; in other cases, full decoding or some specifications are given), collecting dates, authors of a specific series or collection, and also notes explaining individual details of the label or clarifications regarding the collector or author of the redefinition. The collection contains a large number of unique specimens of the family that are absent in other academic and university collections of Ukraine.