Biosystematics, informatics and genomics of the big 4 insect groups: training tomorrow's researchers and entrepreneurs

Projects

A metagenomic approach to insect diversity and environmental monitoring
Objectives: Biodiversity inventorying and environmental monitoring is currently based on traditional identification methods, which are expensive, slow and limited by available expertise. Metagenomic techniques promise to completely revolutionize biod... show more
Aleocharinae rove beetles of New Zealand: development of the accelerated workflow to study "dark taxa" in poorly known biodiversity hotspots
Objectives: To develop an efficient workflow combining morphospecies, DNA-barcoding, revisionary systematics, genomics and statistical phylogenetic approaches that would allow to overcome a hitherto non-passable "taxonomic impediment" hampe... show more
The morphological background of flight and flightlessness – four wings, two wings, no wings: adaptations towards different modes of locomotion
Objectives: The insect thorax is well explored from a systematic point of view but functional and evolutionary aspects of wing reduction or modification are understudied and insufficiently understood. The "big four" thereby provide an excel... show more
Understanding the biodiversity boom in terrestrial hydrophilid beetles
Objectives: The vast majority of hydrophilid beetles are members of Megasternini, the youngest and most speciose tribe. Reasons for their immense species and morphological diversity are still unclear. The group moreover includes a number of invasive ... show more