onsdag den 5. maj 2010

My PhD.


The trunk morphology of the basal Lepidoptera larva.
So basically I am describing and studying the larvae of the most primitive Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). Why would anyone do that?
Well as it appears there is a quite interesting dilemma in the morphology of the lepidopteran larvae. First of all we still don't exactly know what the first lepidopteran larvae looked like. This uncertainty is mainly due to the lineages that we perceive as the most basal Lepidoptera have larvae that are quite divergent from anything what we would expect from a lepidopteran larvae. Secondly over 99% of the Lepidoptera have a larvae with a trunk design that is almost unchanged. The aim of my PhD is therefore to study the larval trunk design of the 4 most primitive lineages of Lepidoptera the results I obtain can then be compared to the larvae of more primitive orders that are expected to share a common ancestor, and to the typical larve of the Lepidoptera. The morphological comparisons should give an image of what are primitive characteristics of the Lepidoptera and at the same time allow for a study on the origin and evolution of the 'typical caterpillar'.
The Lineages currently being studied are:
Heterobathmidae and Eriocraniidae
... and I have just started a study of the larvae of the Micropterigidae.
Methods used for analysis of specimens:
SEM (scanning electron microscopy)
Great for the external integument structures and Chaetotaxy.
Micro-ct-scanning
Haven't started this but having my first scanning session on the 16-03-10
Light microscopy and stereolup
Basic observation, musculature reconstruction and dissection
Polarization microscopy
Musculature reconstruction.
Indsendt af kl.

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Past and present.

With the PhD done I am now in the midst of a transition in my life. There are the manuscripts from the PhD thesis that need to be updated and prepared for publishing, there is also a new Post-doc at the Natural History Museum of London, several fieldtrips and the ICE conference that need to be planned. I feel almost content with the results achieved in the PhD. Currently one paper is published and within the next months I should have two more coming out. All the papers are on the morphology of some of the basalmost lepidopteran larvae and deal specifically with the evolution and ground plan characteristics. In the process of writing the thesis I have become quite intrigued with the locomotion of caterpillars and especially with the musculature that drive the locomotion. One of the more fascinating things is the information that lies in the muscular arrangements and the several different secondary locomotory structures that caterpillars have.

Keep an eye on the Reference section where I will update my publications and also have a link to my Mendeley profile so you can see my literature collection.