Dimitri Forero

I am a Professor at the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia working on Heteroptera.

Until recently I was a Professor of the Biology Department at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia. Previously, for a little more than three years I was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Heteropteran Systematics Lab at the Department of Entomology of the University of California Riverside.  As a graduate student I was part of the joint program between the American Museum of Natural History and the Department of Entomology at Cornell University, from which I obtained my Ph.D.  As a PhD student I was part of the Plant-Bug PBI project.

My research focuses on the systematics of true bugs (Heteroptera), the fifth most diverse group of insects, and the largest one among the non-holometabolous. I am mostly interested in the taxonomy and systematics of two families, assassin bugs (Reduviidae) and plant bugs (Miridae).

Besides my interest in the families Reduviidae and Miridae -the two more diversified groups within Heteroptera- my research touches upon the taxonomy and systematics of Heteroptera as a whole. I am also interested in the theoretical side of phylogenetic reconstruction, the philosophy of science, natural history of the Heteroptera, and how to tackle the immense task of describing and understanding the relationships of the biota in a timely manner before it vanishes.