Other Publications

My first ever publication

A short scientific note (in Spanish) about the emergence of stylopids (Strepsiptera: Stylopidae) from paper wasps (Polystes erithrocephalus). One of my pictures got the cover of that number of the Boletín de Entomología de la Universidad del Valle.

Girón, J. 2006. Observación de Strepsiptera (Stylopidae) sobre avispas papeleras Polistes erytrocephalus Latreille en Cali. Boletín del Museo de Entomología de la Universidad del Valle 7(1): 32–33.

Adult male stylopid emerging from the abdomen of a Polistes wasp - my photo on the cover

First solo paper

My first solo publication came out on December 30 2020: Girón JC (2020) Status of knowledge of the broad-nosed weevils of Colombia (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae). Neotropical Biology and Conservation 15(4): 583-674. https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.15.e59713

This is a compilation of information that I started gathering since I was an undergrad and motivated by my struggle trying to get information when I first started. I hope that the availability of this resource in the published English version, but also the version in Spanish on this website helps getting attention to the group and perhaps bring students to become specialists in entimines, especially from Latin America. The contribution includes summaries of available information for the eight tribes represented in Colombia, thoroughly referenced, and most references are linked to online PDF copies of the publictions.

First Book Review

I was invited to review the book Australian Weevils Vol. IV. Curculionidae: Entiminae Part I, which was released in December 2020.

Girón, J. C. (2021) Book Review. The Coleopterists Bulletin 75(4), 772-773. https://doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X-75.4.772

Book chapter contributions

Cardona-Duque, J., Bota-Sierra, C.A., Correa-Carmona, Y., Flórez, C., Girón, J.C., Vélez-Bravo, A., Wolff, M. (2018) Estado del conocimiento de insectos en los Bosques Andinos de Antioquia. In: Quintero-Vallejo, E., Benavides, A.M, Moreno, N., González-Caro, S. (Eds.), Bosques Andinos, estado actual y retos para su conservación en Antioquia (pp. 419-438). Fundación Jardín Botánico de Medellín Joaquín Antonio Uribe Programa Bosques Andinos (COSUDE), Medellín, Colombia, pp. 241– 266. http://www.observatoriobosquesantioquia.org/Libro-Bosques-Andinos

Escarabajos del Neotrópico (Insecta: Coleoptera)

Girón, J. C. (2018) Estado del conocimiento de la familia Hydrophilidae (Coleoptera: Hydrophiloidea) en Colombia. In: Deloya, C. & Gasca Álvarez, H. J. (Eds), Escarabajos del Neotrópico (Insecta: Coleoptera). Mexico, pp. 55–79.

Girón, J. C., & J. Cardona-Duque. (2018) Estado del conocimiento de los Curculionidae en Colombia. In: Deloya, C. & Gasca Álvarez, H. J. (Eds), Escarabajos del Neotrópico (Insecta: Coleoptera). Mexico, pp. 167–199.

The table of contents of the book is available through ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329799388_Escarabajos_del_Neotropico_Insecta_Coleoptera

coleoptera in Colombia

Contributions to the knowledge of beetles in Colombia from the Grupo Coloptera de Colombia

We started the Grupo Coloptera de Colombia back in 2020 with the idea of generating updated species lists for Colombia that included as many references as possible about those species, with links to online resources where those references can be found. We have been doing this by producing DarwinCore-formatted checklists that are processed via SiB Colombia (the Colombian network for open biodiversity data) and shared through GBIF (the Global Biodiversity Information Facility). To November 2025 we have generated 57 species lists for 45 beetle families, including 629 genera and 2474 species. Part of the goal is also to discuss those species lists in the context of biodiversity knowledege in the Neotropical region. Below are the papers in which I have participated so far.

This paper originated during the symposia on beetle biodiversity in Colombia in 2020. It compiles information on how much we know about Colombian beetles, where are our knowledge gaps, and a plan to reduce those gaps.

https://doi.org/10.25100/socolen.v47i2.10717

Girón, J. C., Amat García, G., Botero, J. P., Cardona-Duque, J., Clavijo-Bustos, J., Díaz-Durán, C., García Concha, J. H., García, K., González-Córdoba, M., López Murcia, W., Lugo de la Hortúa, A., Neita Moreno, J. C., Ramírez-Salamanca, J. M., Taboada-Verona, C., Uchima Taborda, D., & Viasus-Bastidas, A. (2021). Considerations on the status of the knowledge of coleopteran diversity (Arthropoda: Insecta) in Colombia. Revista Colombiana de Entomología, 47(2). https://doi.org/10.25100/socolen.v47i2.10717

State of knowledge of the Anthribidae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) in Colombia with a key to genera

Samanta Orellana, Jennifer C. Girón

Biota Colombiana, 2024, 25: e1149 https://doi.org/10.21068/2539200X.1149

Based on Listado de las especies de Anthribidae (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) de Colombia

Dryophthorinae (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionidae) de Colombia: lista de especies, distribución y taxones vegetales asociados

María Fernanda Bermúdez-H, Jean Gamboa, Francisco Serna, Jennifer C. Girón

Caldasia, 2023, 45(3) https://doi.org/10.15446/caldasia.v45n3.105771

Based on Listado de las especies de Dryophthorinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) de Colombia

Synopsis of the Colombian Stag Beetles: A baseline for conservation assessments

Juan Sebastián Dueñas Cáceres, Indiana Cristóbal Ríos-Málaver, Jennifer C. Girón

Caldasia, 45(3)
https://doi.org/10.15446/caldasia.v45n3.105758

Based on Listado de las especies de Lucanidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) de Colombia

State of knowledge of the Tenebrionidae (Insecta: Coleoptera) in Colombia based on bibliographic revision

Oscar Ascuntar-Osnas, Pablo A. López-Bedoya, Aaron D. Smith, M. Andrew Johnston, Jennifer C. Girón

Caldasia, 45(3)
https://doi.org/10.15446/caldasia.v45n3.104445

Based on Listado de las especies de Tenebrionidae (Coleoptera: Tenebrionoidea) de Colombia

Weevils and plants

A fruitful collaboration through advising

Díaz-Grisales V, Romero-Nápoles J, González-Hernández H, Girón Duque JC, Bautista-Martínez N, Castañeda-Vildózola Álvaro, Anzaldo S, Lourenção AL (2024) Host plants of the weevil genus Heilipus Germar, 1824 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Molytinae, Molytini, Hylobiina). Contributions to Entomology 74(2): 217-234. https://doi.org/10.3897/contrib.entomol.74.e129094

First contribution on a potentially economically important record

This record started from an ID inquiry by my coauthor, Yohan Solano, who needed to ID the weevils as they were causing damage in strawberry plantations in Venezuela. I recognized the genus, but for species ID it was necessary to run the key proposed by Howden in her treatment of the species of Pandeleteius from Colombia and Venezuela, with specimens at hand. As sending specimens was not a posibility, Yohan ran the key and I oriented him with terminology. We were able to confirm the species ID by comparing with Howden's type of the species, thanks to a Visiting Scientist Award by the Canadian Museum of Nature, and thanks to the very patient and careful work by Yohan.

Solano, Y. & J. C. Girón. (2019). First record of Pandeleteius hadromeroides (Kirsch, 1867) (Curculionidae: Entiminae: Tanymecini) on strawberry crops in Venezuela. The Coleopterists Bulletin, 73(4): 962–965.
https://doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X-73.4.962

Email me if you would like to have the PDF.

Collaborations on other beetle groups

First paper in collaboration with Latin American researchers

It sounds weird to me: being Latin American myself, it is hard to believe this is the first time since I started publishing peer-reviewed papers that I actually work with other Latin American researchers to produce some science. This was an interesting experience and proof of the fact that sometimes all people need is guidance.

Raudes Reyes, S.M., Cano Espinoza, R. A. & Girón, J. C. (2019). A new species and immature stages of the skiff beetle genus Yara Reichardt and Hinton (Coleoptera: Myxophaga: Hydroscaphidae) from Nicaragua. Zootaxa, 4544(1): 125–134. https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4544.1.8

Email me if you would like to get the PDF.

First application of ontology-based taxonomic descriptions:

Montanaro, G., Balhoff, J.P., Girón, J.C., Söderholm, M., Tarasov, S. (2024) Computable species descriptions and nanopublications: applying ontology-based technologies to dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeinae). Biodiversity Data Journal, 12: e121562.
https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e121562

First collaboration on darkling beetles including data from the Ontology for the Anatomy of the Insect SkeletoMuscular system

Kamiński et al. 2022. Female terminalia morphology and cladistic relations among Tok-Tok beetles (Tenebrionidae: Sepidiini). Cladistics. https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12510

Papers on Carpenter ants

Using whole-genome data to study relatedness in three species of North American carpenter ants

Meadows BA, Emad M, Hruska JP, Silva J, Behrends GJ, Girón JC, Manthey JD (2023) Relatedness within colonies of three North American species of carpenter ants (Subgenus: Camponotus) and a comparison with relatedness estimates across Formicinae. Insectes Sociaux. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-023-00906-7

First collaboration on a paper dealing with endosymbionts and genomic data published in Ecology and Evolution

Manthey, J.D., Girón, J.C. & Hruska, J.P. (2022) Impact of host demography and evolutionary history on endosymbiont molecular evolution: A test in carpenter ants (genus Camponotus) and their Blochmannia endosymbionts. Ecology and Evolution 12, e9026. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9026

A paper describing the work behind the AISM: Ontology for the Anatomy of the Insect Skeleto-Muscular System

Girón JC, Tarasov S, González Montaña LA, Matentzoglu N, Smith AD, Koch M, Boudinot BE, Bouchard P, Burks R, Vogt L, Yoder M, Osumi-Sutherland D, Friedrich F, Beutel R, Mikó I (2023) Formalizing Invertebrate Morphological Data: A Descriptive Model for Cuticle-Based Skeleto-Muscular Systems, an Ontology for Insect Anatomy, and their Potential Applications in Biodiversity Research and Informatics. Systematic Biology: syad025. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syad025

About making information from monographs Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable, and Citable, and the tools to acomplish it

Girón, J. C., E. Valderrama, P. M. O'Connor, N. B. Simmons, D. L. Paul, M. J. Yoder (2022) Enhanced monography in a collaboratively evolved hub. Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists, 1(1): 8340. https://doi.org/10.18061/bssb.v1i1.8340

A report on tools and resources built during TraitFest 2023

In early 2023 I participated in an interdisciplinary workshop to leverage tools available in the Phenoscape Knowledgebase to enhance biodiversity research, especially to include arthropods into this context. The projects and ideas developed are summarized in this report.

Girón, J.C., Balk, M., Dahdul, W., Lapp, H., Mikó, I., Alhajjar, E., Wynd, B., Tarasov, S., Lawrence, C., Khakurel, B., Porto, A., Yan, L.E., Fluck, I., Porto, D., Keating, J., Borokini, I., Seltmann, K., Montanaro, G., Mabee, P. (2024) Meeting Report for the Phenoscape TraitFest 2023 with Comments on Organising Interdisciplinary Meetings. Biodiversity Information Science and Standards 8: e115232. https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.8.115232

Publications on outreach entomological collections

As part of a Topical collection on Entomological Outreach Collections and Community Engagement I co-edited with Víctor Gonzalez from the University of Kansas:

Gonzalez, V. H., Wiggins, K., Bonnell, K., Girón, J.C. (2025). A framework for assessing the effectiveness of outreach drawers in insect collections. Natural History Collections and Museomics 2: 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.2.153644

Girón, J.C. (2025). Come Bug Me: the first attempt at an outreach event showcasing the Invertebrate Zoology Collection of the Museum of Texas Tech University. Natural History Collections and Museomics, 2: 1–8. https://doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.2.153552

preprints

A product of BeetlePalooza in 2024, building bridges between biological collections generating specimen images and downstream uses via Computer Vision

East, A., Campolongo, E. G., Meyers, L., Rayeed, S. M., Stevens, S., Zarubiieva, I., Fluck, I. E., Girón, J.C., Jousse, M, Lowe, S., Perry, K. I., Betancourt, I., Charney, N., Donoso, C., Fox, N., Landsbergen, K. J., Nepovinnykh, E., Ramirez, M., Singh, P., Thapa-Magar, K., Thompson, M., Waite, E., Berger-Wolf, T., Lapp, H., Mabee, P., Stewart, C., Taylor, G., Record, S. (in press.). Optimizing Image Capture for Computer Vision-Powered Taxonomic Identification and Trait Recognition of Biodiversity Specimens. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2505.17317

A preprint on using Phenoscript to describe species of dung beetles using the Coleoptera Anatomy Ontology and the Ontology for the Anatomy of the Insect SkeletoMuscular system:

Montanaro, G., Balhoff, J.P., Girón, J.C., Söderholm, M., Tarasov, S. (2024) Computable Species Descriptions and Nanopublications: Applying Ontology-based Technologies to Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae). ARPHA Preprints. https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e121727

We posted a preprint about our work with the Ontology for the Anatomy of the Insect SkeletoMuscular system (AISM):

Girón, J. C., S. Tarasov, L. A. González Montaña, N. Matentzoglu, A. D. Smith, M. Koch, B. E. Boudinot, P. Bouchard, R. Burks, L. Vogt, M. Yoder, D. Osumi-Sutherland, F. Friedrich, R. Beutel, I. Mikó (2022) Formalizing insect morphological data: a model-based, extensible insect anatomy ontology and its potential applications in biodiversity research and informatics. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202201.0254.v1

This is also my first dip into bioinformatics.

Manthey, J., Girón, J. C., Hruska, J. (2020) Impact of host evolutionary history on endosymbiont genome evolution: a test in Camponotus carpenter ants and their Blochmannia endosymbionts. Authorea. https://doi.org/10.22541/au.160689628.80980759/v1

As part of the Graduate Student Organization of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Kansas, I was part of the Social Media Group.

Published on Twitter, Feb 26 2019 https://twitter.com/KUEEBGSO/status/1100421238755864576

We wrote a blogpost:

Tips for more effective social media for professional development

It is available through the KU EEB GSO outreach website:

https://outreachkueeb.wordpress.com/2019/02/25/tips-for-more-effective-social-media-for-professional-development/

Published on October 24 2019Also in Twitter: https://twitter.com/KUEEBGSO/status/1187439244559683586

Another blogpost based on the experiences of going through grad school:

Advice for First Year Graduate Students at KU EEB

Available through the KU EEB GSO outreach website:

https://outreachkueeb.wordpress.com/2019/10/24/advice-for-first-year-graduate-students-at-ku-eeb/

On page 11 of the spring 2019 Edition of the NSRL News bulletin there is a note on the reactivation of the Invertebrate Zoology Collection at the Natural Science Rerearch Laboratory of the Museum of Texas Tech University.

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