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Evolution, taxonomy and classification of ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae)
Evolution, taxonomy and classification of ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae)
Diversity of ladybird beetles in Baltic amber
Diversity of ladybird beetles in Baltic amber
Ladybird beetles have been found in Baltic amber since the beginning of the investigation of this fossil resin, but surprisingly no species have been described. That might be caused by the difficulties with the processing of amber itself or insufficient preservation of specimens, which enable us to locate them correctly in the classification. The first exceptionally well preserved specimens of the ladybird beetles from the Eocene period have been found in the Gulf of Gdańsk. There are several more species pending descriptions from the collections of Carsten Gröhn, and Cristel and Hans Hoffeins.
Serangium gedanicum Szawaryn et Szwedo, 2018
Ladybird beetles of New Guinea
Ladybird beetles of New Guinea
The lady beetle fauna of New Guinea is very diverse but poorly known so far. There are still many coccinellid groups that have not been recorded from the island yet. Newly collected materials from “Our Planet Reviewed – Papua New Guinea” expedition enables me to study the diversity of coccinellids from Mount Wilhelm in the elevation gradient.
Scymnomorphus from New Guinea
Ladybird beetles of New Zealand (collaboration with Richard Leschen)
Ladybird beetles of New Zealand (collaboration with Richard Leschen)
Long isolation of New Zealand from other landmasses caused little diversity of a local fauna of ladybird beetles. In the recent times humans intentionally or not introduced many new beetles, that doubled the number of ladybird species. However, native species were studied mostly at the beginning of XX century and their evolutionary affinities are unknown. The main purpose of this project is to reveal are they related to modern Neogene radiation from Asia or maybe they are much older relicts of the Gondwana paleocontinent.
Hoangus venustus (Pascoe, 1875)
Taxonomy and classification of herbivorous ladybird beetles (Epilachnini)
Taxonomy and classification of herbivorous ladybird beetles (Epilachnini)
Epilachnini is a very diverse (over 1000 described species) but very unusual group of ladybird beetles; unlike most of the relatives they feed on plants. The large number of species combined with their morphological similarity caused many problems with classification of that group. My PhD project concerned taxonomical revision of all described genera and to reveal relationships between them using molecular approaches. As a result, a new classification of that group has been proposed, but still many taxa require detailed morphological work.
Faunistics of the Eastern Pomerania region in Poland
Faunistics of the Eastern Pomerania region in Poland
Pomerania has a difficult geopolitical history which resulted in the loss of many entomological collections documenting local diversity of insects. Moreover, in more recent times very few entomologists were interested in that region. That has resulted in our little knowledge about the diversity of many groups of insects in that region. Thanks to humid and warm climate caused by the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, large sandy beaches and dunes effect, the Eastern Pomerania region is very characteristic and different from the rest of Poland insect communities.
Phloiophilus edwardsii Stephens, 1830
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