Phd student in Entomology Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
I am a taxonomist and Conservation biologist currently enrolled in a PhD in Entomology at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia - INPA), in Brazil. During my MSc in Conservation Biology I have delineated and carried out a project dealing with the evolution, taxonomy, and ecological requirements of the ant-like flies (Diptera: Hybotidae), which are tiny flies (ca. 2.5 mm), endemic to the Iberian and Italian Peninsula. The main outcomes included the (re) description of all species, 4 of which were not previously known. This revision included illustrations, photographs and scanning electron microscope images of alive and mounted specimens, as well as of characters of taxonomic importance that were not previously described (e.g. male terminalia and anterior leg spurs). Furthermore, the knowledge on the geographic distribution and ecological requirements was highly improved. Also, it was possible to further understand the evolutionary importance of wing modification, as in certain species the male wing was not only reduced but also modified to have a signalling function during mating. Finally, the integration of molecular and morphological data allowed us to corroborate species boundaries and evolutionary relationships, where the ant-like flies form a well-supported cluster placed whithin the genus Tachydromia. Currently, my PhD project is focused on efficiently fast-tracking the description of megadiverse Neotropical Tachydromiinae (Diptera: Hybotidae), based on low-cost molecular tools and clearly illustrated morphological data. I hope to create a taxonomic pipeline and framework that can be easily replicated/ escalated for this and other groups.
