NSERC grants at Laurentian University Subventions du CRSNG `a l ...

Department of BiologyDépartement de biologieYves AlarieSystematics, evolution and larval morphology of worldhydradephaga (Coleoptera)A grant of $22,000 per year.Une subvention de 22 000 $ par année.Discovery Grant – Subvention à la découverteColeoptera is the largest order of the Kingdom Animalia,comprising a quarter of all known animal species.Approximately 350,000 beetle species have beendescribed and estimates for the total number of speciesrange into the millions. The order is represented in almostevery non-marine habitat on earth. It includesmany of the most beneficial and destructive insectsknown, yet an enormous amount of basic taxonomyand biological study is necessary to raise our understandingof Coleoptera to the level attained in most insect orders. The currentstate of coleopteran taxonomy is uneven in several ways, with many largegeographical, developmental and taxonomic gaps.Two main areas of my research focus on such blind spots. One subject ofmy work is the systematics of a neglected taxon, the families included in theaquatic Adephaga ( = Hydradephaga); another is the taxonomy of a poorlystudied developmental stage, the larva. With regard to systematic studies,data about larval stages, particularly in holometabolous insects, are likelyto improve adult classifications. Because larvae of Holometabola share littlein common with the adults anatomically, they offer a rich, parallel source23