Arthropod evolution and species discovery

Our research group investigates the origins, diversification, and long-term evolution of arthropod diversity, combining molecular systematics, phylogenomics, and comparative methods with taxonomic fieldwork. We focus primarily on two of the most diverse and ecologically important arthropod lineages: spiders and beetles.

One line of research centers on spider systematics, macroecology, and macroevolution, with particular focus on orb-weaving spiders and pholcids (daddy-long-legs spiders). This work aims to understand how evolutionary and ecological processes generate and maintain biodiversity across space and time, using phylogenomic and biogeographic approaches that extend beyond spiders to other branches of the tree of life, including plants and vertebrates.

A second, complementary line of research focuses on the taxonomy, classification, and phylogenetics of bark and ambrosia beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae), with extensive taxonomic revisions covering Neotropical, Afrotropical, and especially Malagasy and southern African faunas. This work uses beetles as a model system to test broader evolutionary hypotheses about speciation, host-plant association, biogeographic range evolution, and global patterns of species diversification.

Alongside these core research lines, the group also contributes to the study of true bugs (Heteroptera), with work spanning their evolution as well as their taxonomy. Complementary taxonomic work on millipedes (Diplopoda) further extends the group's expertise in arthropod systematics, helping to build a broader picture of terrestrial arthropod diversity beyond spiders and beetles.

Together, these research directions bridge detailed species-level taxonomy with large-scale evolutionary and ecological questions. By combining fine-grained systematic work with phylogenomic and macroecological analyses, the group seeks to understand how global patterns of arthropod diversity have arisen and are maintained through deep evolutionary time, and how this knowledge can inform biodiversity conservation in a changing world.