Laboratory Manager, Principal Investigator

Molecular systematics and taxonomy of hoverflies (Diptera, Syrphidae) and related groups

Flies (Diptera) are a major component of world biodiversity and include tens of thousands of species important to agriculture as crop pests, biological control agents, pollinators, and nutrient recyclers. As part of an international research network on taxonomy and systematics of the hoverflies, family Syrphidae, I document the species and genetic diversity of hoverflies through their global ranges, refine their classification and explore their evolutionary and zoogeographical histories using the analytical tools and theoretical frameworks of modern systematics and phylogenetics.

New studies based on DNA sequence data and phylogenetic analysis have led to new insights on these flies’ biologies, their distributions and host ranges of the immature stages. The phylogeography of Merodon hoverflies in the Eastern Mediterranean area is studied under the POL-AEGIS project. The detailed classification of groups of hoverflies based on results from new molecular phylogenies is presently actively under study. I also study the species diversity and distribution of flatfooted flies, Platypezidae, in Finland, with special focus on recording new host fungi for the Finnish fauna.