Inspiration from Hidden Diversity: Cryptic Species and the Future of Insect Taxonomy

Organizer(s)

• 

  Robert Kresslein

  Ph.D. Candidate
  Department of Entomology
  University of California
  Riverside, California
• 

  Louis Nastasi

  PhD Candidate
  Department of Entomology
  Frost Entomological Museum, The Pennsylvania State University
  State College, Pennsylvania

Cryptic taxa are a serious barrier to making progress in taxonomic works as well as in applied settings, especially biological control and public health. Here we examine molecular, morphological, and ecological methodologies applied to cryptic species and their implications for characterizing the cryptic diversity

Presentations:

• 9:00 AM – 9:15 AM PT

  An abundance of Encarsia: Cryptic diversity in neotropical whitefly parasitoids
  

  Presenting Author: Robert L. Kresslein – University of California
• 9:15 AM – 9:30 AM PT

  Cryptic species of fire-impacted Australian dung beetles
  

  Presenting Author: Nicole L. Gunter – Cleveland Museum of Natural History
• 9:30 AM – 9:45 AM PT

  Crazy ants in morphospace: CT scans, geometric morphometrics, and species delimitation of Nylanderia males (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
  

  Presenting Author: Jason Williams – University of Florida
• 9:45 AM – 10:00 AM PT

  Detection and implications of cryptic species in weed biocontrol systems
  

  Presenting Author: Chandra E. Moffat – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
• 10:00 AM – 10:15 AM PT

  Cryptic species in Encarsia (Aphelinidae) and Megaphragma (Trichogrammatidae) revealed by “non-destructive” mitochondrial and ribosomal DNA sequencing
  

  Presenting Author: Andrew Polaszek – University of Oxford