INsect FLOWer Visitors Lab

There are more than 1,000,000 described species of insects and 300,000 of plants. The two groups together comprise most of the terrestrial species on Earth. It is widely thought that interactions between plants and insects, especially herbivory, are responsible for this outstanding diversity.

We use comparative natural history studies and genomics to test hypotheses on the role of interactions in generating diversity. We have found, for example, that it does not seem to be the case that antagonisms and plant defenses are drivers of species divergence in weevil flower visitors.

Selected PUBLICATIONS

Haran L, Kergoat GJ, de Medeiros BAS. 2022. Most diverse, most neglected: weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) are ubiquitous specialized brood-site pollinators of tropical flora. HAL preprint ⟨hal-03780127v2⟩

de Medeiros BAS, Farrell, B.D. 2020. Evaluating insect-host interactions as a driver of species divergence in palm flower weevils. Communications Biology 3: 749. doi:10.1038/s42003-020-01482-3

de Medeiros BAS, Núñez-Avellaneda LA, Hernandez AM, Farrell BD. 2019. Flower visitors of the licuri palm (Syagrus coronata): brood pollinators coexist with a diverse community of antagonists and mutualists. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 126: 666-687. doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blz008.

Genomics in new organisms can be hard. Established protocols do not work, established ideas do not hold. By sequencing genome-wide datasets, we have developed protocols and bioinformatics tools, and also discovered how invertebrate genomes are organized and their relevance to understand their evolution. We also participate in discussions on how to leverage genomic data for new uses in high-biodiversity regions.

Selected PUBLICATIONS

Cunha TJ, de Medeiros BAS, Lord A, Sørensen MV, Giribet G. Rampant loss of universal metazoan genes revealed by a chromosome-level genome assembly of the parasitic Nematomorpha. Current Biology. 2023 Jul 18;33(16):3514–21.

Kimura LT, Andrade ER, Nobre I, Nobre CA, de Medeiros BAS, Riaño-Pachón DM, Shiraishi FK, Carvalho TCMB, Simplicio MA. 2023. Amazon Biobank: a collaborative genetic database for bioeconomy development. Functional and Integrative Genomics 23:101. doi:10.1007/s10142-023-01015-1

de Medeiros BAS & Farrell BD. 2018. Whole-genome amplification in double-digest RADseq results in adequate libraries but fewer sequenced loci. PeerJ, 6, p.e5089.

COMPUTER PROGRAMS

de Medeiros BAS. 2018. Matrix Condenser.

Weevils (beetles in the superfamily Curculionoidea) are one of the most diverse groups of beetles, with over 60,000 species described. It is a challenging group of organisms, with a complicated taxonomy and many new species remaining to be described. We describe new species based on fieldwork and collections, but I also work to reveal details on their natural history and phylogeny. These pieces of information are the foundation for evolutionary studies leveraging the outstanding diversity of this group.

Selected PUBLICATIONS

Chamorro ML, de Medeiros BAS & Farrell, BD. 2021. First phylogenetic analysis of Dryophthorinae (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) based on structural alignment of ribosomal DNA reveals Cenozoic diversification. Ecol Evol. 00: 1– 15

de Medeiros BAS & Vanin SA. 2020. Systematic revision and morphological phylogenetic analysis of Anchylorhynchus Schoenherr, 1836 (Coleoptera, Curculionidae: Derelomini). Zootaxa 4839: 1–98.

de Medeiros BAS, Bená DC & Vanin SA. 2014. Curculio Curculis lupus: biology, behavior and morphology of immatures of the cannibal weevil Anchylorhynchus eriospathae G. G. Bondar, 1943. PeerJ, 2, p.e502.

There are one million known species of insects, meaning that there are one million known ways in which eggs, larvae, pupae and adults morphology can be organized. By aggregating data from the literature and collections and using the right tools, we can leverage this diversity to understand morphological evolution in a scale not available in other animals.

Selected PUBLICATIONS

Simões TR, Vernygora OV, de Medeiros BAS, Wright AM. 2023. Handling Logical Character Dependency in Phylogenetic Inference: Extensive Performance Testing of Assumptions and Solutions Using Simulated and Empirical Data, Systematic Biology, accepted

Church SH, de Medeiros BAS, Donoughe S, Reyes NLM, Extavour CG. 2021.Repeated loss of variation in insect ovary morphology highlights the role of development in life-history evolution. Proc. R. Soc. B. 288:2021015020210150

Church SH, Donoughe S, de Medeiros BAS & Extavour CG 2019. Insect egg size and shape evolve with ecology but not developmental rate. Nature 571:58-62.

Church SH, Donoughe S, de Medeiros BAS & Extavour CG 2019. A dataset of egg size and shape from more than 6,700 insect species. Scientific Data 6:104.

COMPUTER PROGRAMS

de Medeiros BAS. 2018. TaxReformer.