Currently, biological diversity is rapidly declining due to climate change and anthropogenic activities. However, our knowledge of extant biodiversity is quite limited, especially concerning smaller insects. Hence, this biodiversity should be urgently investigated.
The subject of this research is phylogenetically young species of the genus Elachista Treitschke. The moths are small-sized, and their larvae mine assimilatory tissues of plants, sometimes becoming pests or potential pests. Although it has been studied for a long time, it remains one of the least understood groups of microlepidoptera. Most species form large complexes with only slight morphological differences between them. Also, unlike many similar moths, they are poorly attracted to light and are, therefore, poorly represented in museum and private collections. Due to their endobiotic lifestyle in narrow-leaved herbs, the preimaginal stages are also challenging to detect. These circumstances mean that the true diversity of this poorly studied genus is only superficially known, even in relatively well-studied regions. Therefore, there is a high probability that integrated taxonomy methods will reveal their true diversity, with numerous new species for science. The main goal of this work is to study the diversity of phylogenetically young species of the genus Elachista and their phylogenetic relationships based on morphological and molecular data.
Mokslinis vadovas / Supervisor: doc. dr. Virginijus Sruoga, Biomokslų institutas, GMC, VU / Institute of Biosciences, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University
Kontaktai / Contacts:
tel. / phone: +370 653 16 871
Programme: Zoology N 014