The Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change

is a research museum of the Leibniz Association

Coleoptera (Beetles)

Reiter

Info

The collections of the section of Coleoptera comprise mainly material from the Palaearctic region, northeastern Oriental region (Fukien) and the Aethiopian region. Research includes projects on taxonomy, phylogenetics, functional morphology, structural analysis, and history of science.

Staff

Scientist, permanent position

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

Head of Department Arthropoda, Head of Section, Curator

Tel: +49 228 9122-286

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: d.ahrens [at] leibniz-zfmk.de

Technical or laboratory assistant

Christina Blume

Technical Assistant

Tel: +49 228 9122-320

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: c.blume [at] leibniz-zfmk.de

Adrian Kniel

Tel: +49 228 9122-320

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: A.Kniel [at] leibniz-zfmk.de

Karin Ulmen

Technical Assitant, REM manager

Tel: +49 228 9122-287

Fax: +49 228 9122-332

E-Mail: k.ulmen [at] leibniz-zfmk.de

Postdoc

Dr. Jonas Eberle

former Postdoc

Tel: +49 228 9122-412

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: eberle.jonas [at] gmail.com

Ph.D. student

Thaynara Lara Pacheco

Tel: +49 228 9122-412

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: thay.lpacheco [at] gmail.com

Phu Van Pham

PhD student

E-Mail: phupham.iebr [at] gmail.com

Federal volunteer service

Liliane Hanfeld

Tel: +49 228 9122-320

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: L.Hanfeld [at] leibniz-zfmk.de

Honorary capacity

Matthias Forst

Tel: +49 228 9122-360

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: Forstbonn [at] aol.com

Prof. em. Dr. Rainer Keller

Honorary Capacity

Tel: +49 228 9122-350

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: keller [at] uni-bonn.de

Jonas Köhler

Honorary Capacity

Tel: +49 228 9122-287

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: jonas.koehler [at] online.de

Wolfgang E. Melenk

Honorary Capacity

Tel: +49 228 9122-225

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: w.melenk [at] leibniz-zfmk.de

Dr. Thomas Wagner

Honorary Capacity

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: thwagner [at] uni-koblenz.de

Alumni

Former students

Daniel Lukic

Tel: +49 228 9122-345

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: Daniel.Lukic [at] ruhr-uni-bochum.de

Sasanka Ranasinghe

PhD Student

Tel: +49 228 9122-412

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: s.ranasinghe [at] leibniz-zfmk.de

Projects

2019

Wingshape and morphospace

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

2018

Establishing a standardized and universally applicable set of nuclear-encoded markers for genome-wide multi-locus species delimitation of metazoans

Methods for delimiting species based on multi-gene nucleotide information are well established and provide the means to complement the classical COI barcoding approach, whose limitations are well known. Our research project aims at establishing a standardized set of single-copy nuclear-encoded markers for genome-wide multi-locus species delimitation by exploiting comparative genomic data and applying target DNA enrichment. Candidate markers are so-called Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (USCOs).

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Biodiversity patterns of herbivore scarab chafers of Sri Lanka

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

2017

GGBC: Assessment, Monitoring and Management of Caucasian Biodiversity

A Georgian-German initiative to explore and barcode the biodiversity of the Caucasus area

Project lead:

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Misof

Funding:

Federal Ministry of Education and Research

2014

DNA-Barcoding larvae and…

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

Evolution of Scarabaeidae

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Speciation and species…

The project explores the Speciation of these archaic beetles that survived since Tertiary only on the ancient islands rifting on the Thyrrenian sea.

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

Funding:

Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig

Phylogeny of Glaphyridae

In collaboration with the specialist of the group, Dr. Guido Sabatinelli (Univ. Rome), we explore the phylogeny of the group for a better understanding of the evolution of pollination in these beetles.

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

A monograph of the Sericini of Indian Subcontinent

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Alexander-Koenig-Society e.V.

Molecular phylogeny of…

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Biodiversity research on…

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

'Morphospace' in chafers …

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

Phylogeography of the…

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

2012

Comparative phylogeogeography of South African chafers

Project lead:

Dr. Dirk Ahrens

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

2011

Molecular Weevil Identification

DNA barcoding the European weevil fauna and building molecular and morphological weevil collections

Project lead:

Dr. Jonas Astrin

GBOL- German Barcode of Life

"German Barcode of Life" ( GBOL ) is a project sponsored by the BMBF and includes the creation of inventories for the gentic characterization of the animals, fungi and plants of germany, using DNA-Barcodes.

Project lead:

Prof. Dr. J. Wolfgang Wägele

Funding:

Federal Ministry of Education and Research

Publications

Published in

2010

RÖSSNER, E., SCHEUERN, J., AHRENS, D. (2010) Onthophagus (Palaeonthophagus) medius Kugelann, 1792 -a good western palaearctic species in the Onthophagus vacca complex (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Onthophagini). Zootaxa 2629: 1-28.

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TIMMERMANS, M.J.T.N., DODSWORTH, S., CULVERWELL, C.L., BOCAK, L., AHRENS, D., LITTLEWOOD, D.T.J., PONS, J., VOGLER, A.P. (2010) Why barcode? High-throughput multiplex sequencing of mitochondrial genomes for molecular systematics. Nucleic Acids Research, 2.

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ULMEN, K., NEWZELLA, R., HUBWEBER, L., SCHMITT, M., KLUG, T., AHRENS, D. (2010) Contribution to a catalogue of types preserved in the collection of Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK): Coleoptera: 1. Checklist of taxa. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 58: 5-48.

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2009

Eberle, J. (2009) Revision and Cladistic Analysis of the Indo-Australian Checkered Beetle Genus Xenorthrius Gorham, 1892 (Coleoptera:Cleridae:Clerinae). Diploma Thesis, Technische Universität München.

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Ahrens, D. & Ribera, I. (2009) Inferring speciation modes in a clade of Iberian chafers from rates of morphological evolution in different character systems. BMC Evolutionary Biology 9: 234.

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Ahrens, D. (2009) A cladistic analysis reveals the occurrence of Taiwanoserica in Sichuan (China) with description of four new species (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France (N.S.) 45(3): 285-296.

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Ahrens, D. & Fabrizi, S. (2009) New species of Sericini from the Eastern Himalaya and Tibet (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae): 249-284. In: Hartmann, M. and Weipert, M. (Eds.): Biodiversität und Naturausstattung im Himalaya III. Verein der Freunde und Förderer des Naturkundemuseums Erfurt e.V., Erfurt.

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Ahrens, D. & Fabrizi, S. (2009) A review on the genus Gynaecoserica Brenske, 1897 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Sericini). Journal of Natural History 43: 1505–1584.

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Ahrens, D. & Fabrizi, S. (2009) A new species of Hyposerica (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Sericini) from Mauritius Island. Zootaxa 2208: 65-68.

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Ahrens, D., GC, Y.D., P. Lago, Nagel, P. (2009) Seasonal fluctuation, phenology and turnover of chafer assemblages - insight to the structural plasticity of insect communities in tropical farmland (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Agricultural and Forest Entomology 11: 265-274.

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2008

Ahrens, D. & Fabrizi, S. (2008) A taxonomic revision of the Malagasy genus Emphania Erichson, 1847 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Sericini). Zoosystema 30(4): 917-927.

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Ahrens, D. & Lago, P.K. (2008) Directed asymmetry reversal of male copulatory organs in chafer beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) – implications on left-right polarity determination in insect terminalia. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 46(2): 110–117.

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Ahrens, D. & Vogler, A. P. (2008) Towards the phylogeny of chafers (Sericini): analysis of alignment-variable sequences and the evolution of segment numbers in the antennal club. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 47: 783-798.

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2007

Ahrens, D. (2007) Taxonomic changes and an updated Catalogue of Palearctic Sericini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae). Zootaxa 1504: 1-51.

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Ahrens, D. (2007) Beetle evolution in the Asian highlands: insight from a phylogeny of the scarabaeid subgenus Serica (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Systematic Entomology 32: 450-476.

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Ahrens, D. (2007) Cladistic analysis of Sericania (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae: Sericini) – implications on the evolution of the xerophilous fauna of the Himalaya. European Journal of Entomology 104: 517–530.

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Ahrens, D. (2007) Type species designations of Afrotropical chafer genera of Ablaberini and Sericini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae). Zootaxa 1496: 53-62.

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Ahrens, D. & Pacholátko, P. (2007) Two new species of Gastroserica Brenske, 1897 from China and Myanmar (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Sericini). Entomologische Zeitschrift 117(3): 137-139.

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Ahrens, D., Monaghan, M. T. & Vogler, A. P. (2007): DNA-based taxonomy for associating adults and larvae in multi-species assemblages of chafers (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 44(1): 436-449.

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Ahrens, D., Zorn, C., GC, Y., Keller, S. & Nagel, P. (2007) Illustrated key of phytophagous scarabs of Nepal. - A Guide to white grubs and chafers of the lower central regions (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Opuscula Biogeographica Basiliensis 5: 1-44.

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