About us
We are focusing mainly on diversity and evolution of hymenopteran parasitoids, one of the most diverse and ecologically important groups of living insects. Using various lineages of parasitoids (mostly of superfamily Chalcidoidea and Ichneumonoidea), their insect hosts, and their host plants as model groups we unravel the evolutionary processes and mechanisms driving diversification of these groups. By applying a morphology- and molecular-based (both genetics and genomics) approaches to a different trophic strategies (such as of parasitism of gall-makers, secondary phytophagy, gall-making, egg parasitism), complemented by in-depth morphology-based exploration of various traits we focus on a candidate mechanism underlying parasitoid diversification in di- and tritrophic interactions. Further we are highly interested in parasitoid taxonomy and systematics, in investigation of role of parasitoids in ecosystems and using them as a biocontrol agents in agriculture.
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Current projects
Species diversification under multi-trophic interactions

Hymenopteran parasitoids, the group with a tremendous number of adaptations associated with host shifts and host use, play a critical role in forcing hosts to shift into new niches, thereby triggering ecological top-down diversification, and, in turn, open possibilities for bottom-up effects, i.e., parasitoid specialization and speciation. Even though this group of parasitoids is such crucial components of all terrestrial ecosystems, the functional role of morphology, genes and chemical communication for host location and host use across different lineages are poorly understood. This project aims to investigate various traits used by parasitoids for host location and host use, identify their functional mechanisms and their consequences for parasitoid diversification in a phylogenetic framework along with di- and tritrophic hosts and/or host plant interactions.
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Darwin wasps as a model of the parasitoid-host coevolution

By implementing an integrative approach to investigate the host range evolution of highly specialised hymenopteran parasitoids of spiders, Darwin wasps from the tribe Polysphinctini (Ichneumonidae, Pimplinae) we will unravel the host-specificity evolution in specialists and generalists by combining genomic data (3RAD sequencing) with morphological and ecological characteristics, including host manipulation. This project is run in close collaboration with Stanislav Korenko lab (Czech University of Life Sciences).