Our weekly seminar series featuring internal and external speakers in the field of ecology and evolutionary biology.

Abstract
Dragonflies and damselflies, representing the insect order Odonata, are among the earliest flying insects with living (extant) representatives. However, unravelling details of their long evolutionary history, such as egg laying (oviposition) strategies, is impeded by unresolved phylogenetic relationships, an issue particularly prevalent in damselfly families and fossil lineages. Here we present the first transcriptome-based and AHE-based phylogenetic reconstructions of Odonata representing nearly all of the order’s families (except Austropetaliidae and Neopetaliidae). All damselfly families and most dragonfly families are recovered as monophyletic groups. Our Molecular clock estimates suggest that crown-Zygoptera (damselflies) and -Anisoptera (dragonflies) both arose during the late Triassic. Lastly, I briefly will review what we know about population structure in two groups of dragonflies, Neurocordulia and Pantala.

Brief biography
Jessica Ware is an associate curator in invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Ware’s research focuses on the evolution of behavioral and physiological adaptations in insects, with an emphasis on how these occur in Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) and Dictyoptera (termites, cockroaches, and mantises). She holds a B.Sc. from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers, New Brunswick. Ware is the past president of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association and serves as current president of the Entomological Society of America. She was recently awarded a PECASE medal from the U.S. government for her work on insect evolution.

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Image: Jessica Ware