Entomology: Wendy Moore Research Assistant Professor Positions and Education Research Assistant Professor, Entomology, University of Arizona, 2008-present Research Associate, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2008-present Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences, 2008-present Postdoctoral Fellow in Systematic Entomology, California Academy of Sciences, 2006-2008 Ph.D., Entomology/Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, 2006 Post-graduate NSF-PEET Fellow, College of Charleston 1996-1998 M.S., Marine Biology, College of Charleston, 1996 B.S., General Biology, Vanderbilt University, 1991

Research Interests

My long-term research interest is the evolution of biotic diversity. I use molecular genetic techniques, morphological methods, and robust phylogenetic frameworks to identify and describe natural groups of marine and terrestrial arthropods, to study their diversification and patterns of distribution, and to elucidate the ecological roles and the importance of key innovations that have significantly affected their evolutionary histories. I am especially interested in the evolution of symbiotic lifestyles and investigating how major biotic, climatic, and tectonic events may have influenced the timing and patterns of diversification. Much of my current research is on the carabid beetle subfamily Paussinae, many species of which are obligate symbionts with ants. Other ongoing studies explore the evolution of adephagan beetles and bombardier beetles. Read more about my specific research projects here.

I also have a deep appreciation for the largely untapped value of data in natural history collections. Specimens are the physical evidence for virtually everything we know about biology–they anchor our species concepts, hypotheses of relationships among species, patterns of distribution, as well as our more general theories about evolution, biogeography and biodiversity. While collections represent the single largest source of information we have on planetary biodiversity, they are largely under-utilized and therefore also under-appreciated. I am committed to collections care and enhancement, and the use of bioinformatics to make collections-based data widely available to diverse user communities.

Selected Publications

Di Giulio, A. and W. Moore. 2009. The first known larva of the Australian genus Mystropomus Chaudoir (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae). Australian Journal of Entomology 48: 140-148.

Maddison, D.R., W. Moore, M.D. Baker, T.M. Ellis, K.A. Ober, J.J. Cannone, R.R. Gutell. 2008. Monophyly of terrestrial adephagan beetles as indicated by three nuclear genes (Coleoptera: Carabidae and Trachypachidae). Zoological Scripta 38(1): 43-62.

Moore, W. and A. Di Giulio. 2008. Metrius Eschscholtz (Carabidae: Paussinae) is not a millipede specialist. Pan Pacific Entomologist 84(1): 33-34.

Moore, W. 2008. Phylogeny of the Western Hemisphere Ozaenini (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae) based in DNA sequence data. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 77(1): 79-92.

Gilbert, M.P.T., W. Moore, L. Melichor, M. Worobey. 2007. DNA extraction from dry museum beetles without conferring external morphological damage. PLoS One 2(3) e272.

Erwin, T.L. and W. Moore. 2007. A taxonomic review of the Neotropical genus Moriosomus Motschulsky (Insecta: Coleoptera, Carabidae, Morionini) with notes on the way of life of the species. Zootaxa 1438: 49-63.

Moore, W. and A. Di Giulio. 2006. Description and behaviour of Goniotropis kuntzeni larvae (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae: Ozaenini) and a key to genera of Paussinae larvae. Zootaxa 1111: 1-19.

Brusca, R.C., E. Kimrey and W. Moore (eds.). 2004. Seashore Guide to the Northern Gulf of California. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. 201 pp.

Moore, W. 2004. Description of a new Hawaiian isopod, Synidotea oahu (Crustacea: Isopoda: Valvifera). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 117(1): 76-87.

Di Giulio, A. and W. Moore. 2004. The first-instar larva of the genus Arthropterus (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Paussinae): implications for the evolution of myrmecophily and phylogenetic relationships within the subfamily. Invertebrate Systematics 18(2): 101-115.

Moore, W. and R.C. Brusca. 2003. A monograph on the isopod genus Colopisthus (Crustacea: Isopoda: Cirolanidae) with the description of a new genus. Journal of Natural History 37(11): 1329-1399.