Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) are one of the largest groups of terrestrial insects, whereas their sister group, Trichoptera (caddisflies), have considerably fewer species and have an aquatic larval stage. Our project will explore how these two insect orders with very different life histories have been affected by events in the history of Earth. When has there been strong diversification and why? How have they responded to mass extinctions? This brings important information as we seek to predict, for example, effects of climate change on living organisms. The evolutionary history of Lepidoptera and Trichoptera has not previously been studied in combination and with such extensive data. We will use genomic and morphological data to study their evolution. Fossil data will be used to obtain a time frame for divergence events in their evolutionary history and when they split from their common ancestor.

2023

2027