Ph.D. 2016

Mariusz (in striped shirt in photo) received his degree from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, where his principal supervisor was Dr. Jacek Dabert (I was co-supervisor). Mariusz worked on the evolution of male and female reproductive morphology and behaviour in Arrenurus, a very diverse genus of water mites with more than 800 species around the world. Males vary greatly in the structure of the hindbody (cauda), some being highly elongate with numerous bumps and protrusions, including intrommitent organs (the petiole), and others being quite plaine and not much different from the female. In his research, Mariusz used a combination of molecular phylogenetic methods, scanning electron microscopy, and behavioural observations.