Roberta Engel

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Doctoral Student
Office: BioPharm 318

Voice: (860) 486-6215

Fax: (860) 486-6364

E-mail: roberta.engel@uconn.edu

Mailing address:


75 N. Eagleville Road, Unit 3043
Storrs, CT 06269-3043, U.S.A.







Pseudoscorpions

Pseudoscorpions, also known as Chelonethida or False Scorpions, are an understudied order of arachnids. While not well known, Aristotle made note of pseudoscorpions as did the luminaries Linnaeus and Hooke (Micrographia 1665), and today they star on YouTube. Pseudoscorpions are found throughout the world in a wide range of microhabitats including leaf litter, animal nests, under rocks (even in the intertidal zone), beneath bark, and among the pages of books. One reason many are unfamiliar with pseudoscorpions is their diminutive size, most measuring less than 5 mm. This ancient lineage, the fossil record dates to the Middle Devonian, currently comprises 25 families, 439 genera, and 3385 species.

Dissertation Research

granite outcrop in southwestern Australia

Synsphyronus (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones: Garypidae) is a genus of pseudoscorpions found throughout Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia (Harvey 1987). Currently, there are 24 described species but the diversity is much greater (unpublished data). This group has been collected beneath bark, in leaf litter, and under rocks in mesic and xeric regions. Specifically, I am interested in the origin and diversification of lineages that are endemic to the granite outcrops in southwestern Australia. Only one species, Synsphyronus elegans, has been described from the outcrops, and until recently it was known only from its type locality.
My research objectives include:
• to assess the diversity of Synsphyronus on the granite outcrops of southwestern Australia
• to describe species discovered on the outcrops
• to infer phylogenetic relationships among the rock-restricted lineages in southwestern Australia
• to estimate a species level phylogeny

I have been fortunate to have had three field seasons since starting my dissertation. During my 2004 and 2006 field seasons, I visited over 100 outcrops in southwestern Australia, sampling from the ~70 populations discovered. My sampling suggests that the diversity of Synsphyronus in southwestern Australia is greater than previously recorded. I traveled across Australia to localities recorded for twelve of the 22 Australian species of Synsphyronus during the Australian winter of 2008.

Pseudoscorpion Projects

Spring 2009 I started a project to collect, image, and database the local fauna with the help of Evelize Codero, class of ‘09. In addition, we imaged specimens collected by Dr. Raymond Pupedis, Senior Collections Manager, Division of Entomology, at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. Chthonius and Microbisium are two genera found in Connecticut. We would like to thank Dr. R. Pupedis for the specimen loan and Dr. J. O’Donnell, Collection Manager, UConn Biological Collections, for use of the facility microscope and Auto-Montage system.

Teaching Assistantships

General Ecology Fall 2009
Medical Entomology Spring 2009
Entomology Teaching Collection Assistant Spring 2009
General Entomology Fall 2008
Evolution Spring 2008, Spring 2007
Principles of Biology I Fall 2003, 2004, Spring 2004
Principles of Biology II Fall 2007
Foundations of Biology Fall 2005, Spring 2005, 2006

Connecticut Entomological Society

2009-2010 President
2008-2009 Vice President
2007-2008 Vice President