Insect Ecomorphology

Oliver Betz obtained a Ph.D. in 1994 from the University of Bayreuth in Germany for his work on the morphology, function, and evolution of the prey-capture apparatus in Stenus rove beetles. He then became interested in the broader fields of functional and ecological morphology and became an assistant professor in ecology and zoology in 2002 at the University of Kiel, Germany. Since 2004, Oliver has been a full professor of Evolutionary Biology of Invertebrates at the Biology Department at the University of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. His research focuses on the functional and ecological morphology of insects, with a focus on the integration of morphology and ecology to improve the understanding of the function of morphological structures in their ecological and evolutionary context.

Part I: Conceptual Issues 1. Introduction 2. Conceptual and methodological issues in insect ecomorphology Part II: Ecomorphology of the Insect Body 3. Ecomorphology of the insect head with a focus on the mouthparts of adults 4. Reflections of an insect's lifestyle and habitat: Morphological and ultrastructural adaptations involving the eyes of insects 5. Ecomorphology of insect flight 6. Ecomorphology of polypedal locomotion 7. Ecomorphology and evolution of tarsal and pretarsal attachment organs in insects 8. Ecomorphology of insect ovipositors 9. Insect antennae and olfactory sensilla – aspects of odorant capture and water conservation 10. Ecomorphology of insect mechanosensilla Part III: Methodological Approaches 11. Methods for biomechanical characterization of insect cuticle 12. Shaping up: morphometric approaches to understanding insect behavioral ecology and ecomorphology Part IV: Case Studies 13. Morphological adaptations of beetles to changing living conditions in the Permian and the Mesozoic 14. Ecomorphology of microinsects 15. Nectar-feeding ecology, ecomorphological adaptations, and variation of proboscis length in a long-proboscid fly (Diptera: Nemestrinidae: Prosoeca) 16. Ecomorphology of ants Part V: Biomimetics 17. Ways in which insect biomimetics can benefit from ecomorphological research and vice versa