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Kathy Feng-Yi Su is an entomologist and evolutionary biologist from Singapore. She is an academic researcher, whose work focusses on sexual dimorphism particularly in the family Sepsidae.
Su is an expert in sexual dimorphism across species and her research in Diptera has shown how it is affected by ecological and molecular mechanisms. [1] As an entomologist she is a leading expert in Sepsidae taxonomy. [2] She is also interested in phylogeny, including the theoretical aspects of sequence data analysis. [3]
Su described a new species of sepsid fly, Themira Iohmanus, discovered in from Central Park. [4] The genera has only thirteen species, so the discovery of an additional species is highly notable, particularly because its location is in one of the most intensely populated cities in the world. [5]
Su has researched mating behaviours in several species, but her most significant work is on flies and how genetic and social processes produce sexual dimorphism.
Su has studied the link between mating call and genetics in South-East Asian anuran (frog) populations [6] and male and female courtship behaviour in jumping spiders. [7] This research has shown that genetic links between certain courtship behaviours can be seen within in species, which has an impact on our understanding of evolution.
Working within international scientific programmes, Su's research into the evolution of sepsid flies, has a particular emphasis on functional change and sexual dimorphism in sepsid species. [8] Her research has shown how abdominal appendages in sepsid flies developed [9] and how they are influenced by histoblast nest size. [10] How mounting position can produce sexual dimorphisms in sepsid flies. [11] How and why genetically fly pigmentation emerged and diverged. [12] How site specific mutations can cause produce contradictory phenotypes as a process in evolution. [13]
Su completed her doctoral research at Aix-Marseille University, France, after completing her BA and MA at the National University of Singapore. [14] She is Lee Kuan Yew Post-doctoral Fellow at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Biological Sciences.
Source: [15]
| 2014 - Present | Lee Kuan Yew Postdoctoral Fellowship |
| 2013 | EDEN Research Exchange Grant |
| 2010 - 2011 | ARC Foundation for cancer research |
| 2007 - 2010 | French Ministry of Higher Education and Research Award |
| 2007 | Brundin Award, student presentation prize at the 26th Annual Willi Hennig Society Meeting, New Orleans, USA |
The Piophilidae are a family of "true flies", in the order Diptera. The so-called cheese flies are the best-known members, but most species of the Piophilidae are scavengers in animal products, carrion, and fungi. They may accordingly be important in forensic entomology and medical entomology. For a fly maggot, the larvae of many species have an unusually well-developed ability to leap when alarmed or when abandoning their larval food to pupate; they accordingly may be known as cheese skippers or other kinds of skippers according to their food source.
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- di- "two", and πτερόν pteron "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced mechanosensory organs known as halteres, which act as high-speed sensors of rotational movement and allow dipterans to perform advanced aerobatics. Diptera is a large order containing an estimated 1,000,000 species including horse-flies, crane flies, hoverflies, mosquitoes and others, although only about 125,000 species have been described.
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecious species, which consist of most animals and some plants. Differences may include secondary sex characteristics, size, weight, color, markings, or behavioral or cognitive traits. Male-male reproductive competition has evolved a diverse array of sexually dimorphic traits. Aggressive utility traits such as "battle" teeth and blunt heads reinforced as battering rams are used as weapons in aggressive interactions between rivals. Passive displays such as ornamental feathering or song-calling have also evolved mainly through sexual selection. These differences may be subtle or exaggerated and may be subjected to sexual selection and natural selection. The opposite of dimorphism is monomorphism, when both biological sexes are phenotypically indistinguishable from each other.
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to forage for food crawling or burrowing in the mud and sand, usually small arthropods such as aquatic insects or crustaceans. The term "wader" is used in Europe, while "shorebird" is used in North America, where "wader" may be used instead to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons.
The Sepsidae are a family of flies, commonly called the black scavenger flies or ensign flies. Over 300 species are described worldwide. They are usually found around dung or decaying plant and animal material. Many species resemble ants, having a "waist" and glossy black body. Many Sepsidae have a curious wing-waving habit made more apparent by dark patches at the wing end.
Muscoidea is a superfamily of flies in the subsection Calyptratae. Muscoidea, with approximately 7000 described species, is nearly 5% of the known species level diversity of the Diptera, the true flies. Most muscoid flies are saprophagous, coprophagous or necrophagous as larvae, but some species are parasitic, predatory, or phytophagous. In September 2008, a study was done on the superfamily using both nucleic and mitochondrial DNA and the conclusion suggested that Muscoidea may actually be paraphyletic.
Stalk-eyed flies are insects of the fly family Diopsidae. The family is distinguished from most other flies by most members of the family possessing "eyestalks": projections from the sides of the head with the eyes at the end. Some fly species from other families such as Drosophilidae, Platystomatidae, Richardiidae, and Tephritidae have similar heads, but the unique character of the Diopsidae is that their antennae are located on the stalk, rather than in the middle of the head as in all other flies. Stalked eyes are present in all members of the subfamily Diopsinae, but are absent in the Centrioncinae, which retain unstalked eyes similar to those of other flies. The stalked eyes are usually sexually dimorphic, with eyestalks present but shorter in females.
The Neriidae are a family of true flies (Diptera) closely related to the Micropezidae. Some species are known as cactus flies, while others have been called banana stalk flies and the family was earlier treated as subfamily of the Micropezidae which are often called stilt-legged flies. Neriids differ from micropezids in having no significant reduction of the fore legs. Neriids breed in rotting vegetation, such as decaying tree bark or rotting fruit. About 100 species are placed in 19 genera. Neriidae are found mainly in tropical regions, but two North American genera occur, each with one species, and one species of Telostylinus occurs in temperate regions of eastern Australia.
Sepsis cynipsea is a European species of fly and member of the family Sepsidae. It is a coprophagous fly that feeds on dung. These flies are most commonly found around freshly laid cattle dung where they eat and reproduce. Due to human agricultural practices involving cows, these flies are now common in other areas of the world.
Sepsis is a genus of flies in the family Sepsidae.
Themira is a genus of flies in the family Sepsidae.
Troglomorphism is the morphological adaptation of an animal to living in the constant darkness of caves, characterised by features such as loss of pigment, reduced eyesight or blindness, and frequently with attenuated bodies or appendages. The terms troglobitic, stygobitic, stygofauna, troglofauna, and hypogean or hypogeic, are often used for cave-dwelling organisms.
Themira nigricornis is a species of black scavenger fly in the family Sepsidae. It is found in Europe.
Timema cristinae, or Cristina's timema, is a species of walking stick in the family Timematidae. This species is named in recognition of the person who first found and collected it, Cristina Sandoval. It is found in North America, in a small region of southern California, US. T. cristinae is one of the smallest species of stick insects. They are flightless, and feed on the shrubs on which they live.
Prochyliza xanthostoma, the waltzing fly, is a species of carrion-feeding cheese skipper, insects in the family Piophilidae and the order Diptera. P. xanthostoma is a member of the genus Prochyliza, which contains eleven species. The adult flies are found through North America and are brown-bodied, with orange and black coloring. Mating occurs on animal carcasses and male perform mating rituals; females engage in ejaculate feeding. The waltzing fly is known for its exaggerated sexual dimorphism and has thus become a prominent model for sexual dimorphism and larval behavior. These organisms are known as cheese skippers because when startled, the larvae can leap several inches into the air. P. xanthostoma is an important model organism for sexual selection, larval behavior, and adult reproductive success and survivability.
Derocephalus angusticollis is a fly in the family Neriidae. They are typically found on the east coast of Australia near rotting vegetation. Aggregating on the rotting bark of trees such as Acacia longifolia and other trees in New South Wales and southern Queensland. D. angusticollis flies found in the wild have accelerated speeds of development and age of mortality when compared to those in captivity. Derocephalus One characteristic of the neriid fly is that it demonstrates sexual dimorphism. Males have a larger build as well as exaggerated physical characteristics such as wider heads and longer limbs. Certain phenotypic characteristics are dependent on the diet of the parents.
Sepsis thoracica, more commonly known as the black scavenger fly, a species of fly from the genus Sepsis and the family Sepsidae. It was discovered by Robineau-Desvoidy in 1830. It resembles a small flying ant. The fly is most commonly found inhabiting cow dung.
Fuxianhuiida is an extinct clade of arthropods from the Cambrian of China. All currently known species are from Cambrian Series 2 aged deposits in Yunnan Province, including the Chengjiang biota. Although historically suggested to be members of the arthropod stem group recent research has suggested that they may be closely related to mandibulates. Many specimens are known with exceptional soft tissue preservation, including preserved guts and neural tissue, which given their basal phylogenetic position makes them important in understanding the evolution of Arthropoda as a whole. They reach a size of up to 15 cm, and are interpreted as benthic predators and scavengers. The Fuxianhuiid exoskeleton is unmineralised, and the number of tergites ranges from 15 to over 40. The cephalon is covered by a head shield and contains stalked eyes connected by the anterior sclerite, antennae, a butterfly shaped hyposome and a posterior facing mouth. Fuxianhuiids possess specialized post-antennal appendages with serrated edges used for food processing. The presence of gnathobases in members of Chengjiangocardidae suggests that they were capable of durophagy. In most Fuxianhuiids, the thorax tergites narrow posteriorly, terminating in either a swimming paddle or paired flukes with a tail spine. In members of Fuxianhuiidae the thorax is divided into two sections, the anterior wide opisthothorax and the posterior narrow limbless tail-like abdomen.
Dioicy is a sexual system in non-vascular plants where archegonia and antheridia are produced on separate gametophytes. It is one of the two main sexual systems in bryophytes, the other being monoicy. Both dioicous and monoicous gametophytes produce gametes in gametangia by mitosis rather than meiosis, so that sperm and eggs are genetically identical with their parent gametophyte.
Themira lohmanus, Lohman's ensign-fly, is a species of fly in the family Sepsidae discovered in Central Park, New York City in 2017. Notable for its late discovery despite living in an extremely well-documented area, the fly was first collected by scientists in 2007, being misidentified as the closely related Themira biloba due to the two flies' very similar appearance. The failure of mating trials conducted ten years later between known T. biloba specimens and the New York City species confirmed its identity as a separate taxon.