About our research
Contact
Paul Marek
Department of Entomology
Virginia Tech (MC0319)
Price Hall, Room 216A
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
email: pmarek@vt.eduTags
- Apheloria
- Appalachia
- Appalachioria
- arthropods
- beetle
- biodiversity
- bioluminescent
- Brachoria
- Brachycybe
- California
- centipede
- Costa Rica
- cyanide
- decomposer
- fieldwork
- Illacme plenipes
- laboratory
- Lepidoptera
- millipede
- mimicry
- Motyxia
- Mozambique
- Nannaria
- Narceus
- photography
- tarantula
- Vietnam
- Virginia
- wasps
-
Recent Posts
Tag Archives: millipede
Gorongosa National Park
Last week, I returned from a field trip to Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. This trip included field work to collect millipedes in Gorongosa National Park and a two-week workshop on arthropod macrophotography. Doratogonus sp. (Spirostreptida) from Chitengo Campsite, Gorongosa … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged biodiversity, fieldwork, millipede, Mozambique, photography
4 Comments
Gorongosa National Park (part 2)
Amphisbaenian worm lizard Dung roller beetle (family Scarabaeidae) Giant pill millipede (family Sphaerotheriidae) | Picture 2 Scorpion (genus Uroplectes?)—likely rather venomous judging by its fat tail and thin pincers (family Buthidae) Water measurer (family Hydrometridae) Armored Katydid nymphs (Enyaliopsis sp., … Continue reading
In the field: Clinch Mountain, Virginia
Chaetaspis albus Bollman, 1887 from Clinch Mountain, Virginia Last Monday, we traveled to Mendota, Virginia to search for the millipede Rhysodesmus restans Hoffman, 1998. The species is one of two Appalachian representatives of the genus, and otherwise known from the … Continue reading
Collecting millipedes in Vietnam
Post by PhD student Derek Hennen who is an expert in millipedes and natural history After a successful week of the 17th International Congress on Myriapodology in Krabi, our group headed on to Vietnam. Permits in hand, we landed in … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged arthropods, beetle, biodiversity, centipede, fieldwork, millipede, Vietnam
4 Comments
Collecting millipedes in Vietnam (part 2)
Temple complex in Tam Đảo National Park Our next stop took us higher into the mountains, and we found ourselves in Tam Đảo National Park. After a beautiful drive up, we found ourselves above the clouds and were eager to … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged beetle, biodiversity, centipede, fieldwork, millipede, Vietnam
Leave a comment
The Rush of Discovery
Post by PhD student Jackson Means who is an expert in the taxonomy of Nannaria Taxonomy, the naming and description of species, can be a tedious and exhausting undertaking. When one does taxonomy there are often long periods of intense … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Appalachia, biodiversity, fieldwork, millipede, Nannaria
Leave a comment
Cedar glade mimic millipede
Cedar glade mimic millipede This millipede is the species Brachoria cedra Keeton, 1959 from the The Cedars Natural Area Preserve in Lee County, Virginia. The Cedars Preserve is a wonderful limestone glade habitat, and it gets its name from the … Continue reading
The luminous mountain millipedes
This week, we published a study documenting the rediscovery of the millipede Xystocheir bistipita, which turns out to be bioluminescent and a species of Motyxia, the Luminous mountain millipedes (Marek & Moore, 2015). A few folks have asked what the … Continue reading
Why study bioluminescence?
The bioluminescent jellyfish Aequorea victoria is the source of green fluorescent protein (GFP) Credit: Sierra Blakely, Wikimedia Commons My research team, which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), explores bioluminescence—the biological production of light by natural chemical reactions. … Continue reading
Collecting millipedes on Brush Mountain
(left to right) Paul Marek, Jackson Means, Katy Lawler, Nina Zegler and Elizabeth Francis On Friday, we collected millipedes on Brush Mountain near Blacksburg, Virginia. We found the genera Narceus, Pseudopolydesmus, Apheloria, Rudiloria, and Nannaria. Other fascinating discoveries included several … Continue reading