Matthew Stansbury
Graduate Student

I am interested in major morphological transitions and the appearance of “novel” traits in evolutionary lineages. Specifically, I investigate the developmental genetics of the luminescent organs of fireflies (Family Lampyridae). As all known members of the family emit light as larvae (who hypothetically use it as an aposematic display), bioluminescence in lampyrids appears to have a single origin. However, the cooption of light production in the sexual displays of adults has occurred in multiple lineages independently, with many taxa undergoing substantial reorganization of photic organ morphology during metamorphosis, including secondar loss of adult bioluminescence. I currently examine the ontogenetic basis of light organs in larvae and how these are developmentally modified in the transition to adulthood. By comparing gene expression profiles of fireflies and their non-luminescent relatives, I hope to gain a mechanistic understanding of how this novel feature arose and diversified within the Coleoptera.