In May 2019 I was lucky enough to visit the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) Darwin's group. This is a large research group headed by Johanna Mappes. I met Johanna last summer at the International Society for Behavioral Ecology congress, where she was giving one of the plenary lectures. Her lecture was fascinating. She described the work she and her collaborators had done on aposematism using the wood tiger moth, Parasemia plantaginis, as a model species. The work on colour morphs, the interaction with the environment and predators is really interesting, but the fact that Johanna has established various moth populations from different geographical locations in the lab, is what got me interested.
As you might have read from a previous post, I am looking at micropyle diversity - micropyles are small holes in insect eggs which allow the sperm to enter the egg and fertilise it. Micropyles vary a lot but little is known about this variation and I am trying to find out more with a combination of comparative analyses and experimental work. With the help of Sarah Aldridge, we visualised the wood tiger moth's micropyles clearly. I am hoping to investigate variation of micropyle numbers in the various moth populations that Johanna and her collaborators have established in the lab. So if you are a student, and this sounds interesting, please get in touch! And finally of pulla - this is a type of delicately sweet bread, usually in the shape of a bun, that Finnish people love eating alongside their coffee. Having lived in Finland for a couple of years with young children, I immediately got hooked and now it is a staple in our household. I find that baking and cooking are great ways to reliving memories!
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AuthorGraziella Iossa Archives
August 2023
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