Jakob Damgaard

• Phd
• University of Copenhagen

Gerromorpha Popov, 1971 is a fascinating and diverse insect lineage that evolved about 200 Mya to spend their entire life cycle on the air-water interface and have since colonized all types of aquatic habitats. The sub-family Halobatinae Bianchi, 1896 is particularly interesting because some species have adapted to life on the open ocean-a habitat...

The genus Micronecta Kirkaldy, 1897 is the most species-rich genus in the family Micronectidae, containing more than 160 species. Micronecta is currently divided into 11 subgenera, five of which are monotypic. Moreover, the subgenus Micronecta is an empirical mixture group. The definitions of some subgenera were based on only a few aberrant morphol...

Among hundreds of insect families, Hermatobatidae (commonly known as coral treaders) is one of the most unique. They are small, wingless predac-eous bugs in the suborder Heteroptera. Adults are almost black in colour, measuring about 5 mm in body length and 3 mm in width. Thirteen species are known from tropical coral reefs or rocky shores, but the...

The water boatmen of Corixoidea, a group of aquatic bugs with more than 600 extant species, is one of the largest superfamilies of Nepomorpha. Contrary to the other nepomorphan lineages, the Corixoidea are most diverse in the Laurasian remnant Holarctic region. To explicitly test whether the present-day Holarctic distribution of diverse corixids is...

Holocene climate warming has dramatically altered biological diversity and distributions. Recent human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases will exacerbate global warming and thus induce threats to cold-adapted taxa. However, the impacts of this major climate change on transcontinental temperate species are still poorly understood. Here, we genera...

The Chilean fauna of water bugs comprises seven species of semi-aquatic bugs (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha), representing five genera, three tribes, four subfamilies and four families; and 27 species and one subspecies of aquatic bugs (Heteroptera: Nepomorpha), representing four subgenera, eight genera, three tribes, seven subfamilies, and five familie...

Aim Local environmental selection and lineage admixture have long been accepted as important adaptive mechanisms in adjusting widespread taxa to new environments. We studied a pond skater, Gerris latiabdominis, to explore the relative roles played by these two mechanisms in its process of adaptation to heterogeneous landscapes. Location East Asia....

Climate fluctuations and tectonic reconfigurations associated with environmental changes play large roles in determining patterns of adaptation and diversification, but studies documenting how such drivers have shaped the evolutionary history and diversification dynamics of limnic organisms during the Mesozoic are scarce. Members of the heteroptera...

The Romanian fauna comprises two species of Aquarius Schellenberg, 1800, eight species of Gerris Fabricius, 1794 and one species of Limnoporus Stål, 1868, and we hereby update the distribution and provide insights on the phenology and ecology of all eleven species in this country. We furthermore update the distribution of the two closely related sp...

We investigated the systematics and biogeography of the West-Palaearctic water cricket genus Velia Latreille based on a phylogenetic analysis of five molecular markers obtained from 79% of all known taxa of the subgenera Velia (s. str.) and Velia (Plesiovelia) Tamanini. The results revealed a sister group relationship between Velia (Plesiovelia) an...

Aim Palaeoclimatic and palaeogeological events have been identified as two main factors that influence the genetic structuring of extant organisms. We studied a montane stream‐dwelling insect, Metrocoris sichuanensis , to explore the relative roles played by these two factors in population genetic connectivity. Location Sichuan Basin, China. Meth...

The moss bugs of the Peloridiidae, a small group of cryptic and mostly flightless insects, is the only living family in Coleorrhyncha (Insecta: Hemiptera). Today 37 species in 17 genera are known from eastern Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Patagonia, and the peloridiids are thereby a group with a classical southern Gondwanan distribution...

The phylogeny of true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), one of the most diverse insect groups in terms of morphology and ecology, has been the focus of attention for decades with respect to several deep nodes between the suborders of Hemiptera and the infraorders of Heteroptera. Here, we assembled a phylogenomic data set of 53 taxa and 3102 orthologou...

It is now rare to find a semi-aquatic organism group with which to vigorously test whether their diversification model and distribution pattern are closely related to the Cenozoic temperature variation. This hypothesis is explored for water striders of the genera Aquarius Schellenberg, Gerris Fabricius and Limnoporus Stål, which comprise a monophyl...

In the present paper, we review the fossil record of the Hydrometridae (Hemiptera, Gerromorpha) and present a new species from the Early Cretaceous Crato Formation of Northeastern Brazil, Christometra paradoxa gen. et sp. nov. This species is based on a new specimen (a female), as well as a previously figured one (a male), providing a rare case of...

An annotated review of the Mesoveliidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gerromorpha) of the south-east European countries is provided. Mesovelia thermalis Horváth, 1915 is recorded for the first time from Romania outside of its type locality and for the first time from Bulgaria, Serbia, and Croatia. Therefore, its European geographical range is two times...

Subtropical China is a centre of speciation and well known for its high biological diversity and endemism. To understand the impact of historical, geographical and ecological factors on the intraspecific lineage divergence of invertebrates, we examined these processes in a semiaquatic bug, Microvelia horvathi (Hemiptera: Veliidae). Three hypotheses...

Heteroptera are among the most diverse hemimetabolous insects. Seven infraorders have been recognized within this suborder of Hemiptera. Apart from the well-established sister-group relationship between Cimicomorpha and Pentatomomorpha (= Terheteroptera), the two terminal lineages, the relationships among the other five infraorders are still contro...

The phylogenetic relationships among selected species and genera of Gerrinae (Heteroptera: Gerridae) were investigated in a parsimony analysis of 2268 bp of DNA sequence data from the genes encoding COI + II, 16S rRNA and 28S rRNA. The taxa represented 12 of 15 recognized genera of Gerrinae and with outgroup taxa from all other subfamilies of Gerri...

A phylogeny of the Tingidae is provided on the basis of parsimony analysis with pre-alignment as well as with direct optimization of 2018 bp from five loci (COI, Leu-tRNA, COII, 16S and 28S) and a set of 30 morphological characters. The results obtained with either direct optimization or pre-alignment methods of parsimony clearly show that Cantacad...

Fossil gerromorphan bugs from the C retaceous ( A lbian– C enomanian boundary) amber of C harentes, SW F rance, are reviewed. A larva described by P errichot et al. (2005) as incertae familiae within the G erromorpha is now placed in the M esoveliidae. Three new genera and species are also described and illustrated: Emilianovelia audax S olórzano K...

219 DAMGAARD J. & ZETTEL H. 2014 — The water bugs (Hemiptera-Heteroptera: Gerromorpha and Nepomorpha) of New Caledonia: Diversity, ecology and biogeographical significance, in GuiLbERT é., RObiLLARD T., JOuRDAN H. & GRANDCOLAsP.(eds), Zoologia Neocaledonica 8. Biodiversity studies in New Caledonia. Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris :219-2...

Sea-skaters in the genus Halobates Eschscholtz 1822 include some of the most specialised water striders and are found in tropical and subtropical seas around the world. Even though species of Halobates occur in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea, no extant sea-skater has been reported from the Mediterranean Sea. A fossil, Halobates ruffoi Ande...

The phylogenetic relationships among selected species and genera of Mesoveliidae (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gerromorpha) were investigated in a parsimony analysis of 2858 bp of DNA sequence data from the genes encoding COI + II, 16S rRNA and 28S rRNA. The resulting phylogeny showed that Mesoveloidea williamsi Hungerford, 1929, from the subfa...

The present study summarizes knowledge about phylogenetic relationships of the heteropteran infraorder Gerromorpha. A phylogeny for all families and subfamilies, and for all genera but those assigned to the two most diverse families, Veliidae and Gerridae, is compiled from the many studies by the late Dr. Nils Møller Andersen. Comparisons with rece...

We addressed the phylogeny of cockroaches using DNA sequence data from a broad taxon sample of Dictyoptera and other non-endopterygotan insect orders. We paid special attention to several taxa in which relationships are controversial, or where no molecular evidence has been used previously: Nocticolidae, a family of small, often cave-dwelling cockr...

Potamobates tumaquensis n. sp. from Colombia is described and its phylogenetic relationships and biogeographical char-acteristics discussed. An updated identification key to Potamobates species is also provided.

The moss bug genus Xenophyes from New Zealand is revised. Six species are recognised, four of which are described as new: X. adelphus , X. goniomus , X. metoponcus , and X. rhachilophus . The synonymy of Xenophyes forsteri with X. cascus is confirmed. Illustrated descriptions and identification keys are provided for the adult and the last instar. T...

We investigated phylogenetic relationships among pond skaters (Heteroptera: Gerridae) of the genus Limnogonus Stål 1868 by performing separate and combined parsimony analyses of DNA sequences from three mitochondrial (COI+II, 16SrRNA) and one nuclear (28SrRNA) gene(s). The taxon sample represented almost two thirds of the known diversity, and with...

The fossil history of semi-aquatic bugs (Gerromorpha) is reviewed in light of the many important recent records and new developments in our under-standing of the phylogeny of the group. Based on the age of its sister group, the Panheteroptera, the Gerromorpha probably extends back into the Triassic, even though the oldest fossil forms assigned to t...

Phylogeny of the semiaquatic bugs (Hemiptera-Heteroptera, Gerromorpha) JAKOB DAMGAARD Damgaard, J.: Phylogeny of the semiaquatic bugs (Hemiptera-Heteroptera, Gerromorpha). Insect Syst. Evol. 39: 431-460. Copenhagen, November 2008. ISSN1399-560X. The phylogeny of semi-aquatic bugs (Hemiptera-Heteroptera: Gerromorpha) was tested in parsimony analyses...

We examined phylogenetic relationships among halobatine water striders (Hemiptera, Gerridae) using molecular and morphological data. The molecular data set was 780 bp DNA sequence data from the 3′ half of the mitochondria! gene encoding cytochrome oxidase subunit I from 19 species of sea skaters, Halobates, and one species from each of three relate...

We examined the phylogeny of Mantophasmatodea from southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia) using approx. 1300 bp of mitochondrial DNA sequence data from the genes encoding COI and 16S. The taxon sample comprised multiple specimens from eight described species (Namaquaphasma ookiepense, Austrophasma rawsonvillense, A. caledonense, A. gansbaaiense, L...

The genetic diversity and phylogeny of western Palaearctic members of the Gerris lacustris group was investigated on the basis of 822 bp from the 3´end of the mitochondrial gene encoding COI obtained from 34 specimens of G. lacustris, 16 specimens of G. gibbifer, eight specimens of G. maculatus and seven specimens of G. brasili. Nine haplotypes rep...

Genetic diversity and phylogeography was examined in a survey of 769 bp of COI mtDNA from multiple representatives of fi ve Palaearctic water strider species with diff erent habitat preferences, phenologies and frequencies of various wing morphs: Aquarius najas (DeGeer, 1773), A. paludum (Fabricius, 1794); Gerris lacustris (Linnaeus, 1758), G. cost...

Using molecular and morphological data, we investigate the validity of two hippoboscid species, viz. Ornithomya fringillina (Curtis) and O. chloropus (Bergroth) that are parapatric in northern Europe and had previously been synonymized. We study four morphological characters that had been proposed as diagnostic for species separation, but only one,...

The shape of the dorsal vesical plate was used to determine the extent of morphological differentiation among populations of the water strider Aquarius remigis (Say) (Hemiptera-Heteroptera: Gerridae), and between species assigned to the A. remigis species group. Populations were sampled throughout North America and Mesoamerica, and included paratyp...

This study addresses the phylogenetic relationships within and between two widespread Palaearctic pond skater species, Gerris costae and G. thoracicus, by including new DNA sequence data from the Central Asian G. sahlbergi, traditionally assigned as a close relative of G. costae. The results support the assignment of G. costae and G. thoracicus to...

We studied the phylogenetic history of opossum shrimps of the genus Mysis Latreille, 1802 (Crustacea: Mysida) using parsimony analyses of morphological characters, DNA sequence data from mitochondrial (16S, COI and CytB) and nuclear genes (ITS2, 18S), and eight allozyme loci. With these data we aimed to resolve a long-debated question of the origin...

Elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1α) is already widely used and shows even more promise for phylogenetic studies of Hexapoda. However, paralogous copies and the presence of introns pose problems. We survey exon-intron structure, presence of paralogous copies and the number and extent of sequenced regions in all hexapod orders. We assess the phylogenet...

Genetic diversity and phylogeography was surveyed for the western Palaearctic water strider (Heteroptera, Gerridae) Aquarius najas (DeGeer) based on almost 780 bp of DNA sequence data from the mitochondrial gene encoding cytochrome oxidase c subunit I from 62 specimens sampled throughout its distribution area, and including the two related species...

  We investigated phylogenetic relationships of water striders (Hemiptera-Heteroptera: Gerridae) from the three principal Holarctic genera, Aquarius Schellenberg, Limnoporus Stål and Gerris Fabricius with parsimony analyses of sixty-six morphological characters and DNA sequences from mitochondrial (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I + II; large mitocho...

Morphological characters and molecular sequence data were for the first time analysed separately and combined for the true water bugs (Hemiptera–Heteroptera, infraorder Nepomorpha). Data from forty species representing all families were included, together with two outgroup species representing the infraorders Gerromorpha and Leptopodomorpha. The mo...

The semiaquatic bugs (Hemiptera–Heteroptera, infraorder Gerromorpha), comprising water striders and their allies (c. 1900 described species), are familiar inhabitants of water surfaces in all continents. Recent fossil evidence indicates that the evolutionary history of semiaquatic bugs spans more than 120 million years of geological time. At presen...

Incongruence among trees reconstructed with different data may stem from historical (gene tree-species tree conflict) or process (character change biases) phenomena. Regardless of the source, incongruent data, as determined with “global” measures of homoplasy, have often been excluded from parsimony analysis of the combined data. Recent studies sug...

Incongruence among trees reconstructed with different data may stem from historical (gene tree-species tree conflict) or process (character change biases) phenomena. Regardless of the source, incongruent data, as determined with "global" measures of homoplasy, have often been excluded from parsimony analysis of the combined data. Recent studies sug...

Zettel, H.: Genetic diversity, species phylogeny and historical biogeography of the Aquarius paludum group (Heteroptera: Gerridae). Insect Syst. Evol. 34: 313-328. Copenhagen, September 2003. ISSN 1399-560X. We investigated genetic diversity and phylogeny of all water strider species assigned to the Aquarius paludum species group on basis of 425 bp...

For the insect order Mantophasmatodea, described by K.-D. Klass, O. Zompro, N.P. Kristensen, and J. Adis in 2002 (Science 296: 1456–1459), taxonomically important character systems are explained, which includes the first detailed description of the exoskeleton of the male and female genitalia and antennae. Five new genera including eight new specie...

Phylogenetic relationships between water striders (Heteroptera: Gerridae) of genus Gerris Fabricius were examined using molecular and morphological characters. The molecular dataset was 820 bp DNA from the 3′ half of the mitochondrial gene encoding cytochrome oxidase subunit I and 515 bp DNA from the nuclear gene encoding elongation factor 1 alpha....

We examined phylogenetic relationships among halobatine water striders (Hemiptera, Gerridae) using molecular and morphological data. The molecular data set was 780 bp DNA sequence data from the 3′ half of the mitochondrial gene encoding cytochrome oxidase subunit I from 19 species of sea skaters, Halobates, and one species from each of three relate...

Relatively few insects have invaded the marine environment, and only five species of sea skaters, Halobates Eschscholtz (Hemiptera: Gerridae), have successfully colonized the surface of the open ocean. All five species occur in the Pacific Ocean, H. germanus White also occurs in the Indian Ocean, whereas H. micans Esch- scholtz is the only species...

We examined phylogenetic relationships among gerrid water striders of the genus Aquarius Schellenberg using molecular and morphological characters. The molecular data sets included 780 bp sequence data from the mitochondrial gene encoding cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), and 515 bp sequence data from the nuclear gene encoding elongation factor I...

We examined phylogenetic relationships among gerrid water striders of the genus Aquarius Schellenbrg using molecular and morphological characters. The molecular data sets included 780 bp sequence data from the mitochondrial gene encoding cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), and 515 bp sequence data from the nuclear gene encoding elongation factor 1...

Distribution, phenology and status is given for the five Danish species of larger Branchiopoda. All species are univoltine and inhabit small, temporary waterbodies. The distribution of all species is very restricted in Denmark, probably because of habitat destruction.

Carbon, nitrogen or phosphorus limitation of microbial growth in a forest and a field soil was evaluated from measurements of respiration and protozoan counts after nutrient addition. In both soils simultaneous addition of C (glucose) and N (NH4NO3) resulted in microbial growth as indicated by a gradual increase in respiration rate whereas a single...