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Tristan McKnight, Contributor
Full name:
Tristan McKnight
City, state, country:
Tucson, AZ, USA
Biography:

I got my PhD at the University of Michigan in 2017, studying the ecology and evolutionary biology of robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae), including a collaboration with Dr. Rob Cannings on the genus Lasiopogon. I cut my teeth working on American and Mongolian robber flies with Dr. Riley Nelson at BYU during my undergrad. After graduating, I spent time in upstate NY as an adjunct professor at St. Lawrence University, and most recently have been working at the University of Arizona.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tristan_Mcknight2

My main interests are systematics (revisionary taxonomy and phylogenetics) and observational field ecology. I'm fascinated by how asilids have diversified thanks in part to niche partitioning perching behavior, phenology, etc. I've also been dabbling with rearing asilids, mark-recapture studies (to investigate territoriality, lifespan, nocturnal behavior, etc), wing interference patterns, and various other projects. I like other bugs too, but especially flies. Most of my experience has been in North America (all over) as well as central Asia. I am fluent in English and Russian, and can get by Spanish.

I'm interested in getting/borrowing/trading for robber flies, especially in 95% alcohol, and particularly from the subfamily Stichopogoninae (Lasiopogon, Stichopogon, Townsendia, Lissoteles, etc). Other asilids (especially Asilinae and Laphriinae) are also welcome, as is precise locality info.

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Some rights reserved. Licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Feel free to use my pictures for non-commercial products, but please send me an email so I'm aware of it. My contributions can remain on Bugguide after I die.

15 images submitted by this contributor