Online Seminar: Dissecting Austromiris: Total evidence phylogeny and the redescription of an endemic

Entomological Society of NSW
Online Seminar Series
Friday 20th February 2026
11am – 12pm

We are hoping for this to be a monthly seminar series on the third Friday of each Month at 11am.

This month's Speaker: Jasmine Lau, the 2025 Ted Taylor Award recipient

Bio

With a recently re-rediscovered passion for insects, Jasmine is a recent graduate of the University of New South Wales (UNSW), dedicating her final year Honours project to a group of endemic Australian mirids. Following graduation, she spent a year with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) working in biosecurity and has just returned to UNSW to commence a postgraduate degree with Professor Gerry Cassis in the Tree of Life Insect Laboratory, delving further into Australian Heteroptera.

Abstract

The endemic Australian mirid genus Austromiris Kirkaldy, 1902 is redescribed alongside the type species, Austromiris viridissimus Kirkaldy, 1902, with the genus defined by a combination of two key morphological characters. The genus Protomiris Poppius, 1911, a current junior synonym of Austromiris, has also been redescribed and resurrected as its own genus, differentiated by three morphological characters, with a redescription of the type species, Protomiris nigronasutus Poppius, 1911. Phylogenetic analyses were performed on nine species across these two genera, including seven new species, using forty-two morphological characters and molecular sequence alignments. Overall, these analyses reveal a monophyletic Austromiris with two distinct subclades, with the morphological, molecular and combined phylogenies supporting the taxonomic decision to separate the two subclades, reinstating Protomiris as a valid genus.

 Microsoft Teams meeting

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/43988768210584?p=yinRiHdhwc9a6k7h9Z

Meeting ID: 439 887 682 105 84

Passcode: bz7DS9Tj