Paul E. Marek

Department of Entomology
Office: Marley 702
Lab: Marley 704
Email: pmarek@email.arizona.edu
Office Telephone: 520-621-7033

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CURRENT RESEARCH

Millipedes are fascinating organisms with plenty of unanswered biological questions begging for attention. For example, the millipede Illacme plenipes is the leggiest animal on the planet with 750 legs. Why this species evolved so many legs is unknown. Some millipedes generate deadly hydrogen cyanide for defense, to which they are surprisingly immune. The mechanism for their immunity is not clearly understood. Millipedes in the genus Motyxia glow neon green. Why they glow (and even how they glow, biochemically) is a mystery.

I am interested in millipede evolution and biodiversity. My research is squarely rooted in estimating evolutionary history to provide an informative context to: (1) address fascinating biological phenomena like bioluminescence, and (2) to establish a framework for describing biodiversity.

I am particularly interested in the evolution of aposematic coloration and mimicry. In the Appalachian Mountains, some millipedes compose intricate mimicry rings where several unrelated species display color and pattern resemblance where they co-occur. These mimicry rings in the Appalachians parallel those in the tropics, like in heliconiine butterflies and poison dart frogs. What’s very interesting is that many of these mimic millipede species are highly polymorphic for color pattern, some species have up to five unique color morphs. Although they have variable color patterns, they often appear exactly alike where they co-occur.