Student zoology project data presented at international meeting.
At the end of August, John Sloggett, a biology lecturer at the MSP, presented a poster describing research done by MSP students at the 13th Aphidophaga (biology of aphid-eating insects) meeting in Freising, Germany. The poster described aspects of the mating biology of the invasive harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis. “The students looked at mating behavior related to age. Unlike humans, some male animals become more highly sexed as they get old” said Dr. Sloggett.
A group of first year students looked at the age of ladybirds mating in the field. They found that male ladybirds’ interest declined with age. “This is important in the dynamics of diseases that are transmitted during mating” said Dr. Sloggett.
The project was carried out as one of the four 4-week research projects that students do in groups as a part of their studies at the MSP. This was the first project that these students had done. “I really enjoyed the opportunity to work outside in this project” said student Leonardo Veglia, “and it was very interesting to study one animal in such depth”.
John Sloggett at the conference with the poster of the students’ work.
Also read
-
Municipality of Heerlen, Parkstad Urban Region and UM invest 6 million in collaboration
Heerlen grants a one-time contribution of €1,478,050 to Maastricht University as part of the Regio Deal application ‘Fundament onder UM-onderwijs in Heerlen’. This amount comes from the Fonds Economische Structuurversterking (FES). The funding will help establish university education facilities in...
-
Creating added value with biobased and circular materials
On March 20, 2025, experts from the agricultural and chemical worlds gathered at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen for the Agro Meets Smart Materials meeting. The central question: how can agricultural crops and residual flows contribute to the development of sustainable, circular materials...
-
Maastricht will host the 2026 World Conference on Computational Intelligence
In 2026, three major conferences on computational intelligence will convene in Maastricht simultaneously. The IEEE World Conference on Computational Intelligence (IEEE WCCI) will be the world's largest technical event in computer science, focusing on applications such as artificial intelligence.
