Simon Küpper

M.Sc. Student

Zoological Institute and Museum
General and Systematic Zoology

Loitzer Str. 26
Building 3.3, Room 0.50
17489 Greifswald
sk122802(at)uni-greifswald(dot)de

Research interests

My research interests mainly focus on the morphology of reproductive organs and the courtship behavior of insects, especially the acoustic and vibrational communication between males and females. I am interested in how environmental factors can influence these communication modes and how much information an individual can transmit to another via vibratory signals.

For my research, I work with Mantophasmatodea, an insect order from southern Africa that was discovered just in 2002.

Curriculum Vitae
Education
April 2016 – ongoing Master of Science Biodiversity and Ecology, University of Greifswald
October 2012 – February 2016 Bachelor of Science Biology, University of Greifswald. Bachelor Thesis: “Rekonstruktion und Vergleich der weiblichen Reproduktionsorgane zweier Mantophasmatodea-Arten (Insecta)” („Reconstruction and comparison of the female reproductive organs of two Mantophasmatodea species (Insecta) “)
Fieldwork Experience and Research stays
01/2018 Scientific Drawing and Taxonomy of Mantophasmatodea. Internship at the Senckenberg Natural history collection, Dresden. Lab of Dr. K.-D. Klass.
08/2016 – 09/2016 Behavioural experiments on Mantophasmatodea. Laboratory work in the University of Cape Town, field work in the Western Cape, South Africa. Lab of Prof. M. D. Picker.
Professional Affiliations
German Zoological Society (DZG)
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Conference Abstracts
2017 “Variations in vibrational signals of Karoophasma biedouwense” Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society, 12.-16. September, Bielefeld (Germany). Poster
2016 “The female reproductive system of two sympatric heelwalkers (Insecta: Mantophasmatodea) – A comparison using μ-CT” DZG Graduate Meeting Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, 06.-09. March, Greifswald (Germany). Poster
2015 “The female reproductive system of two sympatric heelwalkers (Insecta: Mantophasmatodea) – A comparison using μ-CT” Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society, 9.-12. September, Graz (Austria). Poster
Recent Projects
Anatomy and morphology of the female reproductive system of Mantophasmatodea
The influence of temperature, food availability, age, and mating status on the vibrational communication signals of Mantophasmatodea. Including field and lab work in South Africa. (Masterthesis)