Dr. J. (Jan) van Tol

Research interests

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Odonata of Sulawesi

Presently, my principal research project is to publish the results of my studies of the Odonata of Sulawesi (Celebes). Various smaller revisions have already been published, while other manuscripts in preparation include several more speciose groups. As in so many other groups of animals and plants, Sulawesi is remarkable in the large number of species in one family, and the complete absence of species of another family. After the description of the patterns, I hope to be able to contribute to the understanding of the processes responsible for the patterns found. For that part of my studies, I am particularly interested in the family Platystictidae. Nearly all species of that family, now mostly assigned to the genera Drepanosticta and Protosticta, have small distributional ranges, but members of the family can be found in almost any part of the mainland of Southeast Asia as well as in the islands of the Malay archipelago.

 

Forest damselflies (Platystictidae)

Forest damselflies (Odonata, Platystictidae) are restricted to Central and the northern part of South America (subfamily Palaemnematinae), and tropical Southeast Asia (subfamilies Platystictinae and Sinostictinae). The family is species-rich, but remarkably homogeneous in general appearance, and based on morphological characters its monophyly is undisputed.

The larvae typically live in small streams or seepage areas in deep shade; the imagos are found hanging on branches or the tips of leaves in such sites. Both larvae and imagos are inconspicuous in coloration and behaviour, and are found in numbers by specialists only. The forest-dwelling platystictids have poor flying capacity. Their low dispersal power is reflected in the small distributional ranges of nearly all species. Despite their homogeneity in habitus, platystictids are remarkably variable in structural details of their anal appendages, secondary genitalia and pronotum. Also, details in coloration show distinct interspecific variation, but one or two species defined by morphological characters have two markedly different colour forms. The family Platystictidae is an almost perfect taxon and an a priori choice for the biogeographer. The diversity and distribution of the Platystictidae seems to be sufficiently known for a reconstruction of the phylogeny and a biogeographical study.

My present projects involve (i) regional revisions (e.g., Sulawesi, the Philippines, Moluccas); several smaller papers in preparation, (ii) reocnstruction of the phylogeny of this family based on morphological and molecular characters, (iii) historical biogeography of the Platystictidae.

 

Phylogeny of the Zygoptera (Odonata)

 

The Naturalis Project team 'Phylogeny and biogeography of Zygoptera (Odonata)' has published a series of revisions and reconstructions of the phylogeny the last few years.We will continue with additional detailed studies, also including molecular studies. Publications on the Platycnemididae (Dijkstra et al.) and Platystictidae (van Tol et al.) are in preparation.

We are also making good progress with the reconstruction of the phylogeny of all Zygoptera, based on limited taxon sampling, of course, using molecular markers. Special attention is paid to the species of Southeast Asia, and studies with more extensive taxon sampling of e.g., Megapodagrionidae (Kalkman) are also near completion.

We would welcome co-operation with everyone interested in the phylogeny of damselflies.  

 

Catalogue of the Odonata of the World

 

A complete catalogue of the Odonata of the world is kept updated. A version with full synonymies and references to the original publications is available at www.odonata.info

A concise version including all recent names can be found on the 'Annual Checklist of the Catalogue of Life' published by Species 2000 and ITIS, or on the website of Species 2000 www.sp2000.org

 

 

Expeditions and fieldwork

I have recently been involved in field work in

2007 southern Vietnam (Chu Yang Sin National Park), in collaboration with the Vietnamese Academy of Sciencies

 

 

2005 SE Kalimantan (Gunung Lumut area)

organized by Tropenbos International, in collaboration with Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia.

Click here for an overview of my fieldwork.

Extramural functions

Netherlands Entomological Society | President nev

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature | Commissioner iczn

Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift | member editorial board dez

 International Journal of Odonatology | editorial board