Spotlight: PhD student Ben de la Fontaine - University of Pretoria and KwaZulu-Natal Museum, South Africa

I am Benjamin de la Fontaine, entomologist and PhD student at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg and the University of Pretoria. My research focus is the taxonomic revision of the Afrotropical nose fly genus Rhyncomya (Calliphoridae: Rhiniinae) as part of the DIPoDIP project. I graduated with a joint BSc in Entomology and Botany, and presently an MSc in Entomology, at Rhodes University in Makhanda. Before transferring to the DIPoDIP Project, I worked on an international biological control project for invasive grasses at the Centre for Biological Control in my capacity as a postgraduate student. It was during this time that I became interested in the systematics of gall midges (Cecidomyiidae) and used genetics and morphology to identify several new species, some with potential biocontrol applications. I have also published and presented research on the fire ecology of southern African mound termites (Termitidae).

Rhyncomya and other nose flies are thought to be an important guild of pollinators. The genus occurs throughout Africa, Europe and Asia, but is most speciose in the Afrotropical region. My goal for the next three years is to expand the collection of Afrotropical Rhyncomya to include their unusual termitophilous larvalstage and link these to the adult stage, which has never been done before. This will involve next-generation sequencing techniques and biogeographic modelling of the distributions of Rhyncomya species and their termite hosts. In the process, I will revise the taxonomy of the genus based on phylogenetic relationships and larval-adult morphology, and produce a comprehensive key for the whole Afrotropical region.

First published in the PINDIP Newsletter on 31 March 2025. Sign up for the PINDIP newsletter at https://www.pindip.org/