NAILS

The Northern Arizona Insect Lab of Systematics is a group of spirited entomologists based in the southwest US focused on phylogenomics and biodiversity.

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

Introducing NAILS! The Northern Arizona Insect Lab of Systematics is a lab group focused on evolution and systematics of southwestern insects with a focus on beetles, led by Dr. @GreyTGustafson - follow for updates as we progress thru exciting projects!

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

Now is your chance to participate in an exciting study on North America's charismatic Giant Tiger Beetle! Please repost or tag someone you think would be interested. #tigerbeetle #Amblycheila #entomology

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

An Amblycheila schwarzi larva showing off its signature ambush feeding behavior! It’s lightning quick speed is tough to capture as both it and the flightless fruit fly disappear into its burrow.

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

The lab and some lab friends had so much fun sharing the joy of insects at the Flagstaff Science in the Park this weekend! #scicomm

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

Fieldwork was a success! We found our study species, saw some amazing scenery, and a nice bonus - friend of the lab @Evantomology was able to join for a night!

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

And we’re off! NAILS is once again in search of tiger beetles! Lunch break at the Hoover Dam and then winding our way through Death Valley before a night of fieldwork!

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

We love watching the giant tiger beetles do what they do best - being ferocious predators and showing off those mandibles!
Photo 1: Amblycheila baroni
Photo 2: Amblycheila schwarzi

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

In NAILS we’re fond of PI, @GreyTGustafson ‘s adaptation on Dobzhansky: “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of phylogeny.”

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

The crew enjoyed a day full of awesome @SysEB_Entsoc and other talks! #EntSoc22

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

Great work NAILS students! Stay tuned for Grey’s talk on the evolutionary history of Gyrinidae at 4:30PM today in room 217! #EntSoc22

[Grey Gustafson @GreyTGustafson]

Fantastic work presented from the NAILs lab yesterday at #EntSoc22! @coleopte_rachel gave a great grad talk on her tiger beetle research and undergrad Kyleigh present an awesome poster on DNA extraction from large museum specimens! Well done everyone!

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

NAILS folks and friends discussing Tiger beetles, Carabids, and Tenebs abound over beers! Cheers #EntSoc22 #EntSoc2022

[Grey Gustafson @GreyTGustafson]

I'm recruiting two Ph.D. students to join the NAILS team Fall of 2023‼️ Both projects involve tiger beetles, UCE phylogenomics, and biogeography of western U.S. For more information see the info graphic below. Applications due before December 2022. Please retweet! #PhDposition

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

Exciting times ahead indeed! We are quite happy to collaborate on this project with these folks!

[Nicole Gunter @LepanusLady]

@americanbeetles @coleopteriste @luomus @tarasov_sergio @FernandoRVLopes @_FedeLosacco @LifeSciHelsinki Thanks to our awesome collaborators at @SWbeetles we designed a new UCE probe set for this project. Exciting times ahead

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

The NAILS crew (students only this time!) is off in search of beetles one more time before the semester starts! Good luck and stay cool! 🪲

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

Next leg of summer fieldwork featuring the two original NAILS members! 🪲
Cool finds: Moneilema, the cactus longhorn beetle and Timema, a stick insect that is sister to all other Phasmatodeans!

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

Awesome work NAILS crew! A successful start to the summer field season! Next stop: Joshua Tree National Park

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

The NAILS lab is off to California! Here we come tiger beetles!

[Rachel D. Glynn @coleopte_rachel]

And we’re off! First fieldwork trip of the season! Fingers crossed for a successful collecting trip!

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

#FeatureFriday Claudia, one of our many talented undergrads, shares a passion for aquatics, but has been working hard on documenting the mating behavior of tiger beetles as well as curating Diptera in the insect collection! A very productive and impressive senior year! 🪲

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

#FeatureFriday the lab’s first PhD student, Joseph Benzel joined after earning a master’s in entomology at CSU and is studying morphology of the #broadnosedweevil genus Dyslobus and parthenogenesis of certain species! Welcome, Joe and good luck in your studies!

[NAILS @SWbeetles]

#FeatureFriday Kyleigh was our first NAILS undergrad student! She is a sophomore majoring in microbiology and initially reached out wanting to get wet lab experience but fell in love with beetles along the way 🪲