PhilTABS Team

Ireneo L. Lit, Jr., PhD

Dr. Lit is Professor 12 and current Head of the Environmental Biology Division at the Institute of Biological Sciences (IBS), College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). He also heads the Philippine Terrestrial Arthropod Biodiversity Survey (PhilTABS) Group, an endeavor he longed dreamed of and now made possible with the collective efforts of his entomologist colleagues and students at the IBS and the UPLB MNH. His research interests are mainly on the Coccoidea but in addition he has also expanded into the systematics and community ecology of terrestrial arthropods in forest, agricultural, cave, and soil-litter ecosystems and the taxonomy of other groups that has attracted his interests. Dr. Lit served as Director of the UPLB Museum of Natural History (MNH) from 2006-2015 and at present, he still serves as the Curator of mealybugs and other scale insects (Coccomorpha/Coccoidea) in its Entomology Section. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in evolution, systematics, ecology, biogeography, environmental management, and conservation biology.

His discoveries and other research contributions are embodied in 90 peer-reviewed publications. They include more than 30 new species of mealybugs, stick insects and other arthropods as well as more than 50 new faunal records, (including pests and invasive species) and elucidations of fine structures of lac insects and taxonomic concepts and nomenclatural changes. He has also authored numerous popular and semi-technical essays and literary articles (including several signed with his nickname/penname “Jun Lit”). He has also been recognized with numerous awards including the NAST Outstanding Young Scientist Award in 2000, the LB Uichanco Memorial Award for Outstanding Entomologist in 2009 and the NRCP Achievement Award in 2013, among many others. He has also maintained his standing in the UP Scientific Productivity System since 2006, having the rank of UP Scientist III from 2014 to the present. Colleagues have also conferred informal honors through four species named after him. Some of his works are accessible at https://better-lit.com/.

Aimee Lynn B. Dupo, PhD

Dr. Aimee Lynn B. Dupo is the Museum of Natural History’s curator for moths and spiders. She is currently Professor 10 at the Institute of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, UPLB and the Secretary of the UPLB Graduate School.

She has communicated the results of her research through 37 refereed publications and 2 book chapters. In addition, she has described more than 49 species of spiders and 22 species of rice black bugs. Her passion for Science and teaching about biodiversity earned her the NAST Outstanding Young Scientist in 2015 and the Bato Balani Many Faces of a Teacher Award in 2017. 

Kristine O. Abenis, MSc

Ms. Abenis is Assistant Professor in the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and had also taught previously in the Institute of Biology, UP Diliman. She specializes in wasp systematics and ecology. Her Master’s thesis entitled “Taxonomy and Nesting Biology of Philippine Thread-Waisted Wasps of the Tribe Sceliphrini (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Sceliphrinae)” resulted in the description of two new species and one new species record of the genus in the Philippines (in press). She improvised traps for nest-building wasps installed in canopies, which can also be utilized by the team for this pioneering project. Her skill in Hymenoptera identification is not only limited to morphological techniques as she was able to attend a training on barcoding and molecular phylogeny in Korea Research Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB). Her expertise in wasp systematics and ecology was nationally recognized with her contribution to the Philippine Red List for Terrestrial Arthropods. In addition to the several insect identification and ecology subjects that she teaches, she has also been a frequent resource person in several arthropod identification trainings in the country. She has been to several places in the country not only for field expeditions but also for extension projects aiming to equip farmers, forest managers and park rangers with skills in insect identification.

Marnelli S. Alviola, MSc

Ms. Alviola has worked as a University Research Associate since February, 2014. She graduated with the degree of Master of Science in Forestry (Forest Biological Sciences) from the University of the Philippines Los Banos last June 2019. Her master’s thesis is entitled “Collembolan diversity in the canopy and forest floor of different vegetation types in Mt. Makiling, Philippines.” Her thesis is the first comprehensive taxonomic study of Philippine springtails after almost four decades, and also, the first in the country to document both the taxonomy and ecology of canopy Collembola. To complete her thesis, she underwent training on springtail (Collembola) identification in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods, Department of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida, USA. Results of her study include the updated checklist of Collembola in Mt. Makiling, Philippines, three new genus records and several possible new species. Her interest on Collembola (the most represented group under the Non-Insect Hexapods) started in 2012 during her undergraduate years while studying community ecology of soil arthropods in cabbage farms. Aside from the springtails, her focus of research has expanded to the other non-insect hexapods i.e., the Protura and Diplura.