Mariam Lekveishvili
	The Ohio State University Museum of Biodiversity 1315 Kinnear Rd Columbus, OH 43212 Tel: (614) 292 7180 Fax: (614) 292 7774 E-mail: lekveishvili.1@osu.edu

 

My studies are mostly focused on evolutionary biology of mites.  The main group of interest is infraorder Sejina (Mesostigmata) and I study thier systematics and phylogeny based on morphology and DNA. I am also interested in other arthropods, namely, spiders and termites.  My research includes studies ranging from higher level phylogeny to population genetics.

 

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Ph.D. in Zoology, Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2004. Thesis: "Phylogeny and taxonomy of family Sejidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) (entire research was conducted in the Acarology Collection at the Ohio State University – advisor Dr. Hans Klompen)
M.S. in Zoology, Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia, 1995
B.S. in Biology & Chemistry, Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia, 1993

Phylogenetics Symposium and Workshop, Ohio State University, 2005

Introductory and Medical -Veterinary Acarology, Acarology Summer Program, Ohio State University, 2001

Agricultural Acarology, Acarology Summer Program, Ohio State University, 2000

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Research Associate, Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2005 – current
Research Associate, Acarology Laboratory, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2002 - 2005
Research Investigator, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2000-2002
Research Assistant, Department of Ecology, Tbilisi State University, Georgia, 1995-2000

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Instructor, Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
ENT 795: Systematics: Alignments in Phylogenetic Context; Spring, 2007

 

PUBLICATIONS 

Klompen,  H., Lekveishvili, M. & Black, B. 2006. Phylogeny of parasitiform mites (Acari) based on rDNA  Molecular phylogenetics and Evolution  doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.10.024 PDF (976K)

Lekveishvili, M & Klompen, H. 2006. New classification of the family Sejidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) based on morphological analyses  Journal of Natural History, 40 (41-43): 2317-2339 PDF (700K)

Lekveishvili, M & Krantz, G. W. 2004. A new genus of the family Sejidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) based on Sejus krantzi and S. manualkrantzi Hirschmann, 1991 Systematic and Applied Acarology Special Publications, 20: 1-4 PDF (28K)

Lekveishvili, M. & Klompen, H. 2004. A new species of Sejidae (Acari: Mesostigamta) from the southeastern US International Journal of Acarology, 30: 229-238 PDF (720K)

Lekveishvili, M. & Klompen, H. 2004. Phylogeny of infraorder Sejina (Acari: Mesostigmata) Zootaxa, 629: 1-19 PDF (160K)

Klimov, P., Lekveishviili, M., Dowling, A., Oconnor, B. 2004. Multivariate Analysis of Morphological Variation in Two Cryptic Species of Sancassania (Acari: Acaridae) from Costa Rica Annals of the ESA, Vol 97, no. 2,  323-345 PDF (952K)

Lekveishvili M. 2000. Genus Ctenoglyphus Berl. (Acaroidea; Glycyphagidae) for The Fauna of Georgia, Bull. of Zool. Inst., 20: 341-344

Lekveishvili M., Kintsurashvili N., Bachtadze G. 2000. Karyotype of Acaroid Mite Ctenoglyphus canestrinii (Arm.) (Acaroidea: Glycyphagidae), Bull. of Zool. Inst., 20: 339-340

PRESENTATIONS

Lekveishvili, M., Blackledge, T., Hayashi, C., Scharff, N. & Wenzel, J. Phylogeny of orb-weaving spiders based on Myosin II Heavy Chain Intron DNA sequence data Willi Hennig Society Meeting, 2007, New Orleans (oral presentation)

Lekveishvili, M., Jones, S., & Ye, Y.  Determining parentage in termite laboratory colonies using microsatelites  ESA Annual Meeting, 2006, Indianapolis, IN (oral presentation)

Lekveishvili, M., Blackledge, T., Hayashi, C., Scharff, N. & Wenzel, J. Utility of Myosin II Heavy Chain    DNA sequence data for phylogenetic relationships in orb-weaving spiders ESA Annual Meeting, 2006, Indianapolis, IN (oral presentation)

Lekveishvili, M.  Phylogeny of family Sejidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) based on morphological and molecular data Tbilisi State University, 2004, Tbilisi, Georgia (oral presentation)

Lekveishvili, M & Klompen, H. First results of phylogenetic study of family Sejidae (Acari: Mesostigmata) based on morphological and molecular data ESA Annual Meeting, 2003, Cincinnati, OH (oral presentation)

Lekveishviili, M., Klimov, P. & Oconnor, B. Phylogeny and historical ecology of some mushroom-associated mites of the genus Sancassania (Acari, Acaridae) with some new generic synonymies  PEET  Annual meeting, 2002, San Francisco, CA (poster) JPG (660K)

Lekveishviili, M., Klimov, P., & Oconnor, B. Phylogeny and historical ecology of some mushroom-associated mites of the genus Sancassania (Acari, Acaridae) with some new generic synonymies ESA Annual Meeting, 2001, San Diego, CA (poster) JPG (500K)

AWARD

Johnston Memorial Fund Award, Ohio, 2000

 

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Acarological Society of America (ASA)
Entomological Society of America (ESA)
Systematic and Applied Acarology Society (SAAS)
Willi Hennig Society (WHS)

LANGUAGES

English, Russian, Georgian

SERVICE TO SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY

Ad hoc reviewer for journals:

Entomological Science
Systematic Entomology
International Journal of Acarology
Zootaxa
Acarina