The core of my current research program is the systematics of the fly family Chloropidae, a cosmopolitan family of Diptera with over 2000 described species (and many undescribed species). Chloropids are species-rich and abundant in most terrestrial habitats, especially in open grasslands, wetlands and riparian areas and occupy a broader range of ecological roles than almost any other family of flies. The family also includes pests of cereal crops and vectors of livestock and human diseases. My ongoing systematic research on Chloropidae provides keys and descriptions to facilitate identification of these common flies. This research will also help to construct a phylogenetic framework within which hypotheses on the evolution, ecology and biogeography of Chloropidae can be tested. As an extension of my systematic work I am also involved in large-scale projects to document the diversity of Diptera in particular regions or habitats. Two such projects include the Biological Survey of Canada’s ongoing project on Arthropods of Canadian Grasslands and an inventory of the Chloropidae and selected other acalyptrate Diptera of Costa Rica in conjunction with the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica).

On a broader scale, I am involved in studies of the systematics and biodiversity of other families of Diptera. My graduate students and undergraduate project students have conducted research projects on the families Lauxaniidae, Agromyzidae, Asteiidae, Muscidae, Dolichopodidae, Sarcophagidae and Cecidomyiidae.

The information gained from systematic research provides the necessary tools to conduct species-level inventory work and ecological analyses of Diptera in selected habitats. Students in my lab have studied the higher Diptera associated with xeric northern grasslands, tallgrass prairies, sedge meadows in freshwater wetlands and old growth forests in eastern Canada.

Undergraduate Courses

WILD 212 - Evolution and Systematics
WILD 313 - Phylogeny and Zoogeography
ENTO 440 - Systematic Entomology

Graduate Course

Although my taxonomic focus and primary expertise are in higher Diptera, students in my lab are not necessarily restricted to that group. Taxonomic focus is dictated by the interests and expertise of prospective students and, perhaps more importantly, by the potential sources of funding for a particular project.

My main methodological approach to systematics is the description of taxa and reconstruction of phylogeny using phylogenetic (cladistic) methods based on morphological characters. The species-level taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of many groups of Diptera are so incompletely known that significant advances in knowledge and systematic resolution can be made at low cost and across a broad sample of species (both fresh material and older museum specimens) using morphological characters. In some cases, however, morphology may not provide sufficient resolution for reconstructing phylogeny. After these unresolved relationships have been identified using morphological characters, we have incorporated molecular sequence characters (mitochondrial and nuclear genes) as an additional source of information, as well as a test of morphology-based hypotheses. Molecular work in our lab has been done in collaboration with colleagues who have established labs for molecular systematics.

Resources and collaboration available on the Macdonald Campus include the collection, laboratories and staff of the Lyman Entomological Museum, as well as the Insect Ecology laboratory (Prof. C.M. Buddle, Natural Resource Sciences).

Grégoire Taillefer, A. and T.A. Wheeler. 2011. Community assembly of Diptera following restoration of mined boreal bogs: taxonomic and functional diversity. Journal of Insect Conservation. DOI 10.1007/s10842-011-9403-x

Grégoire Taillefer, A. and T.A. Wheeler. 2011. The genus Calamoncosis in the Nearctic region (Diptera: Chloropidae). The Canadian Entomologist (in press).

Lévesque-Beaudin, V. and T.A. Wheeler. 2011. Spatial scale and nested patterns of beta-diversity in temperate forest Diptera. Insect Conservation and Diversity. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-4598.2010.00127.x

Savage, J., T.A. Wheeler, Moores, A.M.A. and A. Grégoire Taillefer. 2011. Effects of habitat size, vegetation cover and surrounding land use on Diptera diversity in temperate Nearctic bogs. Wetlands 31: 125-134.

Giroux, M., Pape, T. and T.A. Wheeler. 2010. Towards a phylogeny of the flesh flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae): morphology and phylogenetic implications of the acrophallus in the subfamily Sarcophaginae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158: 740-778.

Giroux, M. and T.A. Wheeler. 2010. Systematics of Bulbostyla, a new subgenus of Sarcophaga Meigen, and change of status for Robackina (Diptera: Sarcophagidae). Zootaxa 2553: 35-59.

Grégoire Taillefer, A. and T.A. Wheeler. 2010. The effect of drainage ditches on Brachycera (Diptera) diversity in a southern Quebec peatland. The Canadian Entomologist 142: 160-172

Mlynarek, J.J. and T.A. Wheeler. 2010. Camptopeltes, a new Neotropical genus of oscinelline Chloropidae (Diptera). The Canadian Entomologist 142: 193-199.

Mlynarek, J.J. and T.A. Wheeler. 2010. Systematics of Allomedeia, a new genus of Afrotropical Chloropidae (Diptera). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 103: 465-471.

Reichert, E., M.T, Johnson, E. Chacón, R.S. Anderson and T.A. Wheeler. 2010. Biology and host preferences of Cryptorhynchus melastomae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a possible biocontrol agent for Miconia calvescens (Melastomataceae) in Hawaii. Environmental Entomology 39: 1848-1857.

Wheeler, T.A. 2010. Family Paraleucopidae (paraleucopid flies). pp. 1009-1011 In B.V. Brown, A. Borkent, J.M. Cumming, D.M. Wood, N.E. Woodley and M. Zumbado (eds). Manual of Central American Diptera. Volume 2. National Research Council Press, Ottawa.

Bouchard, P., T.A. Wheeler and H. Goulet. 2006. Ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from alvar habitats in Ontario. Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario (2005) 136: 3-23.

Saumure, R.A., A.D. Walde and T.A. Wheeler. 2006. Non-predatory fly larvae (Delia platura: Anthomyiidae) in a nest of a northern map turtle (Graptemys geographica). Chelonian Conservation and Biology 5: 274-275.

Brooks, S.E., and T.A. Wheeler. 2005. Ethiromyia, a new genus of Holarctic Dolichopodinae (Diptera: Dolichopodidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 107: 489-500.

Wheeler TA. 2004. Bioinformatics and misinformatics: the missing links between taxonomic data and taxonomic databases. Newsletter of the Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods) 23 (1): 20-24.

Fast E, Wheeler TA. 2004. Faunal inventory of Brachycera (Diptera) in an old growth forest at Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec. Fabreries (in press).

Savage J, Wheeler TA, Wiegmann BM. 2004. Phylogenetic analysis of the genus Thricops Rondani (Diptera: Muscidae) based on molecular and morphological characters. Systematic Entomology (in press).

Savage J, Wheeler TA. 2004. Phylogeny of the tribe Azeliini (Diptera: Muscidae). Studia Dipterologica (in press).

Wheeler TA. 2003. A new brachypterous species of Elachiptera (Diptera: Chloropidae) from freshwater wetlands in eastern North America. Zootaxa 360: 1-6.

Wheeler TA. 2003. The role of voucher specimens in validating faunistic and ecological research. Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods) Document Series 9: 1-21.

Wheeler TA, Forrest J. 2003. The Chloropidae (Diptera) of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Insect Systematics and Evolution 34: 265-280.

Beaulieu F, Wheeler TA. 2002. Insects (Diptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera) reared from wetland monocots (Cyperaceae, Poaceae, Typhaceae) in southern Quebec. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 104: 300-308.

Brooks SE, Wheeler TA. 2002. Revision of the Neotropical genus Syntomoneurum Becker (Diptera: Dolichopodidae). Insect Systematics and Evolution 33: 311-324.

Crecco V, Wheeler TA. 2002. Distributional notes on Agromyzidae (Diptera) of alvars on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Arthropods of Canadian Grasslands 8: 27-30.

Forrest J, Wheeler TA. 2002. Asteiidae (Diptera) of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Studia Dipterologica 9: 307-317.

Wheeler TA, Forrest J. 2002. A new species of Elachiptera Macquart from the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, and the taxonomic status of Ceratobarys Coquillett (Diptera: Chloropidae). Zootaxa 98: 1-9.

Wheeler TA, Varady-Szabo H. 2002. Establishment of Urophora quadrifasciata (Diptera: Tephritidae), an introduced seedhead gall fly of knapweed, in eastern Canada. Entomological News 113: 323-325.

Beaulieu F, Wheeler TA. 2001. Inventaire des espèces de brachycères (Diptera) des prés de laîches (Carex: Cyperaceae) de la Réserve nationale de faune du lac Saint-François, Québec. Fabreries 26: 57-74.

Boucher S, Wheeler TA. 2001. Diversity of Agromyzidae (Diptera) in disjunct grasslands of the southern Yukon Territory. The Canadian Entomologist 133: 593-621.

Bouchard P, Hamilton KGA, Wheeler TA. 2001. Diversity and conservation status of prairie endemic Auchenorrhyncha (Homoptera) in alvars of the Great Lakes region. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 132: 39-56.

Wheeler TA, Huber JT, Currie DC. 2001. Label data standards for terrestrial arthropods. Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods) Document Series 8: 1-20.

Bouchard P, Wheeler TA, Goulet H. 2000. Design for a low-cost, covered ramp pitfall trap. The Canadian Entomologist 132: 387-389.

Pérusse J, Wheeler TA. 2000. Revision of the Nearctic species of Lauxania (Diptera: Lauxaniidae). The Canadian Entomologist 132: 411-427.

Wheeler TA. 2000. Carnidae of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador: description and phylogenetic relationships of a new species of Neotropical Meoneura Rondani, 1856 (Diptera: Carnidae). Studia Dipterologica 7: 115-120.

Wheeler TA. 2000. Systematics of Mallochianamyia Santos-Neto (Diptera: Schizophora), Neotropical acalyptrate flies of uncertain family relationships. Insect Systematics and Evolution 31: 209-224.

Wheeler TA. 2000. Information on biodiversity funding: Funding sources for graduate students in arthropod biodiversity. Biological Survey of Canada (Terrestrial Arthropods). Published electronically at www.biology.ualberta.ca/bsc/english/funding.htm

Savage J, Wheeler TA. 1999. Systematics of Cetema Hendel (Diptera: Chloropidae): revision of the Nearctic species and phylogeny and zoogeography of the Holarctic fauna. Entomologica Scandinavica 30: 249-262.

Wheeler TA, Vockeroth JR, Boucher S. 1999. Geomyza tripunctata Fallén, a Palaearctic opomyzid fly new to North America, with notes on range expansions in Holarctic Opomyzidae (Diptera). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 130: 15-20.

Bouchard P, Goulet H, Wheeler TA. 1998. Phenology and habitat preferences of three species of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) associated with alvar habitats in southern Ontario. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 129: 19-29.

de Ville N, Wheeler TA. 1998. The effect of different preserving fluids on insect catches in yellow pan traps. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 129: 31-37.

Wheeler TA. 1995. Systematics of the New World Rachispoda Lioy (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae): morphology, key to species groups, and revisions of the atra, fuscipennis, limosa, and vespertina species groups. Journal of Natural History 29: 159-230.

Wheeler TA, Marshall SA. 1995. Systematics of the New World Rachispoda Lioy (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae): revisions of the Neotropical aequipilosa, divergens, fuscinervis, maculinea, marginalis, and m-nigrum species groups. Journal of Natural History 29: 1209-1307.

Barraclough DA, Wheeler TA. 1995. Three new species of Camillidae (Diptera) from the southwestern Nearctic region, the first species of the family described from the New World. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 97: 737-745.

Wheeler TA. 1994. A new species of Neomeoneurites Hennig (Diptera: Carnidae) from Argentina, with a discussion of male postabdominal structure in the genus. The Canadian Entomologist 126: 435-441.

Wheeler TA. 1994. Conioscinella zetterstedti Andersson (Diptera: Chloropidae), a chloropid fly with polymorphic wing reduction, new to the Nearctic and central Palaearctic regions. The Canadian Entomologist 126: 1377-1381.

Wheeler TA. 1994. A revision of the genus Epichlorops Becker (Diptera: Chloropidae). Entomologica Scandinavica 25: 393-414.