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Diversity Biology Ib Lab
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A lab that traces evolutionary history through the phylogeny and geographic variation of insects such as Drosophila.
AboutAbout the lab
Where does insect diversity come from?
The Katoh Lab conducts research focused on the phylogenetic relationships, genetic diversity, and genetic differentiation of insects, beginning with Drosophila.
Inferring the evolutionary history of organisms from genetic variation is one of the main challenges in phylogenetics, phylogeography, and population genetics.
Insects are an extremely diverse group even among living things, so studying their evolutionary history is expected to explain a considerable part of the origin of biodiversity in nature.
Key terms
- Phylogeography
- A field that examines the phylogeny and distribution of organisms together to infer where they diverged and how they spread
- Geographic variation
- Genetic differences seen between populations of the same species living in distant places
- Phylogenetic tree
- A branching diagram showing how closely organisms are related to one another
NewsLab news
Discovery of "male dimorphism" in a harvestman from Hokkaido
Exploring the evolution of a new species, the "Hokudai Drosophila" (Hokudai-shojobae)
ResearchResearch themes
Using Drosophila and other insects as study material, the lab traces evolutionary history through phylogenetic relationships and genetic differences. Its research rests on two pillars: building phylogenetic trees and surveying the geographic variation of populations.
*Illustrative imagePhylogenetic Evolution of Drosophila
More than 4,000 species of Drosophilidae are known, distributed across the world except in the polar regions. The lab aims to resolve the phylogenetic relationships of species that have received little attention so far and to present a definitive phylogenetic tree.
*Illustrative imageGeographic Variation in Insect Populations
When habitats become separated, variation accumulates in each population and genetic differences grow larger. The lab studies geographic variation in Drosophila and other insect groups to infer the history of how they expanded their distribution, became isolated, and differentiated.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Katoh Lab consist of faculty and students in the doctoral program, the master's program, and the undergraduate program.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorToru Katoh
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Drosophila mimica” Shchurch / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Phylogenetic Evolution of Drosophila: “Drosophila melanogaster under a microscope 01” Gannu03 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Geographic Variation in Insect Populations: “(MHNT) Propylea quatuordecimpunctata on Hypericum perforatum” Didier Descouens / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Morphology and Function III Lab): “Arabidopsis thal background” Reo On / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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