Mattias Larsson

Researcher/associate prof Chemical ecology V building +46 40 41 53 10 +46 732 44 53 88 Fax +46 40 46 21 66 mattias.larsson@slu.se

Postal address Dept. of Plant Protection Biology  Box 102 SE-230 53 Alnarp Sweden Visiting address                         Delivery address Sundsvägen 14                           Växtskyddsvägen 3

Education

M.Sc. Lund University. 1997
Ph.D. Lund University. 2001

Research projects

My broad scientific interest is the evolution of olfactory and other sensory signals and the function of olfactory systems. In this context I study production and perception of olfactory signals, at different levels of evolution, genetics, sensory physiology, and behaviour. I study these questions in a broad range of insect species and host systems, in order to understand how insects adapt to different olfactory environments.

My main research interest is the olfactory system of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and other drosophilid flies: the function of their olfactory systems and how this relates to their odour worlds. By performing targeted modifications in Drosophila, I study the function of specific components of the olfactory system.

Another main model system is the olfactory system and host selection mechanisms in the noctuid moth Spodoptera littoralis, where I study variation in host preference hierarchies, and where I am identifying and characterizing antennal olfactory receptor genes, in collaboration with INRA Versaillses, France.

I have also initiated the PheroBio-program for pheromone monitoring in conservation biology. PheroBio includes monitoring of threatened insects with pheromone traps and other semiochemicals, in combination with genetic markers to study their population structures in heterogeneous environments. Our model systems include the saproxylic hermit beetle Osmoderma eremita, the click beetle Elater ferrugineus, and several species of saproxylic Tineid moths.

Teaching

Ecology, 10 HP 2010 (BI 1063), link >>> 
Kemi och Ekologi för den agrara näringen, 10 HP 2009