Biota

Mariano, Rodolfo, Pinho, Luiz Carlos & Calor, Adolfo R., 2023, Not just a taxonomist, but a naturalist! The foundations of “ Froehlich’s Autonomous Stonefly Republic ”, Revista Brasileira de Entomologia (e 20230066) 67, pp. 2-17 : 5-6

BIOTA period and the Laboratório de Entomologia Aquática, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto

In 1985, CGF retired and moved out to Ribeirão Preto city, São Paulo state, where he started a new cycle at Faculdade de Filosofia , Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto , USP, teaching at the Graduate Entomology Program and participating in the training of several students, mainly on aquatic insects. During this period, he coordinated two of the most critical projects on the aquatic biodiversity of Brazil, the BIOTA projects granted by FAPESP named “Survey and Biology of Freshwater Crustacea, Insecta and Mollusca from São Paulo state ” (1999–2003) and “Survey and Biology of Aquatic Insecta and Oligochaeta from lotic systems in the State of São Paulo ” (2005–2009). With these projects, CGF was able to build roots in the interior of the State of São Paulo, providing resources to build a laboratory specialized in aquatic insects, that trained researchers in systematics and ecology .

During the BIOTA period, CGF experienced the most productive time of his career in different aspects ( Fig. 3 ), with 58 articles (61% of his total), 53 new species described (~45% of total), and 22 graduate students (nine M. Sc., and 13 Ph.D. students), almost 50% of the total.

Figures

Figure 3 The foundation of “Froehlich’s Autonomous Stonefly Republic”. A, Claudio G. Froehlich (CGF), his Ph.D. students Adolfo R. Calor (ARC) and Rodolfo Mariano (RM), and Dr. Eduardo Domínguez (ED) in a collection expedition at the Estação Biológica de Boracéia (EBB/USP), Salesópolis, São Paulo, Brazil, 2007; B, CGF in his classic undergraduate course “Aquatic Entomology” at the EBB/USP, 2005; CGF, his PhD students ARC and RM, and ED in a light trap collect, 2007; CGF and ED in Venerando river, in EBB, collecting stoneflies and mayflies.