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Research Interests:

I am an evolutionary biologist and entomologist interested in butterfly and moth life history evolution, systematics, and taxonomy. Considering ongoing biodiversity loss and how little we know about the evolutionary relationships and life history strategies of most insects; my lab will work to explore non-model insect classification and document and understand insect-plant relationships that have received little attention and are in dire need of targeted study. The goal being to enrich our understanding of ecologically important systems to inform management and protection of those systems and to better contextualize their role in the environment. To that end, I use phylogenomic methods, custom and established bioinformatic tools, museum collections, and fieldwork in wide range of biomes.

I am also heavily involved in natural history museum stewardship and resilience, with long-term goals for the continued development and use of the CU Entomology collection in local, national, and global biodiversity and conservation research. Natural history museums are one of the best sources of historical biodiversity data and will be centered in my lab's research program.

Selected Publications:

St Laurent RA, Carvalho APS, Orlandin E, Carneiro E. 2024. The life histories of Americerura (Lepidoptera, Notodontidae, Cerurinae) from southern Brazil, with the description of a new species. Journal of Natural History 57 (45–48): 2039–2082. 

St Laurent RA, Goldstein PZ, Miller SE, Robbins RK. 2024. Hiding in Plain Sight: Phylogenomics Reveals a New Branch on the Noctuoidea Tree of Life. Systematic Entomology 49: 258–278 doi:  

St Laurent RA, Goldstein PZ, Miller JS, Markee A, Staude H, Kawahara AY, Miller SE, Robbins RK. 2023. Phylogenetic systematics, diversification, and biogeography of Cerurinae (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae) and a description of a new genus. Insect Systematics and Diversity 7(2): 1–25. doi: 

Li X, Hamilton CA, St Laurent RA, Ballesteros-Mejia L, Markee A, Haxaire J, Rougerie R, Kitching IJ, Kawahara AY. 2022. A diversification relay race from Caribbean-Mesoamerica to the Andes: historical biogeography of Xylophanes hawkmoths. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 289: 20212435. 

St Laurent RA, Carvalho APS, Earl C, Kawahara AY. 2021. Food plant shifts drive the diversification of Sack- bearer moths. The American Naturalist 198 (5): E170–E184. doi: 

Carvalho APS, St Laurent RA, Toussaint EFA, Storer C, Dexter KM, Aduse-Poku K, Kawahara AY. 2021. Is Sexual Conflict a Driver of Speciation? A Case Study With a Tribe of Brush-footed Butterflies. Systematic Biology 70 (3): 413–420. doi: