Dominic Wanke

Dr. Dominic Wanke is a researcher specializing in Lepidoptera, particularly the Geometridae family, with a focus on taxonomy, systematics, and biogeography. He is affiliated with the University of Hohenheim and the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, where he works on insect conservation and digital taxonomy. Wanke holds a PhD in Biological Sciences (2020–2023) and a Master's in Biology (2016–2019) from the University of Hohenheim, and has been a freelance researcher at the museum since 2018.

• University of Hohenheim
• State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart

His research spans insect morphology, DNA barcoding, and innovative specimen documentation, as demonstrated in his 2019 development of the Fixator method for arthropod photography in liquid. Wanke has published extensively on Iranian and African Lepidoptera, contributing to the taxonomic clarity of genera like Triphosa and Nychiodes. His recent work (2025) explores how large language models handle insect-related data, highlighting biases in AI representation of biodiversity.

Wanke's publications, including 15 recent articles, reflect his expertise in Geometridae and Sesiidae moths, with a strong emphasis on integrative taxonomy combining molecular and morphological data. His projects often address conservation challenges, biogeographic patterns, and the reassignment of species to new genera, such as the 2023 reclassification of the African moth "Nychiodes" tyttha into Aphilopota.

• Award for best conference poster, 4th Humboldt Reloaded Student Annual Meeting (2015)

He has presented at major conferences, including the XXII European Congress of Lepidopterology (2022) and the 10th Forum Herbulot (2018), and is a member of the Entomological Society Stuttgart, Societas Europaea Lepidopterologica, and the German Arachnological Society. Wanke's email: dominic.wanke@smns-bw.de.