Prof. Netta Dorchin

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Research in my lab focuses on insect ecology, systematics and evolution, with an emphasis on insect-plant interactions in gall-inducing groups (gall midges and gall wasps). I am also interested in the use of insects for the biological control of invasive weeds and insect pests. In my studies I use morphological, molecular, behavioral and ecological tools to discover new taxa, reconstruct their phylogeny, and infer evolutionary trends among them. I am especially interested in factors that contribute to ecological speciation in phytophagous insects, and explore these topics by combining fieldwork with laboratory and greenhouse experiments. Recent taxonomic studies in my lab dealt with a diversity of insect groups, including fruit flies, gall wasps, bees, parasitic wasps and mayflies, with the aim of promoting the knowledge of the Israeli (and general) insect fauna.

As the chief curator of entomology in the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, I am responsible for the Museum’s biggest zoological collection, currently holding about 2.5 million insect and spider specimens from all over the world. This collection forms the basis for systematic, ecological and evolutionary studies conducted by members of the entomology team and by experts from different parts of the world.

Journal articles

Dorchin N.  2001. Gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) infesting Suaeda monoica (Chenopodiaceae) in Israel. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 103: 561-581.

Dorchin N., Freidberg A. and Aloni, R. 2002. Morphogenesis of stem gall tissues induced by larvae of two cecidomyiid species (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) on Suaeda monoica  (Chenopodiaceae). Canadian Journal of Botany 80: 1141-1150.

Dorchin N., Freidberg A. and Mokady O. 2004. Phylogeny of the Baldratiina (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) inferred from multiple data sources, and evolutionary patterns in plant-galler relationships. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30: 503-515.

Dorchin N. and Freidberg A. 2004. Sex ratio in relation to season and host plant quality in a monogenous stem-galling midge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). Ecological Entomology 29: 677-684.

Dorchin N. 2006. Resource partitioning and exploitative competition in stem-galling midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) mediated by the host plant. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 118 : 111-119.

Dorchin N., Cramer M.D., and Hoffmann J.H. 2006. Photosynthesis and sink activity of wasp-induced galls in Acacia pycnantha. Ecology 87: 1781-1791.

Dorchin N., Scott E.R., and Abrahamson W.G. 2006. First record of Macrolabis (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in America: a new inquiline species from Dasineura folliculi galls on goldenrods. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 99: 656-661.

Dorchin N. and Gullan P.J. 2007. A new genus and species of a lasiopterine gall midge (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) from bud galls on renosterbos, Elytropappus rhinocerotis (Asteraceae), in South Africa. African Entomology 15: 233-240.

Dorchin N., Clarkin C.E., Scott E.R., Luongo M.P., and Abrahamson W.G. 2007. Taxonomy, life history and population sex ratios of North American Dasineura (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) on goldenrods (Asteraceae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 100: 539-548.

Dorchin N. and Freidberg A. 2008. The Chenopodiaceae gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) of the Na’aman salt marsh, Israel. Zootaxa 1937: 1-22.

Dorchin N., Jordan S.D., Scott E.R., Clarkin C.E., Luongo M.P., and Abrahamson W.G. 2009. Behavioral, ecological, and genetic evidence confirm the occurrence of host-associated differentiation in goldenrod gall midges. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22: 729-739.

Dorchin N., McEvoy M.V., Dowling T.A., Abrahamson W.G., and Moore J.G. 2009. Revision of the goldenrod-feeding Rhopalomyia (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in North Amercia. Zootaxa 2152: 1-35.

Dorchin N., Hoffmann J.H., Stirk W.A., Novák O., Strnad M., and van Staden J. 2009. Sexually dimorphic structures correspond to differential phytohormone contents in male and female larvae of a pteromalid wasp. Physiological Entomology 34: 359-369.

Sinclair B.J. and Dorchin N. 2010. Isoptera, Embioptera, Neuroptera, Mecoptera, Raphidioptera and Diptera types in ZFMK. Bonn zoological Bulletin 58: 49-88.

Dorchin N. and Adair R.J. 2011. Two new Dasineura species (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) from coastal tea-tree, Leptospermum laevigatum (Myrtaceae) in Australia. Australian Journal of Entomology 50: 65-71.

Dorchin N. and Freidberg A. 2011. The gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) of Apiaceae in Israel. Zootaxa 3044: 28-48.

Harris K.M. and Dorchin N. 2012. The taxonomic status of Kieffer's type specimens of Afrotropical Cecidomyiidae (Diptera). African Invertebrates 53: 169-174.

Novoselsky T., Freidberg A., Dorchin N., Meltzer N. and Kerzhner I. 2014. The Nnabidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of Israel and the Sinai Peninsula. Zootaxa 3827: 471–492.

Dorchin N., Mifsud D., and Askew R. 2014. Saltbush-associated Asphondylia species (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in the Mediterranean Basin and their chalcidoid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Zootaxa 3869: 383-396.

Dorchin N., Joy J.B., Hilke L.K., Wise M.J., and Abrahamson W.G. 2015. Taxonomy and phylogeny of the Asphondylia species (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) of North American goldenrods: challenging morphology, complex host associations, and cryptic speciation. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 174: 265-304.

Schachar, E., Melika G. and Dorchin N. 2015. Taxonomy and biology of Andricus miriami - a remarkable bud-galling cynipid from the Middle East (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 108: 1-7.

Dorchin N., Astrin J.J., Bodner L., and Harris K.M. 2015. Molecular phylogeny and taxonomic revision of the genus Ozirhincus (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) – long-snouted seed-feeding gall midges on Asteraceae. Plos One 10(7): e0130981. doi:10.1371 (pp. 1-29).

Morgulis E., Freidberg A., and Dorchin N. 2015. Phylogenetic revision of Acanthiophilus (Diptera: Tephritidae), with a description of three new species and a discussion of zoogeography. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 108(6): 1060-1087.

Hayon I., Mendel Z., and Dorchin N. 2016. Predatory gall midges as natural enemies of mealybug pests - diversity, life history, and feeding behavior in diverse agricultural settings. Biological Control 99: 19-27.

Morgulis E., Freidberg A., and Dorchin N. 2016. Phylogenetic Revision of Tephritomyia Hendel (Diptera: Tephritidae), with description of 14 new species. Annals of the Entomological Society of America109(4): 595-628.

Pisanty G., Scheuchl E., and Dorchin N. 2016. Eight new species of Andrena (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Andrenidae) from Israel – a Mediterranean hotspot for wild bees. Zootaxa 4189: 485-515.

Yanai Z., Sartori M., Dor R., and Dorchin N. 2017. Molecular phylogeny and morphological analysis resolve long-standing controversy over generic concepts in the Heptageniidae (Ephemeroptera). Systematic Entomology 42: 182-193. 

Danon G., Ben-Shlomo R., Keidar N., and Dorchin N. 2017. Geographic and behavioral isolation promote the differentiation of parapatric host forms in bud-galling midges. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 121: 163-173.

Schachar E., Inbar M., and Dorchin N. 2017. Taxonomy and biology of Andricus morula, a new gall-wasp species (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae: Cynipini) from Mt Hermon, Israel. Israel Journal of Entomology 47: 87-96.

Pisanty G., Scheuchl E. and Dorchin N. 2018. Taxonomic review of the subgenus Andrena (Poecilandrena) (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae) in Israel and the Levant. Zootaxa 4347(2): 151-188.

Chapters in books

Dorchin N., Harris K.M., and Jaschhof M. 2017. 22. Cecidomyiidae (gall midges). Pp. 581–599 In: Kirk-Spriggs, A.H. & Sinclair, B.J. (eds.), Manual of Afrotropical Diptera. Volume 2. Nematocerous Diptera and lower Brachycera. Suricata 5. Pretoria: SANBI Graphics & Editing.

Papers in proceedings and other unreviewed publications

Dorchin N. 1998. Gall midges infesting Chenopodiaceae: biology and taxonomy. pp. 18-21 In: Biology of Gall Inducing Arthropods (Csóka, G., Mattson, W. J., Stone, G. N. and Price, P. W., Eds.). Forest service – USDA. Mátrafüred, Hungary.

Dorchin N. 2008. Gall Midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), In: Encyclopedia of Entomology. 2nd edition. John L. Capinera (ed.). Springer Verlag. pp. 1576-1580.

Dorchin N. and Freidberg A. 2011. Schizomyia botellus n.sp. – a new bud galling species from Apiaceae in Israel. Zootaxa 3122: 68 (note).

Dorchin N., Kotrba M., Mengual X., and Menzel F. (eds.). 2014. 8th International Congress of Dipterology, Potsdam. Abstract volume. (XXVII+440 pp).

Dorchin N. 2015. Tiny ecosystem engineers: diversity and evolution of gall midges. Knowledge Translation Media, Scientia.