Francisco Hita Garcia Ph.D.

Scientist / (Senior) Scientist

Francisco.HitaGarcia@mfn.berlin+49 0 30 889 140 - 8953
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Department:
Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Discovery

My research focuses on understanding how insect diversity is generated, structured, and maintained, and on developing tools that accelerate the discovery, documentation, and monitoring of that diversity. Ants are central to this agenda: they are globally distributed, ecologically dominant, and hyper-diverse, but their ecology and phenotypic evolution are still poorly understood. I combine 3D next-generation phenomics, such as microtomography, ecology, phylogenomics, biodiversity discovery, as well as biogeography and macroevolution. My long-term goal is to build scalable, collections-based workflows that link phenotypes with genomes and ecology, thus answering fundamental questions in macroecology and macroevolution, while providing robust baselines for biodiversity monitoring and conservation.

I work in the laboratories:
3D LaboratoryMolecular Genetics Facilities
I work in the collections:
Hymenoptera and Neuropterida

Publications

Aibekova, L., Keller, R., Katzke, J., Narendra, A., Hita Garcia, F., Economo, E. (2023). The Evolution of Forward Leaping in Ants. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 62, S5–S5.

Narayanan, S., Das, S., Anvar, Y.M., Tillack, F., Mohapatra, P.P., Gower, D.J., Rajkumar, K.P., Deepak, V. (2023). On the taxonomic validity of Boiga whitakeri Ganesh et al., 2021 with new insights on Boiga dightoni (Boulenger, 1894) (Reptilia: Squamata: Colubridae). Vertebrate Zoology, 73, 1-21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e97002Open Access

Hamer, M., Katzke, J., Tang, K., Weemaels, A., Hita Garcia, F., Economo, E., Guénard, B. (2025). A revision of the rare Strumigenys mnemosyne (Formicidae; Myrmicinae) group using micro-CT scanning, with the description of three new species, and the virtual repair of a broken paratype. PLoS ONE, 20(9), e0331762. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0331762Open Access

Liu, C., Sarnat, E., Tan, J., Janicki, J., Deyrup, J., Ogasawara, M., Grau, M., Qiu, L., Hita Garcia, F., Fischer, G., Caginitoba, A., Narula, N., Darwell, C., Kubota, Y., Pierce, N., Mikheyev, A., Economo, E. (2025). Genomic signatures indicate biodiversity loss in an endemic island ant fauna. Science, 389(6765), 1133-1136. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ads3004

Kass, J.M., Yoshimura, M., Ogasawara, M., Suwabe, M., Hita Garcia, F., Fischer, G., Dudley, K.L., Donohue, I., Economo, E.P. (2023). Breakdown in seasonal dynamics of subtropical ant communities with land-cover change. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290(2008), 20231185. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.1185Open Access

Jiménez-Mejías, P., Manzano, S., Gowda, V., Krell, F.T., Lin, M.Y., Martín-Bravo, S., Martín-Torrijos, L., Nieto Feliner, G., Mosyakin, S.L., Naczi, R.F.C., Acedo, C., Álvarez, I., Crisci, J.V., Luceño Garcés, M., Manning, J., Moreno Saiz, J.C., Muasya, A.M., Riina, R., Meseguer, A.S., Sánchez-Mata, D., Hita Garcia, F., 1542 additional coauthors (2024). Protecting stable biological nomenclatural systems enables universal communication: A collective international appeal. BioScience, 74(7), 467-472. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae043Open Access

Gautam, S., McKenzie, S., Katzke, J., Hita Garcia, F., Yamamoto, S., Economo, E.P. (2024). Evolution of odorant receptor repertoires across Hymenoptera is not linked to the evolution of eusociality. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291(2031), 20241280. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.1280Open Access

Matte, A., Guénard, B., Gautam, S., Azuma, F., Katzke, J., Garcia, F.H., Van De Kamp, T., Economo, E.P. (2025). The evolution of cheaper workers facilitated larger societies and accelerated diversification in ants. Science Advances, 11(51), eadx8068. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx8068Open Access

Aibekova, L., Keller, R.A., Katzke, J., Allman, D.M., Hita-Garcia, F., Labonte, D., Narendra, A., Economo, E.P. (2023). Parallel And Divergent Morphological Adaptations Underlying The Evolution of Jumping Ability in Ants. Integrative Organismal Biology, 5(1), obad026. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obad026Open Access

Nasser, M., Sharaf, M., Aldawood, A., Al-Ashaal, S., Kamal, M., Wetterer, J., Fisher, B., Hita Garcia, F., Heterick, B., Hosni, E. (2025). Forecasting the Future of Brachyponera sennaarensis (Mayr, 1862) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Climate Change, Habitat Degradation, and Management Implications throughout Africa and the Middle East. Annales Zoologici, 75(2), 505-526. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3161/00034541anz2025.75.2.007