About Dr Astrid Eben

Animals and biology were already important to her during her childhood in Lower Bavaria, but instead of studying veterinary medicine, Astrid Eben went on to study agricultural biology at the University of Hohenheim. This is where her interest in herbivorous insects began, especially their biology and ecology. She then completed her doctorate in entomology at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA, on the chemical ecology of Diabroticina leaf beetles and plants from the Cucurbitaceae family. During this time, she spent two years conducting field research at the Instituto de Ecología, A.C. (Inecol) in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, the country of origin of these leaf beetles. Her fascination with this species-rich, little-researched group of beetles and their native country was so great that she remained there for another 15 years. First as a postdoctoral researcher at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) at the Centre for Ecology in Mexico City. The focus was again on chemical ecology, but this time with fruit flies of the genus Anastrepha, their parasitoids and tropical fruit. Subsequently, with a scholarship from the Mexican government, she returned to the Institute of Ecology in Xalapa as an assistant professor to establish the field of insect-plant interactions. From 2002 onwards, she worked there as a full professor in research and teaching, with leaf beetles remaining her passion: in addition to Galerucinae, she also studied Leptinotarsa species, Chrysomelinae and the chemistry of Solanaceae. In addition to ecology, she also worked on issues relating to taxonomy and phylogenetic systematics, spending time at Wageningen University and several European natural history museums. As a long-standing member of the DGaaE, Astrid Eben had maintained contact with Germany from abroad and, as an expert on neotropical Diabrotica sp., was involved in an EU project following the invasion of Europe by the corn rootworm, D. v. virgifera, searching for natural enemies of this species in its country of origin, with a focus on the Tachnidae Celatoria compressa.

In 2010, Ms Eben returned to Germany, where she worked at the Julius Kühn Institute in Dossenheim in the field of chemical ecology on Harmonia axyridis and later on the chemical and acoustic communication of psyllids. After a year at Heidelberg University (Institute for Molecular Biotechnology and Pharmacy), Astrid Eben joined the Entomology Research Group at the JKI in 2015 to conduct research on the fruit fly Drosophila suzukii, which is spreading throughout Europe. In 2021, she took over as head of the Entomology and Biodiversity in Fruit Research Group at the JKI in Dossenheim. As subtropical invasive species are becoming an increasing problem due to climate change, she continues to research exotic herbivorous insects (currently Drosophila suzukii, Ceratitis capitata, Halyomorpha halys and Nezara viridula) with regard to their spread, host preferences and behaviour, with the aim of developing environmentally friendly control mechanisms.