Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Professor Kim Sora’s research team (Insect Systematics and Evolution Laboratory) recently demonstrated outstanding research capability when two graduate students won awards at the 2025 International Autumn Conference of the Korean Society of Applied Entomology held in Jeju.

At the conference, master’s student Hee Han received the Excellence Award for an oral presentation titled “Phylogenomics of the family Erebidae (Lepidoptera, Noctuoidea).”

The study used next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based Anchored Hybrid Enrichment (AHE) gene data to precisely reconstruct the evolutionary history of the family Erebidae, which has been understudied until now.

The family Erebidae, a large clade comprising about 25,000 species worldwide, includes many agricultural and forest pests. Previous research relied on limited gene regions, making accurate phylogenetic resolution difficult. Han Hee’s analysis overcame these limitations, robustly resolving intersubfamilial relationships, and is being regarded as key data for future international taxonomic and phylogenetic studies.

In the same laboratory, master’s student Ji-seung Kim also won the Encouragement Award in the society’s “10th Insect Photography Contest.” Ji-seung Kim drew attention with a photograph capturing the mating of the rare species Rhyacobates chinensis, a water strider that inhabits only the fast currents of pristine upstream streams. The photo was highly praised for realistically depicting the species’ unique ecological behavior, as occurrence records for this species are extremely rare.

Professor Kim Sora, who supervised the students, said, “I am very proud that the two students achieved meaningful results in both academic research and public communication. Our laboratory will continue to strengthen its international competitiveness in insect systematics, evolutionary research, and biodiversity.”