Alberto Zilli
A.Zilli@nhm.ac.uk
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Rome in 1963, biologist, I have a PhD in evolutionary biology following a study awarded as the best PhD thesis in entomology by the Academy of Sciences of Ferrara. Invited expert, lecturer and examiner for several modules on zoology, zoogeography, ecology, and entomology at the universities of Rome, I supervised numerous undergraduate and graduate students from several national and foreign universities.
I was employed as biology officer by the Italian State Forestry Corp in the administration of national protected areas and held various curatorial and managerial roles at the Rome Museum of Zoology (1994-2014). Since 2014, I have been working as curator at the Natural History Museum (London), where I currently oversee the Lepidoptera section. Editor, reviewer, and co-founder of numerous specialised journals and series, I have also organised several exhibitions and events, such at the 20th ICE (Florence, as vice-secretary) and the 14th European Congress of Lepidopterology (Rome, as secretary general).
I have authored over 350 scientific and popular contributions, mostly focused on the core subject of my interests, namely morphology, biology and evolution of the Lepidoptera, with special reference to worldwide Noctuidae and Erebidae.
Zilli A., Barbut J., Dorward L.J. & Lees D.C. 2024. The bird tear-drinking moths of the genus Hemiceratoides (Lepidoptera: Erebidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 202(4), zlae047.
Zilli A. & László G.M. 2022. The African members of the Platyja genus group, with description of a new species and comments on other taxa currently attributed to Megacephalomana (Lepidoptera: Erebidae). Integrative Systematics, 5(1): 73–93 + 110.
Zilli A. 2021. Tabwecala robinsoni gen. nov., sp. nov., from Vanuatu and its systematic position in the ‘Ophiusini-Poaphilini’ clade (Lepidoptera, Erebidae). Nota lepidopterologica, 45: 193–211.
Zilli A & Grishin N.V. 2019. Unveiling one of the rarest ‘butterflies’ ever (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae, Noctuidae). Systematic Entomology, 44(2): 384–395.
Lees D.C. & Zilli A. 2019. Moths – Their biology, diversity and evolution. Natural History Museum, London, 208 pp. (Smithsonian Books edition: Moths – a complete guide to biology and behavior).
Zilli A., Varga Z., Ronkay G. & Ronkay L.. 2009. Apameini I. The Witt Catalogue: a Taxonomic Atlas of the Eurasian and North African Noctuoidea 3. Heterocera Press, Budapest, 393 pp.