Harald W. Krenn in Vienna is an Austrian biologist and a professor for Integrative Zoologie at the Fakultät für Lebenswissenschaften at the university of Vienna.
Education
Harald West. Krenn studied biology and earth science from 1977-1978 and zoology and botany at the university of Vienna. He finished a study of lectureship and environmental science and received his Doctor of Philosophy in 1987 in zoology and botany.
Career
Next to his work as a teacher of biology and as a product manager in the pharmaceutical industry Krenn became assistant professor in 1993 at the Institut für Zoologie at the university of Vienna. After his habilitation in 2001 he became assistant professor at the department of evolutionary biology and from 2012 on at the department of Intergative Zoologie. Since 2012 Krenn is head of Studienprogramme in biology at the university of Vienna.
The investigation of Krenn and coworkers contributed to reveal the form and functional mechanism of insect mouthparts relationships.
The study of insect mouthparts was helpful for the understanding of the functional mechanism of the proboscis of butterflies (Lepidoptera) to elucidate the evolution of new form-function. The study of the proboscis of butterflies revealed surprising examples of adaptations to different kinds of fluid food, for example nectar, plant sap, tree sap, dung) and of adaptations to the use of pollen as complementary food in butterflies of the neotropical genus Heliconius.
An extreme long proboscis appears within different groups of flower visiting insects, but is relatively rare. Current studies represent the first attempt to evaluate costs and benefits of these long sucking organs taking into consideration sucking and pumping organs of different insects.
In a group of Lepidoptera novel mouthpart organ was analysed in detail, not homolog to related Taxa.
A novel mouth part organ evolved in the female Yucca moth and serves for the pollination of the larval host plant. The research activity of Krenn combines experimental field work, for example at the tropical Field Station Louisiana Gamba, Costa Rica, with morphological and experimental studies at the university of Vienna. Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft Austrian Entomological Society Birdlife Austria Auring-Verein Societas Europaea Lepidopterologica.