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THEMES WE EXPLORE


Natural History

Insect Physiology

Sexual Selection

Insect Behavior

Morphological Evolution

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The energetic costs of sexually selected traits. Design by Anita  Weissflog.
paper: 
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bies.202000183

Research

 Sexual selection has long been defined in opposition to ecological selection, suggesting that such traits may limit or constrain ecological adaptation. However, sexual selection drives elaborate growth, enhances neuromuscular physiology, and shapes extreme diversification with clades.  My research takes an integrative approach to understand the ways in which growth, selection, behavior, and phylogenic history shape the evolution of sexually selected traits in insects. 

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New bug reared in The Bug Hut
Beetles weapons in the insect collections
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Excited to be working with the Hemiptera collections with Dino Martins (not pictured) and student intern Christine Kakan at the National Museums of Kenya (Aug 2023)

Below is a sneak peek of our upcoming paper on Panama's jousting weevils.

video by Peter Marting - https://aztecacecropia.com/

CONTACT

Stengl-Wyer Scholar

University of Texas, Austin, TX

Earl S. Tupper Post-Doctoral Fellow

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Gamboa, Panama

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