KMap
My broad area of interest is in ecological and evolutionary physiology: how organisms adjust growth and fitness in response to both short-term and long-term environmental variation. Our lab places a strong emphasis on the whole organism. We combine field, greenhouse and lab experiments and use a diverse set of tools and conceptual frameworks to integrate the fields of physiology, ecology, behavior and evolutionary biology.

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Courses
  • REE
    Research in Ecology and Evolution

  • EP
    Ecological Physiology

  • IB
    Insect Biology

  • MIS
    Methods in Insect Science

Grants
  • Funding agency logo
    How Does Sequential Acquisition of Nutritional Resources Modulate Allocation Decisions? A Whole-Organism Perspective on Life History Tradeoffs

    Co-Investigator (COI)

    2021

    $928.2K
    Active
  • Funding agency logo
    Insects to Address Food Loss

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2020

    $75.0K
  • Funding agency logo
    Team HexaFeast National I-Corps Proposal

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2019

    $50.0K
  • Funding agency logo
    Arizona Insects as Food (AzIF)

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2018

    $100.0K
  • Funding agency logo
    NSF-IOS-BSF: When Physiology Meets Landscape Ecology: Effects of Landscape Fragmentation on Physiological Tradeoffs

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2017

    $657.2K
  • Funding agency logo
    Development of Stable Isotopes & New Biochemical Tools for Identification of Sterile Insects and Determination of Pest Origin

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2016

    $193.5K
  • Funding agency logo
    Collaborative Research: Integration of Physiological, Life-history, and Macro-ecological Approaches for Understanding Thermal Limitation in Aquatic Insects: Implications for Freshw

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2015

    $80.7K
  • Funding agency logo
    Development of Stable Isotopes & New Biochemical Tools for Identification of Sterile Insects and Determination of Pest Origin

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2014

    $133.9K
  • Funding agency logo
    Development of Stable Isotopes and New Biochemical Tools for Identification of Sterile Insects and Determination of Pest Origin

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2013

    $136.2K
  • Funding agency logo
    CAREER: The Flight-Fecundity Tradeoff - Functional Physiology and Fitness

    Principal Investigator (PI)

    2011

    $923.9K
Technologies / Patents
      News
      • Five UArizona researchers named AAAS Fellows

        2023

      • Students Showcase Impactful Tech at Design Day

        2019

      • I-Squared Awards Honor Inventors, Entrepreneurs, Ecosystem Champions

        2018

      • The Value of Nutrition and Exercise, According to a Moth

        2017

      • 32 Students + 15,000 Insects Equals One Biological Clue

        2016

      • Got Nectar? To Hawkmoths, Humidity is a Cue

        2012

      • The Wondrous World of Insects

        2012

      • Moths Tell Us How Organisms Use Resources

        2011

      • Why Female Moths are Big and Beautiful

        2010

      • Giant Moth Honored As Research Heavyweight

        2001

      Publications (81)
      Recent
      • Substrate composition effect on growth of Cotinis mutabilis larvae: a case for detritivore scarabs in the insect agriculture industry

        2022

      • Coevolutionary transitions from antagonism to mutualism explained by the Co-Opted Antagonist Hypothesis.

        2021

      • Bioregenerative Food Production System: Using integrated food production systems to feed the future

        2021

      • Proboscis curling in a pollinator causes extensive pollen movement and loss

        2021

      • The time is ripe for expanded research on mass production of insects as food and feed

        2021

      • Sex differences in the foraging behavior of a generalist hawkmoth.

        2021

      • Habitat-centric versus species-centric approaches to edible insects for food and feed

        2021

      • Within-host competition drives energy allocation trade-offs in an insect parasitoid

        2020

      • How high are the costs inflicted by an herbivorous pollinator?

        2020

      • Size as a Proxy for Longevity in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquitoes

        2020

      • Genetic color polymorphism of the white lined sphinx moth larva, Hyles lineata (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)

        2020

      • Size variation does not act as insurance in bumblebees, instead workers added weight in an unpredictable environment

        2020

      • Diversity and distribution of microbial communities in floral nectar of two night-blooming plants of the Sonoran Desert

        2019

      • Dietary protein and carbohydrates affect immune function and performance in a specialist herbivore insect Manduca sexta

        2019

      • Flight-fecundity tradeoffs in wing-monomorphic insects

        2019

      • Metabolic rate predicts the lifespan of workers in the bumble bee Bombus impatiens

        2019

      • When Landscape Ecology Meets Physiology: Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Resource Allocation Trade-Offs

        2019

      • Diversity and composition of cultivable microbial communities in nectar of moth-pollinated plants in the Sonoran Desert

        2019

      • The nutritional landscape of host plants for a specialist insect herbivore

        2019

      • Life history traits, but not body size, vary systematically along latitudinal gradients on three continents in the widespread yellow dung fly

        2018

      • Context-dependency of in-flight responses by Manduca sexta moths to ambient differences in relative humidity

        2018

      • Nutrient restriction does not magnify a flight-fecundity tradeoff

        2018

      • Within individual resource allocation strategies between sexes on different diet qualities

        2018

      • THE EFFECTS OF THE ALKALOID SCOPOLAMINE ON THE PERFORMANCE AND BEHAVIOR OF TWO CATERPILLAR SPECIES.

        2018

      • Molecular phylogeny, ecology and multispecies aggregation behaviour of bombardier beetles in Arizona

        2018

      • Flight duration and flight muscle ultrastructure of unfed hawk moths

        2018

      • Color alters thermoregulatory behavior in Battus philenor caterpillars by modifying the cue received

        2018

      • More than just sugar: allocation of nectar amino acids and fatty acids in a Lepidopteran

        2017

      • Life-extending dietary restriction and ovariectomy each increase leucine oxidation and alter leucine allocation in grasshoppers

        2017

      • Sex differences in the utilization of essential and non-essential amino acids in Lepidoptera

        2017

      • Linkages between nectaring and oviposition preferences of Manduca sexta on two co-blooming Datura species in the Sonoran Desert

        2017

      • Hawkmoths use nectar sugar to reduce oxidative damage from flight

        2017

      • Effects of sodium puddling on male mating success, courtship and flight in a swallowtail butterfly

        2016

      • Endocrine Proxies Can Simplify Endocrine Complexity to Enable Evolutionary Prediction

        2016

      • Synergism and antagonism of the proximate mechanisms enables and constrains the response to multivariate simultaneous selection: an empirical test using experimental evolution

        2016

      • The effects of the alkaloid scopolamine on the performance and behavior of two caterpillar species

        2016

      • Towards incorporating insect isotope analysis using cavity ring-down spectroscopy into area-wide insect pest management programs

        2016

      • Fed males increase oviposition in female hawkmoths via non-nutritive direct benefits

        2016

      • Synergism and Antagonism of Proximate Mechanisms Enable and Constrain the Response to Simultaneous Selection on Body Size and Development Time: An Empirical Test Using Experimental Evolution

        2016

      • Evidence of a hemolymph-born factor that induces onset of maturation in Manduca sexta larvae

        2015

      • The effect of insect host age and diet on the fitness of the entomopathogenic nematode - bacteria mutualism. Symbiosis

        2015

      • How do insects rely on endogenous protein and lipid resources during lethal bouts of starvation? A new application for 13C-breath testing

        2015

      • How and When Do Insects Rely on Endogenous Protein and Lipid Resources during Lethal Bouts of Starvation? A New Application for 13C-Breath testing

        2015

      • Feeding on the wing: energy allocation and prioritization in the hawk moth Manduca sexta

        2014

      • Effects of predation risk and plant resistance on Manduca sexta caterpillar feeding behaviour and physiology

        2014

      • More is not always better: a hidden cost of the flight-fecundity trade-off in the hawk moth, Manduca sexta

        2014

      • The ontogeny of sexual size dimorphism of a moth: when do males and females grow apart?

        2014

      • The effect of ambient humidity on the foraging behavior of the hawkmoth Manduca sexta

        2013

      • Effects of predation risk and plant resistance on Manduca sexta caterpillar feeding behavior and physiology

        2013

      • Absence of reproductive organs increases somatic maintenance in the Hawk moth, Manduca sexta

        2013

      • An herbivore's thermal tolerance is higher than that of the ant defenders in a desert protection mutualism

        2013

      • Plasticity in learning causes immediate and trans-generational changes in allocation of resources

        2013

      • Mass and volume growth of larval insect tracheal system within a single instar

        2013

      • Effect of insect host age and diet on the fitness of the entomopathogenic nematode-bacteria mutualism

        2013

      • Herbivory of wild Manduca sexta causes fast down-regulation of photosynthetic efficiency in Datura wrightii: an early signaling cascade visualized by chlorophyll fluorescence

        2012

      • Floral humidity as a reliable sensory cue for profitability assessment by nectar-foraging hawkmoths

        2012

      • Predicting the response to simultaneous selection: genetic architecture and physiological constraints

        2012

      • Choice of oviposition sites by Manduca sexta and its consequences for egg and larval performance

        2012

      • Reproductive tradeoffs of learning in a butterfly

        2011

      • Cross-stage consequences of egg temperature in the insect Manduca sexta

        2011

      • Sex-dependent variation in the floral preferences of the hawkmoth Manduca sexta

        2010

      • Conflicting processes in the evolution of body size and development time

        2010

      • Sex differences in phenotypic plasticity of body size and variation in sexual size dimorphism – from physiology to ecology

        2010

      • Sex differences in phenotypic plasticity of a mechanism that controls body size: Implications for sexual size dimorphism

        2010

      • A developmental perspective on the evolution of sexual size dimorphism of a moth

        2010

      • Sex differences in phenotypic plasticity affect variation in sexual size dimorphism in insects: From physiology to evolution

        2010

      • Ecological Developmental Biology: Integrating Epigenetics, Medicine and Evolution. Scott F. Gilbert and David Epel.

        2009

      • Reproductive biology of Datura wrightii: the benefits of a herbivorous pollinator

        2009

      • Insect eggs protected from high temperatures by limited homeothermy of plant leaves

        2009

      • Population and environmental effects on the size-fecundity relationship in a common grasshopper across an aridity gradient

        2008

      • Behavioral consequences of innate preferences and olfactory learning in hawkmoth-flower interactions

        2008

      • Nectar usage in a southern Arizona hawkmoth community

        2008

      • A quantitative analysis of the mechanism that controls body size in Manduca sexta

        2006

      • A physiological perspective on the response of body size and development time to simultaneous directional selection

        2005

      • The effects of environmental variation on a mechanism that controls insect body size

        2004

      • The physiological basis of reaction norms: The interaction among growth rate, the duration of growth and body size

        2004

      • Critical weight in the development of insect body size

        2003

      • Does precipitation variability increase from mesic to xeric biomes?

        2002

      • The developmental and physiological basis of body size evolution in an insect

        2001

      • The latitudinal gradient of species diversity among North American grasshoppers (Acrididae) within a single habitat: a test of the spatial heterogeneity hypothesis

        1998

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