Research Interests

My research interests are in the broad area of physiology and behavior, primarily using insects as model organisms.

In spring of 2007, I began investigating velvetbean caterpillars to search for evidence of larval communication.

In the past, I have explored the ovipositional physiology of mosquito disease vectors, house flies, and gypsy moths.  Males of some medically important mosquito species produce a substance in the seminal fluid that, when transferred to females during mating, induces egg-laying and inhibits female receptivity to additional mating attempts. 

I conducted a detailed search for these endocrine factors, demonstrating that they were likely proteinaceous in nature.  Further, male factors of one mosquito species proved capable of “turning off” females of another species, but the converse was not true.  This suggested a physiological mechanism for a phenomenon known as competitive displacement, in which one population is gradually replaced by a closely related species.  Such knowledge ultimately could provide a basis for developing new strategies for managing mosquito populations and controlling transmission of arthropod-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and West Nile virus.

Tova planting soybeans for velvetbean caterpillar research, May 2007.

 

A. gemmatalis on soybean leaflets.