BIOMEDICAL CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR MINORITY STUDENTS

利用种内化学线索(信息素)作为性引诱剂 已报告的昆虫目，毛翅目。 (Wood and Resh，1984)。而一些假定的信息素已经被 识别，行为效能，进化意义，以及 利用这些化学物质评估成虫密度的可能性 卡迪蝇仍不为人所知。这个项目的目标是，第一， 以现场测试已在 化学和神经生理水平，但谁的行为作用不是 目前还不得而知。如果这些化合物确实是信息素，包含 化学物质应该会吸引成虫。第二，我们将探索 信息素诱捕器作为水质评价新技术的应用。 由于在水生栖息地中发现了瓢虫幼虫，因此选择抽样 通过使用以信息素为诱饵的诱捕器可以 简化和加快其存在的物种的识别 表示水质的。我们还将使用组织学技术来 探索毛翅目嗅觉神经通路的组织；以及 将它们与关系密切的昆虫目鳞翅目(蛾目)进行比较 和蝴蝶)，以便从进化的角度看待形式和 昆虫嗅觉通路的功能，可能会为我们提供一些关于 在人类身上发现的更复杂的神经通路。

The use of intraspecific chemical cues (pheromones) as sex attractants has been reported for the insect order, Trichoptera (the caddisflies) (Wood and Resh 1984). While a number of putative pheromones have been identified, the behavioral efficacy, evolutionary significance, and potential for using these chemicals to assess densities of adult caddisflies remains unknown. The objectives of this project are, first, to field-test putative pheromones that have been identified at the chemical and neurophysiological level, but whose behavioral role is not yet known. If these compounds are indeed pheromones, traps containing the chemicals should attract caddisfly adults. Second, we will explore the use of pheromone traps as a novel technique for water quality assessment. Since caddisfly larvae are found in aquatic habitats, selective sampling of caddisfly adults through the use of pheromones-baited traps may simplify and expedite the identification of species whose presence is indicative of water quality. We will also use histological techniques to explore the organization of olfactory neural pathways in Trichoptera; and compare these with the closely related insect order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) in order to gain an evolutionary perspective on form and function of insect olfactory pathways, perhaps shedding some light on the more complex neural pathways found in humans.