Dissertation Research: Effects of Host Plant Chemistry on the Evolution of an Insect Herbivore

Shaffer和Rank将使用柳叶甲虫来研究当地环境条件对动物社会行为的成本和收益的影响。这些甲虫以加利福尼亚州东部内华达山脉的高海拔柳树为食。幼虫使用柳树中的一种化学物质水杨素来保护自己免受潜在捕食者的攻击。此外，这些甲虫将它们的卵聚集在一起，并作为幼虫成群取食，这可能会使化学防御更有效。他们将研究幼虫社会行为的成本和收益如何取决于寄主植物的叶化学物质。为了做到这一点，他们将在自然界中进行实验，测量不同大小的柳树在叶子中含有不同量的水杨素的幼虫和卵的存活率。他们还将使用一种名为凝胶电泳的生化技术来研究几个山区峡谷中甲虫种群之间的进化关系。他们的结果应该对植物-食草动物相互作用领域做出重大贡献。

Shaffer and Rank will use a willow leaf beetle (Chrysomela aenicollis) to study the effects of local environment conditions on the costs and benefits of animal social behavior. These beetles feed on high elevation willows in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Eastern California. The larvae use a chemical, salicin, from the willows to protect themselves from potential predators. Additionally, these beetles cluster their eggs and feed in groups as larvae, which probably makes the chemical defense more effective. They will study how the costs and benefits of larval social behavior depend on the leaf chemistry of their host plants. To do this, they will conduct experiments in nature measuring larval and egg survivorship among groups of different sizes on willows with different amounts of salicin in the leaves. They will also use a biochemical technique, gel electrophoresis, to study the evolutionary relationships between beetle populations in several mountain canyons. Their results should contribute substantially to the field of plant-herbivore interaction.