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57 results for "Associates"
57 results for "Associates"
Evolutionary assembly of the conifer fauna: distinguishing ancient from recent associations in bark beetles
Several shifts from ancestral conifer feeding to angiosperm feeding have been implicated in the unparalleled diversification of beetle species. The single largest angiosperm-feeding beetle clade occurs in the weevils, and comprises the family...
Larval habits, host-plant associations, and speciation in nematine sawflies (Hymenoptera : Tenthredinidae)
Adaptive radiations consist of two intertwined processes, diversification of species and diversification of their ecological niches, but it is unclear whether there is a causal link between the processes. In phytophagous insects, ecological...
Headwater riparian forest-floor invertebrate communities associated with alternative forest management practices
Headwater streams and their riparian zones are a common, yet poorly understood, component of Pacific Northwest, USA, landscapes. We describe the ecological importance of headwater stream riparian zones as habitat for forest-floor invertebrate communities...
Lab alumni
Gary Alpert
Gary is an environmental biologist and MCZ Associate, specializing in ants. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1981 and has been conducting field studies on the ants of New England since 1990.
He has photographed many ant species in the field and is...
The evolution of agriculture in beetles (Curculionidae : Scolytinae and Platypodinae)
Beetles in the weevil subfamilies Scolytinae and Platypodinae are unusual in that they burrow as adults inside trees for feeding and oviposition. Some of these beetles are known as ambrosia beetles for their obligate mutualisms with asexual fungi-known as...
Evolutionary origins of Gondwanan interactions: How old are Araucaria beetle herbivores?
Studies of a variety of phenomena, ranging from rates of molecular substitution to rates of diversification, draw on estimates of geological age. Studies incorporating estimates of timing from fossils or other geological evidence are largely of relatively...
About
Brian D. Farrell
My lab and I work on the evolution of interactions between different kinds of tiny consumers, especially beetles and other arthropods, and their much larger hosts, such as plants or large animals. We use phylogenetics to understand the directions, rate...
"Inordinate fondness" explained: Why are there so many beetles?
The phylogeny of the Phytophaga, the Largest and oldest radiation of herbivorous beetles, was reconstructed from 115 complete DNA sequences for the 18S nuclear ribosomal subunit and from 212 morphological characters. The results of these analyses were...
An eclectic encounter: ticks feeding on an electric eel and the untapped potential of natural history collections
Parasites are quite likely the most diverse guild of species on earth. Nevertheless, they remain under-documented despite their impact on the health and ecology of nearly every other species. Natural history collections offer a powerful, underutilized...