Icons made by Smashicons from Flaticon
HOST-HERBIVORE INTERACTIONS
Insects are the most diverse group of organisms on Earth, and a large proportion of these species feed on plants during early development. Most phytophagous insects are highly host specific, and major host shifts are often associated with bursts of diversification. Using both tropical (Bicyclus spp.) and temperate (Melitaea cinxia) butterflies, I study how variation in host quality or availability, for example due to changes in the climate, can facilitate ecological diversification.
|
|
PLASTICITY AND COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
Developmental plasticity is defined as the process through which external conditions, such as the host plant, temperature or the presence of predators, influence developmental trajectories and lead to irreversible changes in adult phenotypes. I study the environmental regulation of development using butterflies, whose pre-adult stages are often immobile and thus must cope with local environmental conditions. I am also interested in the proposed role of plasticity in adaptation and diversification (plasticity-first hypothesis).
|
|
BEHAVIOURAL ECOLOGY
Butterflies display a beautiful "bouquet of behaviours", ranging from elaborate mating rituals to complex anti-predator strategies. Therefore, I find myself unable to resist studying some of these alongside my main topics of research. So far, we have discovered i) that female butterflies can smell if a male butterfly is inbred (and consequently refuse to mate with him), ii) that browner butterflies have stronger preferences for browner resting backgrounds (cause this enhances crypsis), and iii) that males only invest in the production of sexy male pheromones when it matters most.
|
|