Bruce P. Smith, Professor  Biology Department, Ithaca College Ithaca, New York, U.S.A. 14850 Ph.D., University of Toronto Field: Invertebrate Zoology, Parasitology, Ecology Specialty: Host/parasite relationships involving mites and insects Office: Room 166 CNS Lab: Room 171 CNS Phone: (607) 274-3971 E-mail: SMITHB@ITHACA.EDU Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Here is my schedule. You can make an appointment by signing up on my office door.

I will have room in my research lab for students. See the project descriptions on the research page as well as the information on my program on this page.

I teach in the following courses:
	Animal Behavior
	Invertebrate Zoology
	Parasitology
	Laboratories in Principles of Biology
	Literature in Biology - Organismal section
	The Natural History of Sex (non-majors)
	Insects and People (non-majors)
	Aquatic Ecology
You can also register for student research in my lab.

"Sometimes I'm swamped!"

Hydrachna baculoscutata: probably the largest water mite species in North America (the Canadian dime shows the Bluenose schooner for comparison)

I was on sabbatical for Fall 1998. Here are some pictures of my research trip to Australia and Hawaii!
 

My research is focussed on the host/parasite relationship, using water mites that, as larvae, are parasitic on insects as a model system. One aspect of the program is to investigate the distribution patterns of mites in insect populations and in multi-host guilds, and to determine the role of ecology and behavior in shaping these patterns. Another phase of the program is to determine the effects of parasitism on individuals and on populations, and whether disproportionally heavy parasitism of certain species can alter relative success of species within insect guilds. An additional avenue of investigation involves the evolutionary loss of parasitism, and its consequences. Life- history and allocation of reproductive effort are compared between pairs of recently-diverged species in which one species of the pair has a typical parasitic larva while larvae of the other species do not feed, foregoing the parasitic association.

Limnoporus dissortis (water strider) parasitized by Neolimnochares new species (water mite).

I conduct summer field research at the Queens University Biological Station north of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Chris and Derek (pictured below) are Ithaca College students who spent a summer at the station. Chris constructed a pictorial atlas to the Arrenurus water mites of Southern Ontario and Upstate New York. Derek studied the host-parasite community of mites parasitic on damselflies.
 

Bruce showing his collection of water mites to faculty and students at the Wildlife Research Station at Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada (May 18, 2004)	View of the scenery inside  Algonquin Provincial Park
Andy Bohonak (while PhD student at Cornell) and Chris Coleman ('97) collecting mites that parasitize mosquitoes in  Algonquin Park, Canada (summer 1996)	Derek Budman ('98) and Bruce Smith  collecting damselflies (summer 1997)

TITLES OF RESEARCH PROJECTS CONDUCTED BY STUDENTS IN MY LABORATORY

HOST/PARASITE

• Guild structure of dragonflies and their parasitic mites
• Development of a computer-based tutorial in Parasitology.
• Host-parasite community structure of Arrenurus spp. mites parasitizing damselflies.
• Host searching behavior in parasitic larval mites.
• The immune response of Aedes aegypti to parasitism by Arrenurus novimarshallae.
• Evidence for chemical host selection by Arrenurus water mites: is there a chemical stimulus?

• Piona spp. mites as predators of larval mosquitoes
• The impact of predation by the mite Arrenurus manubriator on populations of ostracods
• Non-lethal effects of predatory Limnochares americana mites on growth and development of larval midges.
• Non-lethal effects of predatory Limnochares americana mites on behavior of larval midges.
• Prey size-selectivity among life history stages of Arrenurus rufopyriformis water mites.
• Predation on eggs of Arrenurus manubriator water mites by ostracods and flatworms.

• Reproductive trade-offs and the loss of parasitism among sibling species in the genus Arrenurus
• Identification and taxonomic description of sibling species within the genus Arrenurus
• Interpopulational variation in egg and adult dimensions for mites with and without parasitic associations: the consequences of host-mediated dispersal.
• Interpopulational variation in larval morphology of mites with and without parasitic associations: the consequences of host-mediated dispersal.
• Do environmental factors contribute to the variation among populations of Arrenurus rufopyriformis?
• Interpopulational variation among laboratory-reared adults of Arrenurus rufopyriformis.
• Influence of egg volume and parasitic larval feeding on size and shape of resultant deutonymphal mites.

• A comparison of expenditure of reproductive effort among species of Arrenurus (U. of Guelph Dept. of Zoology, Honours Thesis: official advisor was Dr. R. Brooks)
• The reproductive trade-off between clutch-size and egg-size: intraspecific patterns for the mite Arrenurus manubriator
• Morphometric correlation of larval and adult female characteristics among Arrenurus spp. mites
• Morphometric comparison among larvae and adult female Arrenurus species (Acari: Prostigmata; Arrenuridae).
• First descriptions of larvae for four species of Arrenurus (Micruracrurus) (Acari: Prostigmata: Arrenuridae).
• First descriptions of larvae and adult females of Arrenurus (Megaluracarus) wardi and Arrenurus (Megaluracarus) pseudocylindratus (Acari: Prostigmata: Arrenuridae).
• A pictoral index of South-eastern Ontario species of Arrenurus .

• Arthropod colonization and use of decomposing carrion: a baseline study for forensic analysis.

• First descriptions of larvae for four species of Arrenurus (Micruracrurus) (Acari: Prostigmata: Arrenuridae).
• First descriptions of larvae and adult females of Arrenurus (Megaluracarus) wardi and Arrenurus (Megaluracarus) pseudocylindratus (Acari: Prostigmata: Arrenuridae).

• Guild structure of dragonflies and their parasitic mites
• Drift dispersal behavior in stream dwelling mites: diurnal versus nocturnal activity.
• The role of oxygen depletion in delayed tritonymphal development in Arrenurus manubriator water mites.
• Effect of temperature on development rates of Arrenurus manubriator water mites.
• Host-parasite community structure of Arrenurusspp. mites parasitizing damselflies.
• The seasonal distribution and success of egg rafts of the mosquito Mansonia perturbans

• Chemical communication and courtship behavior of the mite Arrenurus manubriator
• Species-specificity of chemicals used as sex pheromones by Arrenurus spp. mites
• Determining the chemical composition of the female sex-pheromone used by Arrenurus manubriator
• Shared use of chemicals among water mite species for chemical communication.
• Interspecies response to arrestant sex pheromones of Arrenurus species mites.
• Interspecific response to arrestant sex pheromones among closely related Arrenurus species mites.
• Chemical characterization of the male-attracting female-produced sex pheromone of Arrenurus manubriator water mites.
• Apparent differences in sex pheromone production between virgin and previously-mated female Arrenurus manubriator mites.
• The male sex pheromone produced by the water mite Arrenurus rufopyriformis: evidence for its existence.

• The influence of wing-morphs on mate selection by male and female Gerris comatus water striders
• Size-related mate selection by male and female Arrenurus manubriator
• Production of skewed sex-ratios in offspring of female Arrenurus manubriator mites
• Sperm precedence in the aquatic mite, Arrenurus rufopyriformis.
• Sperm precedence in water mites of the genus Arrenurus.
• Do male Arrenurus (Megaluracarus) manubriator prefer virgin or previously mated females?

• Factors influencing rate of umbrellar contractions of mangrove jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana).
• The effects of an overhead light source on the umbrellar pulse rate of (Cassiopea xamachana).
• Darkness-induced reductions in rate of umbrellar contractions of mangrove jellyfish: startle-response or ciradian rhythms?
• Speed and leg phase relationships during free swimming by Arrenurus manubriator water mites.

1997a. Baker, R.L., Smith, B.P. Conflict between antipredator and antiparasite behaviour in larval damselflies. Oecologia 109:622-628. View PDF file.

1997b. Rousch, J.M., Simmons, T.W., Kerans, B.L., Smith, B.P. Relative acute effects of low pH and high iron on the hatching and survival of the water mite, Arrenurus manubriator and aquatic insect, Chironomus riparius. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 16(10) 2144-2150. View PDF file.

1998. Smith, B.P. Loss of larval parasitism in parasitengonine mites. Experimental and Applied Acarology 22:187-199. View PDF file.

1999a. Smith, B.P. Loss of larval parasitism in parasitengonine mites. pages 125-136 in Ecology and Evolution of the Acari, edited by J.Bruin, L.P.S. van der Geest, M.W. Sabelis. Kluwer Academic Publishers b.v. REPRINTING OF SMITH 1998. .

1999b. Forbes, M.R., Muma, K.E., Smith, B.P. Parasitism of Sympetrum dragonflies by Arrenurus planus mites: host coexistence and maintenance of species resistance. International Journal for Parasitology 29:991-999. View PDF file.

1999c. Smith, B.P. Larval Hydrachnida and their hosts: biological inference and population structure. In Acarology IX, Vol. 2, Symposia. pp. 139-144, edited by G.R. Needham, R. Mitchell, D.J. Horn, and W.C. Welbourn. Ohio Biological Survey, Columbus. View PDF file.

2001a. Smith, I.M., Cook, D.R., Smith, B.P. Water mites (Hydrachnida) and other arachnids. In Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates, Chapter 16, pp 551-659. 2nd edition, edited by J.H. Thorp and A.P. Covich. Academic Press, 1056 pp. View the PDF.  (Note, in the linked PDF file, pages 577-639 are not included.)

2001b. Yourth, C.P., Forbes, M.R., Smith, B.P. On understanding variation in immune expression of Lestes spp. damselflies. Canadian Journal of Zoology 79: 815-821. View PDF file.

2002a Yourth, C.P., Forbes, M.R., Smith, B.P. Immune expression in a damselfly is related to time of season, not to fluctuating asymmetry or host size. Ecological Entomology 27: 123-128.View the PDF file.

2002b. Forbes, M.R., Muma, K.E., Smith, B.P.  Diffuse coevolution: constraints on a generalist parasite favor use of a dead-end host. Ecography 25: 345- 351.View PDF file.

2003. Smith, B.P..  "Diversity of stylostome structure among parasitic larval water mites (Acari: Hydrachnida)". In From Yankee Springs to Wheeny Creek: An Acarological Tribute to David R. Cook, edited by I.M. Smith. Indira Publishing House, pp 239-255.

2004a.  Bohonak, A.J., Smith, B.P., Thornton, M. 2004. Distributional, morphological and genetic consequences of dispersal for temporary pool water mites (Acari: Arrenuridae: Arrenurus) Freshwater Biology 49: 170-180.

2004b. Lajeunesse, M. J., Forbes, M. R. and Smith, B. P. “Species and sex biases in ectoparasitism of dragonflies by mites. Oikos 106: 501-508. View the abstract-PDF.

2004c. Bruce Smith and Joy Florentino Williams ('96). 2004. "Communication via sex pheromones within and among Arrenurus spp. mites (Acari: Hydrachnida; Arrenuridae)". Experimental and Applied Acarology 34: 113–125. Also reprinted in book form (same page numbers): Aquatic Mites: From Genes to Communities, edited by J.C. Proctor.  Kluwer Academic Publishing, The Netherlands.  View the abstract.

2004d.  Forbes, M.R., Muma, K.E., Smith, B.P.  "Recapture of male and female dragonflies in relation to parasitism by mites, time of season, wing length and wing cell symmetry".  Experimental and Applied Acarology 34:79-93. Also reprinted in book form (same page numbers): Aquatic Mites: From Genes to Communities, edited by J.C. Proctor.  Kluwer Academic Publishing, The Netherlands.