Student Research

Will Brogan using a light meter for honors research

Here is the SYLLABUS and SCHEDULE for research in my lab.

Below are 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?

PREDATOR/PREY

• 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

EVOLUTIONARY LOSS OF PARASITISM

• 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.

EVOLUTION/SYSTEMATICS (ALSO SEE LOSS OF PARASITISM, ABOVE)

• 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

FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGY

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

PROJECTS INVOLVING SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATION

• 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)

ENVIRONMENTAL/ECOLOGICAL

• 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 Arrenurus spp. mites parasitizing damselflies
• The seasonal distribution and success of egg rafts of the mosquito Mansonia perturbans

PHEROMONE COMMUNICATION

• 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

REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR (ALSO SEE PHEROMONES, ABOVE)

• 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?

GENERAL BEHAVIOR (ALSO SEE REPRODUCTIVE, PHEROMONES, HOST/PARASITE, PREDATOR/PREY, ABOVE)

• 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