Melissa Sánchez Herrera y yo estamos organizando un simposio de la Sección Sys-EB para el EntSoc 2019 reunión en St. Louis, MO.
El simposio se titula:
Errores en tecnicolor: cómo la investigación del color aboga por la entomologÃa
El reflejo y la emisión de luz de las superficies de los insectos ha fascinado e inspirado a los entomólogos y al público en general durante siglos. El objetivo de nuestro simposio es proporcionar un entorno en el que debatir la investigación del color y su uso en iniciativas de divulgación pública que tienen como objetivo inspirar la curiosidad de los insectos y defender la entomologÃa. Tenemos charlas que serán impartidas por entomólogos de diferentes continentes / paÃses que trabajan en proyectos diversos e ingeniosos que incorporan componentes de coloración de insectos que incluyen producción, estructuras, percepción y selección.
Además de estas charlas, tenemos la intención de tener un exhibición electrónica de imágenes, ilustraciones y videos que cumplan con estos criterios y, por lo tanto, estamos buscando presentaciones para este esfuerzo.
​
Si está interesado en incluir una imagen, complete el formulario a continuación y cargue su imagen / video.
DR. AMANDA WHISPELL
INTERESES DE INVESTIGACIÓN
El enfoque general de mi investigación es cómo las compensaciones entre las relaciones sexuales y la selección natural subyace a la diversificación y evolución de las señales sexuales y el comportamiento de señalización. Más especÃficamente, estoy investigando cómo estas compensaciones pueden haber llevado a la evolución de especies de libélulas y caballitos del diablo (Insecta: Odonata) capaces de cambiar de color fisiológicamente. La existencia de un cambio de color fisiológico controlado por temperatura ya se ha establecido en Odonata, y los individuos capaces de este tipo de cambio de color se oscurecen a una coloración de "fase oscura" por debajo de un umbral de temperatura especÃfico y luego vuelven a la coloración de "fase brillante" una vez que la temperatura se eleva por encima de él. Estudio este cambio de color fisiológico con la premisa de que la coloración de la fase brillante funciona como una señal sexual y que la capacidad de cambiar de color, y oscurecerse en momentos de vulnerabilidad, probablemente evolucionó en estas especies como una solución compleja a las demandas opuestas. de señalización (presión de selección sexual) y camuflaje (presión de selección natural).

Are sexual signals honest signal?
For my doctoral research, I performed extensive field work where I made behavioural observations of Argia apicalis males and females, to document how individuals interact both intra- and intersexually. I documented all mating events (ME) - a term I use to refer to the collective activities that occur from initial tandem formation between a male and female, through copulation, oviposition, and the final release of the female - as well as any color changes (from bright-phase (BP) to dark-phase (DP)) exhibited by both males and blue-form females in response to low temperatures and MEs.
While this research has shown that the DP coloration is significantly correlated with mating-associated behaviors, and has given good indications regarding anti-predatory benefits that are conferred by the color change, it has left me wondering about the benefits of BP coloration. When male A. apicalis are in BP, and are defending territories, they often perch on the ground - along dirt paths, on rocks, or on logs. The bright blue coloration is not only highly conspicuous in the visible spectrum when against a dull, solid background, but males also reflect in the near UV when in BP. This highly visual signal is not only detectable by conspecifics, but also by any eavesdropping predators that have similar visual competencies. There must be an evolutionary benefit to being bright blue, otherwise one would expect natural selection to nullify this signal in lieu of more cryptic coloration.
What is the function?
I would like to analyze whether males are awarded any advantages from the BP coloration, perhaps in increased immunity against pathogens, and/or increased ability to hold a territory and gain more mating opportunities, etc.
Are sexual honest signal?
In order for a sexual signal to be an honest signal, there would have to be some variation in signal expression between males, and it would have to be conveying some information about the male’s resource holding potential. As it seems that males are not holding territories that provide females with greater access to oviposition sites (their territories are often quite far from the water’s edge), it stands to reason that the ‘blueness’ must be, in some way, a representation of his overall health, his superior genes, or perhaps his ability to protect the female from predation during tandem oviposition.
I would like to test whether brighter/bluer males are in any way healthier:
-
Do they have greater fat reserves
-
Do they have better genes, perhaps correlating to increased pathogen resistance

How is the evolution of a secondary sexual trait affected by sexual and natural selection?
Numerous studies have shown that the presence of secondary sexual traits, such as the bright coloration depicted by A. apicalis males for example, have been targeted by inter- and/or intrasexual selection, and may have evolved as the result of female choice or inter-male competition for territories and mating opportunities, or both. These secondary sexual traits are generally thought to act as signals to help attract mates and defend territories via the transmission of information about an individual’s quality or fitness. These traits, however, are not targeted by sexual selection alone, but by natural selection as well. The interaction between natural selection and sexual selection acting on the same trait often result in a compromise between being conspicuous to potential mates, and inconspicuous to potential predators, or alternatively result in speciation.
As part of my PhD dissertation, I performed a predator choice experiment that has indicated that some predators do predate on significantly more BP, than DP, A. apicalis males, when given the choice between both. I would next like to look at the sexual selection side of the question, and determine how successful bright males are in defending territories and accruing reproductive success. Given that female odonates have the capability to store sperm, the incidence of a ME event alone is not enough evidence to determine reproductive success for a male, thus the opportunity to genetically analyze the endophytically oviposited eggs for paternity would yield more information than mating success alone. The opportunity to determine how successful males are at removing the previously deposited sperm of prior mates would also provide information regarding the efficacy of sperm competition in this species.
Yo tengo varias otros intereses de investigación (ver más abajo) que no están directamente relacionados con mi trabajo con odonatos, y estoy abierto a investigar estos, asà como los mencionados anteriormente, en otros sistemas. Tener la oportunidad de trabajar para responder a este tipo de preguntas, o de investigar complejas sistemas que requieren ingenio, paciencia y la oportunidad de aprender nuevas habilidades, es mi objetivo final para un puesto postdoctoral.

General Animal Behavior
I am also broadly interested in studying general animal behaviour, including:
-
Communication systems and signal evolution
-
Social and mating behaviour
-
Predator-prey interactions
-
Co-evolution
-
Conditional/plastic predatory strategies
-
Interspecies interactions