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Full-Text Articles in Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Heat For The Masses: Thermal Ecology Of The Western Tent Caterpillar, Victoria Dahlhoff
Heat For The Masses: Thermal Ecology Of The Western Tent Caterpillar, Victoria Dahlhoff
Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers
A unique feature of some gregarious, colonial insects is their ability to create external structures that alter environmental conditions for the entire (often family) group. A combination of physical alteration of local microhabitats and behavioral thermoregulation allows many of these animals to actively control their body temperatures, which allows them to regulate energy use and metabolism in variable thermal environments. Here I describe mechanisms of microhabitat modification and thermal regulation in the western tent caterpillar, Malacosoma californicum pluviale. Tent caterpillars build communal silk tents, whose temperatures can rise substantially above ambient air temperature. I experimentally manipulated colony sizes and examined …
Shaping The Tools Of Battle : Sexual Selection, Contest Dynamics, And Weapon Divergence In The Asian Rhinoceros Beetle Trypoxylus Dichotomus, Jillian F. Del Sol
Shaping The Tools Of Battle : Sexual Selection, Contest Dynamics, And Weapon Divergence In The Asian Rhinoceros Beetle Trypoxylus Dichotomus, Jillian F. Del Sol
Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers
Exaggerated weapons of sexual selection often diverge more rapidly and dramatically than other body parts, suggesting that relevant agents of selection may be discernible in contemporary populations. I examined the ecology, reproductive behavior, and strength of sexual selection on horn length in five recently diverged beetle populations that differ in relative horn size. I show that mating system ecology differs between these locations and corresponds with the local strength of contemporary selection on horn length. Comparisons of ecological conditions and selection strength across populations offer a critical first step towards meaningfully linking mating system dynamics, selection patterns, and diversity in …