This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2007. The goal of the fellowship is to increase the participation of minority scientists at the postdoctoral level and to prepare them for positions of scientific leadership in US science. To attain this goal, the fellowship provides opportunities for postdoctoral training and research of the highest quality to recent doctoral recipients. It is expected that Fellows supported through these fellowships will play important roles in training of the future workforce.
The research and training plan is entitled "The influence of predator prey interactions on communication strategies in the tigermoth genus Utetheisa." The tigermoth genus Utetheisa is aposematic throughout its range except in the Galapagos Islands. Three species endemic to the archipelago are cryptic in color. Both aposematic and cryptic species are chemically defended against predators. The evolution of aposematism is well studied, but crypsis is poorly understood. This project investigates how predator pressure and other factors influence adaptation and possibly speciation through modifications to behavior. The sponsoring scientist is William E. Connor at Wake Forest University.
The training goals are learn to conduct behavioral studies and lab tests to measure prey palatability as a basis for assessing the influence of behaviors on evolutionary histories of Lepidoptera.
