I completed my Masters Thesis in 2001 in the Hanks Lab, where I studied the mating system of the red milkweed beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus (Forster) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). I am interested in what factors are involved with the aggregation of mated pairs of these beetles on milkweed plants. Both plant quality and the presence of female beetles appears to influence the accumulation of mated pairs. I found no evidence that male beetles were attracted to female beetles by long-range pheromones, rather they accumulated by spending more time on milkweed stems on which they contacted female beetles.
For my PhD, I am studying the parasitoids of cerambycid beetles. Cerambycid beetles are often difficult to manage with pesticides; however parasitoids are important natural enemies and have been used in biological control programs. I am interested in how parasitoids locate and oviposite on hosts which are concealed in wood and in the importance of feeding on floral resources by adult parasitoids.
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