The Insect Physiology & Behavior Research Group (IPBRG), headed by Spence Behmer, studies insect physiology and behavior, including their ecological and evolutionary bases. Our approach is "bottom-up", with an emphasis on using individual behavior as a tool to understand physiological and higher-level processes. Our lab pursues three broadly defined areas of research:

     1) physiological ecology

     2) insect sterol (cholesterol) biology

     3) mechanisms of learning

We use a number of different insects in our research, including grasshoppers, caterpillars, ants, Drosophila, and insects with sucking mouthparts (hemipterans).

Please explore our site and feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Prospective students and postdocs can click here to learn more about opportunities in the lab.

December (2012) - Spence is offically set to become Co-Editor of the Journal of
     Insect Phsyiology starting January of 2013.

November (2012) - Spence will become an Associate Editor for the Journal of Animal
     Ecology starting December 2012.

November (2012) - Spence, together with Brian Thompson, Dan Grunner, and Bob
     Grebenok, had a paper on sterol use in Sirex accepted to the Journal of
     Chemical Ecology.

October (2012) - Xiangfeng's paper on the effects of dietary sterols/steriods on H.zea
     physiology, biochemistry and midgut gene experession in now out
     (Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)!

September (2012) - Congrats to Marion Le Gall for winning 1st place in the Entomology
     Graduate Student Symposium!!!

Joern, A., Provin, T. and Behmer, S.T. (2012) Not just the usual suspects: Insect herbivore
     populations and communities are associated with multiple plant nutrients.
     Ecology 93, 1002-1015. [pdf]

Behmer, S.T. and Joern, A. (2012) Insect herbivores viewed through a physiological
     framework: insights from Orthoptera. In Insect Outbreaks Revisited (eds. P. Barbosa,
     D.K. Letourneau and A.A. Agrawal), pp 3-29. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, U.K.
     [pdf]

Behmer, S.T. (2009) Insect herbivore nutrient regulation. Annual Review of
     Entomology 54, 165-187. (click here for a free PDF)

Behmer, S.T. and Joern, A. (2008) Coexisting generalist herbivores occupy unique
     nutritional feeding niches. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
     USA 105, 1977-1982. [pdf]

Warbrick-Smith, J., Behmer, S.T., Lee, K.P., Raubenheimer, D. and Simpson, S.J.
     (2006) Evolving resistance to obesity in an insect. Proceedings of the National
     Academy of Sciences, USA 103, 14045-14049. [pdf]

For a full list of publications, click here...

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