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.

Oct (2011) - Congrats to Xiangfeng for successfully defending his dissertation! He will be
     joining the lab of Angela Douglas (Cornell University) starting in January.

Sept (2011) - Rebecca Clark has joined the lab as a new postdoc, supported by a new NSF
     grant in collaboration with Tony Zera (University of Nebraska).

Sept (2011) - Spence has been promoted to Associate Professor and started his sabbatical.
     He'll be spending November thru February working with Heiko Vogel at the
     Max-Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany.

Aug (2011) - Carrie Deans has joined the lab as a new PhD student. Carrie is being
     co-supervised by Greg Sword.

Aug (2011) - Congrats to Marion for placing 3rd in the Department of Entomology
     graduate student forum, and for passing her written and oral exams!

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]

Pompilio, L., Kacelnik, A. and Behmer, S.T. (2006) State-dependent learned valuation
     drives choice in an invertebrate. Science 313, 1613-1615. [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]

Behmer, S.T. and Nes, W.D. (2003) Insect sterol nutrition and physiology: a global
     overview. Advances in Insect Physiology 31, 1-72. [pdf]

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

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