M.A. & M.S. in Biology

Lisa Filippi

I am interested in elucidating the ecological constraints that favor the evolution of complex parental-care behaviors. My model organisms include several subsocial heteropteran insects. Parental care beyond laying eggs in an appropriate substrate is very rare in insects outside the two truly social orders that include bees, wasps, ants, and termites. The species I work with display extended parental care that includes a variety of complex behaviors, ranging from guarding of the egg mass in a burrow to producing trophic eggs (unfertilized eggs that newly hatched offspring can feed on) and repeatedly transporting food from the host-tree area to the nest for the young. Manipulation studies in the field and the laboratory are used to evaluate the impact of a variety of ecological conditions on the manifestation of these behaviors.