Robert Srygley

USDA-ARS-NPARL
1500 N. Central Ave.
Sidney MT 59270

Email: bob.srygley at zoo.ox.ac.uk

Research Interests

I aim to integrate the physiology and behavior of flight with evolution and ecology. My research team has been investigating the mechanisms by which insects orient and navigate between suitable habitat sites. Another major interest is the diversity of insect flight styles that serve as signals or cues of palatability to birds, and a third is the unconventional lift mechanisms that insects utilize in flight. My research on flight is being incorporated into the development of miniaturized flying robots.

Current Research Projects

My group is interested in the ability of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets to defend themselves from natural pathogens. We are interested in how those defenses change as the insects develop, migrate, and reproduce. Our objective is to find weaknesses in the immune system of these agricultural pests so that natural pathogens might be applied when and where they are most effective in pest control. Generally, insect migration away from natal sites is associated with lack of food or local crowding. So we are investigating whether the insects compromise the immune system to enhance locomotion when food is limited. In addition understanding band movement, individual dietary requirements and insect survivorship will improve forecasting of movements, damage to humans, and improve integrated control. To this end, we are applying what we have learned about the orientation of migratory butterflies and adaptations to minimize energetic costs of long distance movement to grasshoppers and Mormon crickets (see below). It is likely that the environment plays a major role in the direction of the migration. However the environment has three types of features each of which might contribute to the insects’ movement across the Earth: features that are stable over ecological time scales, those that are periodic, and those that change unpredictably. We will begin by investigating their ability to orient using a stable feature: the Earth’s magnetic field; and a periodic feature: the position of the Sun in the sky.

Recent Publications