A housefly sensory-motor integration laboratory.

Insects have many interesting behaviors that can be observed in an introductory biology laboratory setting. In the present article, we describe several reflexes using the housefly Musca domestica that can be used to introduce students to sensory and motor responses and encourage them to think about the underlying neural circuits and integration of sensory information that mediate the behaviors.

ARE PARALLEL MORPHOLOGIES OF CAVE ORGANISMS THE RESULT OF SIMILAR SELECTION PRESSURES?

The amphipod Gammarus minus is present in both caves and springs, with cave populations showing elaborated (size and antennae) and reduced (eye) characters relative to spring populations. Earlier studies have shown that cave populations resulted from independent invasions of hydrologically isolated subterranean drainages and that there is genetic variation for both elaborated and reduced characters. In this study we tested the hypothesis that a similar pattern of selection on isolated cave populations is responsible for the parallel evolution of cave morphologies.

Population ecology of carabid cave beetles.

The population ecology of three species of obligate cave dwelling (i.e., troglobitic) carabid beetles, Neaphaenops tellkampfi, Pseudanophthalmus menetriesi and P.

Ecological genetics of the cave beetle Neaphaenops tellkampfii (Coleoptera: Carabidae).

Genetic variability and similarity were examined in eight populations of the Kentucky cave beetle Neaphaenops tellkampfii (Coleoptera: Carabidae) using the technique of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results indicate that N. tellkampfii has high genetic variation within and high genetic similarity among local populations.

Urban biogeography : City parks as islands for Diptera and Coleoptera.

Species richness and abundance of Diptera and Coleoptera were assessed in nine city parks in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Species richness for each park was related to the area of the park in a manner predicted by island biogeography theory. The z values for the Diptera and Coleoptera were 0.