Premise of the Study – Flowering time may influence pollination success and seed set through a variety of mechanisms, including seasonal changes in total pollinator visitation or the composition and effectiveness of pollinator visitors. Methods – We investigated mechanisms by which changes in flower

Climate change is shifting the environmental cues that determine the phenology of interacting species. Plant-pollinator systems may be susceptible to temporal mismatch if bees and flowering plants differ in their phenological responses to warming temperatures. While the cues that trigger flowering a

The first objective for this problem in lieu of thesis project was to gather, identify to the lowest practical taxonomic level and organize all available aquatic insects collected from high altitude Colorado aquatic systems during the summers of 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2002 for the University of North

AbstractNatural genetic variants at the phosphoglucose isomerase, PGI, gene differ in spatial patterning of their polymorphism among species complexes ofColiasbutterflies in North America. In both lowland and alpine complexes, molecular–functional properties of the polymorphic genotypes can be used

Correlated evolution of mate signals and mate preference may be constrained if selection pressures acting on mate preference differ from those acting on mate signals. In particular, opposing selection pressures may act on mate preference and signals when traits have sexual as well as nonsexual funct

We explored the relative importance of temporal vs. spatial variability to the conditionality of a mutualism between the treehopper Publilia modesta and the ant Formica obscuripes. The effect of the ants on the membracids varied considerably among years. When the effect of the ants on the membracids

Abstract. 1. Patterns of worker demography in the ant Formica neorufibarbis were documented under natural conditions. 2. Some workers lived at least 4 years. 3. In 4 of 5 years, colonies were more likely to retain older workers than new workers. 4. Workers persisted for more years in colonies lackin

Body size may influence both adult fecundity and the probability of survival through each life stage. Previous studies of burying beetles (Nicrophorus, Coleoptera: Silphidae) have revealed reproductive advantages for larger adults and the role of parental care in determining larval size and number.

Results suggest that butterflies are unlikely to be useful indicators of moth diversity at a local scale, phylogenetic relatedness is not a reliable criterion for selecting appropriate indicator taxa, and a habitat-based approach would more effectively conserve moth diversity in this landscape.

We investigated the genetic background of intraspecific variation in wing color across an elevational gradient in the butterfly Colias philodice eriphyle. The degree of wing melanization was an accelerating function of elevation, and differences in wing melanization persisted in a common environment

These are the first results to directly link the range of worker sizes to a component of colony fitness in a natural setting.