Faculty/Staff Detail

T. D. Fitzgerald, Biological Sciences Department, is a co-author with Alfonso Pescador of the University of Colima, Mexico, of a paper titled “Trail Marking and Abandonment of Depleted Feeding Sites by the Caterpillars of Eutachyptera psidii (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae).” The paper appears in the journal Insect Science. The insect is a nest-building social caterpillar that feeds on a variety of native and introduced tree species that occur in the seasonal dry forests of Mexico. The paper reports that the caterpillars employ an efficient system of chemical communication that enables colonies, consisting of 300 or more individuals, to make nocturnal, en mass forays between their nests and distant feeding sites.