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Hespenheide, Henry A.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
My research focuses on insects, and the variety of projects is united by curiosity about communities and faunas: How many species live in a particular area? What evolutionary pressures do they face? Of these, predator-prey interactions are of special interest. Most current field work is in Costa Rica. Specific projects include the following: The insect fauna of the La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica: Systematic collecting and ecological sampling are being used by the Arthropods of La Selva project (ALAS) in an attempt to determine the species richness of arthropods of a lowland tropical forest site. Inventory of the biodiversity of the tropical regions is one of the largest frontiers of biological research. Costa Rica's Institute Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio), a collaborator in the ALAS project, has become a model for faunal inventories. The jewel beetles (Buprestidae) and a subfamily of weevils (Curculionidae, Conoderinae) are my focal groups. Taxonomy and ecology of leaf-mining beetles: In addition to more descriptive studies, I am using these beetles as bioassays of the effectiveness of insect defense of plants bearing extra floral nectaries. Although ants are usually thought of as the protectors of such plants, I am particularly impressed by the frequency of parasitoids as visitors to nectaries and wonder about their importance to such systems. Taxonomy of wood-boring beetles and the evolution of mimicry: The occurrence of mimicry is being looked at in terms of the size and biogeography of the mimics, as well as the ecology of the models. Examination of insects eaten by birds allows estimation of the predation pressure exerted on the insects. The existence of these mimicry complexes and many of the mimetic species have never been described. Prey selection and structure of robberfly communities: This work involves delimiting the robberfly fauna of La Selva and Cave Creek Canyon, Arizona, (about 100 species recorded to date in each place) and accumulating information on the behavioral ecology of the species present.