Host-Parasite Coevolution, Sexual Selection, Phenotypic Plasticity

 Dr. Susan L. Balenger
 Assistant Professor
 Department of Biology
 University of Mississippi
 University, MS 38677
 balenger (at) olemiss (dot) edu

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LAB NEWS
Congratulations to Meredith Fry for receiving $1000 from the Barksdale Honors College to support her undergraduate thesis research!
September 2018 - New paper on behavioral plasticity in response to social density cues accepted in the Journal of Insect Behavior

My research addresses why and how environmental stressors and phenotypic plasticity influence sexual signal evolution and population divergence. I utilize integrative approaches to investigate genetic, physiological, and behavioral mechanisms underlying host-parasite relationships.

Current Study Systems:

Infection with the bacterium Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is common in Eastern Bluebirds in the Southeastern US, but infected birds do not exhibit 'traditional' conjunctivitis symptoms. We use bluebirds as a model for understanding (among other things) host shifts and the mechanisms of host resistance. Female (left) and male (right).

Southeastern US field crickets have a long history of coevolution with the parasitoid fly Ormia ochracea. We use this system to study how behavioral plasticity by host and parasitoid affect the cricket-fly coevolutionary relationship.

Past Study Systems:

Mountain Bluebirds breed at high elevations under highly variable climatic conditions. Male (left) and female (right).

House Finches in Alabama have evolved increased resistance to the bacteria Mycoplasma gallisepticum in < 15 years. Male (left) and female (right).

Pacific field crickets in Hawaii have lost the ability to produce song in response to the introduction of an acoustically orienting parasitoid fly. Female (left), normal winged male (center), flatwing male (right).