Dr. Micah Freedman
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
PI: Prof. Kara Layton
January 31, 2025
12 to 1 PM
IB140
Title: Causes and consequences of host plant specialization in monarch butterflies and other Lepidoptera
Abstract: Plant-feeding insects comprise a large fraction of terrestrial biodiversity, and most insect herbivores show a high degree of specialization in the host plants upon which they feed. Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are a textbook example of a specialized insect herbivore, in part because of their bright coloration and ability to sequester toxins from their milkweed host plants. In this talk, I will discuss how recent global range expansion provides opportunities to understand niche breadth evolution in monarchs, with a focus on how restricted host breadth in recently established monarch populations affects larval performance across milkweed hosts. I will also describe how toxin sequestration differs between monarch populations exposed to distinct host plant assemblages and detail how patterns of sequestered toxins can be used as chemical “fingerprints” to understand monarch butterfly ecology. Finally, I will discuss recent research that explores the connection between dietary ecology, larval coloration and patterning, and adult activity periods across butterflies and moths.
Background: "Micah grew up in South Carolina and studied Entomology and Plant Sciences at Cornell University. He spent a year working with the Ecology of Bird Loss Project in the Mariana Islands before starting his Ph.D. at UC Davis. He was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia before moving to Toronto. When he's not working, Micah can be found hiking, running, taking photos, and posting to iNaturalist."
Visit Micah's Lab Website or Personal Website for more information!