Current Appointment
Courses (starting 2003-2004)
Research Interests
My research encompasses both the theoretical and applied aspects of biological control and insect ecology. I am particularly interested in behavioral and ecological mechanisms that affect the establishment, invasion, efficacy and safety of biological control agents. My basic approach is to test both the assumptions and predictions of ecological theory relevant to biological control. Ultimately, my research seeks to utilize a better understanding of ecological and behavioral mechanisms to guide the selection of biological control agents. Previous research topics include:
· The behavioral ecology of feeding and oviposition behavior in Aphytis, a parasitoid of a citrus scale pest.
· Mechanisms of interference competition in parasitoids of a whitefly pest.
· Competition and coexistence in Hawaiian fruit fly parasitoids.
My current research focus is the behavioral and population ecology of host specificity in weed biological control agents. The primary question is: what proximate behavioral and ecological factors influence host specificity and impact of biological control agents in the field? The key goal is to maximize impact on the weed, and minimize the impact on native, non-target species. I am also interested in competition, coexistence and complementarity of biological control agents.
Publications
Collier, T., R. Messing, and C. Briggs. In prep. Intraspecific interference in a fruit fly parasitoid: from individual-level mechanism to population-level consequences.
Collier, T., S. Kelly, and M. Hunter. 2002. Egg Size, intrinsic competition and lethal interference in the parasitoids Encarsia pergandiella and Encarsia formosa. Biological Control 23: 254-261.
Hunter, M., S. Kelly and T. Collier. 2002. Does an autoparasitoid disrupt host suppression provided by a primary parasitoid? Ecology 83(5): 1459-1469.
Collier, T.R. and M.S. Hunter. 2001. Lethal interference competition in the whitefly parasitoids Eretmocerus eremicus and Encarsia sophia. Oecologia 129: 147-154.
Briggs, C.J. and T.R. Collier. 2001. Autoparasitism, interference and pest-parasitoid population dynamics. Theor. Pop. Biol. 60: 33-57.
Murdoch, W. W., C. J. Briggs and T. R. Collier. 1998. Biological control of insects: implications for theory in population ecology. pp. 167-186 in Insect Populations in Theory and in Practice (eds. J.P. Dempster and I. F. G. McLean). Kluwer.
Heimpel, G.H. and T. R. Collier. 1996. The evolution of host-feeding behavior in insect parasitoids. Biol. Reviews 71: 373-400.
Collier, T.R. 1995. Host feeding, egg maturation, resorption and longevity in the parasitoid, Aphytis melinus (Hymenoptera; Aphelinidae). Annals Ent. Soc. America 88:206-214.
Collier, T.R. 1995. Adding physiological realism to dynamic state variable models of parasitoid host feeding. Evol. Ecology 9:217-234.
Briggs, C.J., R.M. Nisbet, W.W. Murdoch, T.R. Collier and J.A.J. Metz. 1995. Dynamical effects of host-feeding in parasitoids. J. of Animal Ecology 64:403-416.
Collier, T.R., W.W. Murdoch and R.M. Nisbet. 1994. Egg load and the decision to host-feed in the parasitoid Aphytis melinus. J. of Animal Ecology 63:299-306.
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