Donald M. Windsor
Staff Scientist
e-mail: windsord@si.edu
Address: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Box 0843-03092
Balboa, Ancon
Republic of Panama
or
Unit 0948
APO AA 34002-0948
Telephone: +507 212-8130
FAX: +507 212-8148
Publications
Publications by Donald M. Windsor in STRI Bibliography
Research Interests
Tropical Insect behavior, ecology and evolution
Current Research
Broadly stated, we are interested in the relative importance of key historical and ecological factors which may govern the distribution, diversity and radiation of tropical arthropods. The main taxonomic focus of our activity has been and continues to be the beetle family, Chrysomelidae (“leaf beetles”), especially the subfamilies Cassidinae (“tortoise beetles), Chrysomelinae ( “broad-shouldered beetles”) and the Aulacoscelinae (“cycad-feeding beetles”).
We search for herbivory happening in the field (principally Panama, and sites in South America), take photographs of the activity and collect and preserve representative beetles and the leaves upon which they have fed. We attempt to reconstruct the historical relationships of the beetles by sequencing fragments of both nuclear genes (18S and 28S) and mitochondrial genes (COI and 12S) and by assembling complementary information on adult and immature morphology and behavior (genitalic characters and the form and grouping of eggs, larvae and pupae). We utilize food web metrics to characterize host specificity and to compare host plant relationships among taxa, collecting sites and other published studies. Additionally, we screen many of the same beetles and other tropical insects for infection by cytoplasmically-transmitted bacteria, including spiroplasmas and rickettsias. We study in particular detail the disjunct haplotype distribution and varying Wolbachia infection status found in the subsocial tortoise beetle, Acromis sparsa, at 25 sites across the Isthmus and at selected sites in South America. This work has lead us to consider how Wolbachia might be used as a tool to mitigate the threat posed by important disease-carrying arthropods, including Leishmaniasis-vectoring Sand flys (Lutzomyia spp.).
Education and Degrees
B.S., Purdue University, 1966.
Ph. D., Cornell University, 1972.
Selected Bibliography
Windsor, D.M., Riley, E. and H. Stockwell 1992. An introduction to the biolody and systematics of Panamanaian tortoise beetles. pp. 372-391 in Insects of Panaman and Mesoamerica: Selected Studies. D. Quintero and A. Aiello (eds), Oxford U. Press.
Windsor, D.M. and J. Choe 1994. Origins of parental care in chrysomelid beetles. pp. 111-117, in Novel aspects of the biology of Chrysomelidae. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Werren, J.H., Windsor, D. and L. Guo 1995. Distribution of Wolbachia among neotropical arthropods. Proc. Royal Soc. London B. 262:197-204.
Windsor, D.M., D.W. Trapnell and G. Amat. 1996. The egg capitulum of a Neotropical walkingstick, Calynda bicuspis, induces aboveground egg dispersal by the ponerine ant, Ectatomma ruidum. J. Insect Behavior 9:353-367.
Hsiao, T.H. and D. Windsor 1999. Historical and biological relationships among Hispinae inferred from 12S MTDNA sequence data. pp. 39-50 in Advances in Chrysomelidae Biology 1. M. Cox (ed.), Backhuys Publishers.
Windsor, D., Ness, J., Gomez, L.D. and P. Jolivet 1999. Species of Aulacoscelis Duponchal and Chevrolat (Chrysomelidae) and Nomotus Gorham (Languriidae) feed on fronds of Central American Cycads. Col. Bull. 53(3 ): 217-231.
Cox, M. and D.M. Windsor 1999. The first instar larva of Aulacoscelis appendiculata n.sp. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Aulacoscelinae) and its value in the placement of the Aulacoscelinae. J. Natural History 33:1049-1087.
Cuignet, M., D. Windsor, J. Reardon and T. Hance. 2008. The Diversity and Specificity of Parasitoids Attacking Neotropical Tortoise Beetles (Chrysomelidae, Cassidinae). pp 345-367 in: Research on Chrysomelidae, 1. eds: P. Jolivet, J. Santiago-Blay and M. Schmitt, Brill Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands, 432 pp.
Swietojanska, J. and D. Windsor. 2008. Immature stages of Azteriza flavicornis (Olivier) and Physonota alutacea Boheman (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae). Annales Zoologici 58(3): 641-665.