U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Pest Management Research: Sidney, MT
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    Careers


        


                    NPARL
                        Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory
                                    Agricultural Systems Research Unit
                                    Grasshoppers: Their Biology, Identification and ManagementSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Plains Area Sidney, Montana Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory Pest Management Research People





- Find a person
- Find a location
- ARS Organizational Chart
- People
- NPARL - Home
- Agricultural Systems Research Unit
- Pest Management Research Unit
- Agricultural Systems Unit Personnel
- Pest Management Unit Personnel
- NPARL Administration Personnel
- David Branson, RL
- Joshua Campbell
- John Gaskin
- Tatyana Rand
- Robert Srygley
- Natalie West
- Carissa Wonkka
- Former PMRU Scientists
- NPARL - Home
- Agricultural Systems Research Unit
- Pest Management Research Unit
- Agricultural Systems Unit Personnel
- Pest Management Unit Personnel
- NPARL Administration Personnel
- David Branson, RL
- Joshua Campbell
- John Gaskin
- Tatyana Rand
- Robert Srygley
- Natalie West
- Carissa Wonkka
- Former PMRU Scientists

Robert B Srygley    Research Ecologist   Robert B. SrygleyRobert B. Srygley Research Ecologist  robert.srygley@ars.usda.gov www.ars.usda.gov/pa/nparl/rsrygley  Phone: 406.433.9420Fax: 406.433.5038   • Education• Current Research• Research Experience• Related Web Pages•Popular Press•Selected Publications •   **Additional Pages:** **Research Projects**,***Publications*** *Taken from the Agricultural Research Information System (ARIS) database.   **EDUCATION**  B.A. Zoology
1983
UniversityofWashington, SeattlePh.D. Zoology
1991
UniversityofTexas, Austin  **CURRENT RESEARCH**  I joined the USDA-Agricultural Research Service as a Research Ecologist in November 2006. In the insect pest management unit, our primary focus is on understanding grasshopper and Mormon cricket ecological interactions as a foundation for developing sound management practice. My group is interested in the ability of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets to defend themselves from natural pathogens. We are interested in how those defenses change as the insects develop, migrate, and reproduce. Our objective is to find weaknesses in the immune system of these agricultural pests so that natural pathogens might be applied when and where they are most effective in pest control. Generally, insect migration away from natal sites is associated with lack of food or local crowding. So we are investigating whether the insects compromise the immune system to enhance locomotion when food is limited. In addition understanding band movement, individual dietary requirements and insect survivorship will improve forecasting of movements, damage to humans, and improve integrated control. To this end, we are applying what we have learned about the orientation of migratory butterflies and adaptations to minimize energetic costs of long distance movement to grasshoppers and Mormon crickets (see below). It is likely that the environment plays a major role in the direction of the migration. However the environment has three types of features each of which might contribute to the insects' movement across the Earth: features that are stable over ecological time scales, those that are periodic, and those that change unpredictably. We will begin by investigating their ability to orient using a stable feature: the Earth's magnetic field; and a periodic feature: the position of the Sun in the sky.  **RESEARCH EXPERIENCE**  Prior to joining ARS, I was a Brainpool Professor of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University, South Korea where I researched prey selection by the Korean magpie and mentored students. For 16 years, I have been affiliated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute conducting research on insect migrations in Neotropical rainforests on the isthmus of Panama with funding from the National Geographic Society for ten of those years. My colleagues and I tracked the insect flyway over the Caribbean Sea and the ithmus of Panama, investigated the butterflies' use of the sun and geomagnetic fields to orient globally, and the use of landmarks and optic flow of a ground reference to compensate for drifting off course in variable winds. We have recently been testing models that indicate that insects have sophisticated orientation mechanisms to minimize energetic expenditures when crossing large bodies of water and the isthmus of Panama. From 1998-2001, I was a Fellow of the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford where I used smoke to visualize vortices generated by the wings of butterflies, dragonflies, and damselflies in an investigation of high-lift aerodynamic mechanisms used by insects. My interest in flight grew from my dissertation research comparing the rapid, maneuverable flight capacity of butterflies that are palatable and pursued by birds to the slow, deliberate flight of butterflies that are protected by distasteful chemicals and ignored by birds. Recently I have shown that although too fast for humans to see, the slow, deliberate flapping of distasteful butterflies heralds a motion signal to birds that the bearer is distasteful. This signal has an aerodynamic cost, and cheaters that present the signal to birds without truly bearing distasteful chemicals pay an additional energetic cost.  For more information on these research topics, please refer to the following Web site: http://www.ox.ac.uk/(*Note*: This link will take you to a non-federal site)  **RELATED WEBPAGES**  **Grasshopper Info Page** **Research on Grasshoppers** **Research on Mormon Crickets** **Research on Insect Fungal Pathogens** **Mormon Cricket ID Brochure**  **POPULAR PRESS** **Wyoming Bighorns a Field Lab for Groundbreaking Mormon Cricket Research** **KTVQ News Segment on Mormon Cricket Research**  **SELECTED PUBLICATIONS**Please note: The most recent publications by this scientist may not yet be listed here. Please check the ARIS "Publications" page for possible new titles. Srygley, R.B., Branson, D.H. 2023. Power bars: Mormon crickets get immunity boost from eating grasshoppers. Insects. 14(11):868. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14110868.
Srygley, R.B. 2023. Selective protein self-deprivation by Mormon crickets following fungal attack. Journal of Insect Physiology. 149. Article 104555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2023.104555.
Vencl, F.V., Srygley, R.B. 2023. El Niño oscillations impact anti-predator defenses to alter survival of an herbivorous beetle in a neotropical wet forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology. 39(e34)1-11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467423000226.
Srygley, R.B., Dixon, J.I., Lorch, P.D. 2023. Microclimate refugia: Comparing modeled to empirical near-surface temperatures on rangeland. Geographies. 3/344-358. https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3020018.
Srygley, R.B., Dudley, R., Hernandez, E.J., Kainz, F., Riveros, A.J., Ellington, C.P. 2023. Quantifying the aerodynamic power required for flight and testing for adaptive wind drift in passion-vine butterflies Heliconius sara (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Insects. 14(2). Article 112. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14020112.
Srygley, R.B. 2022. Temperature effects Mormon cricket Anabrus simplex embryo development, hatching and nymphal growth: Thermal performance curves change with ontogeny. Journal of Thermal Biology. 110. Article 103356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2022.103356.
Humphreys Jr., J.M., Srygley, R.B., Lawton, D., Hudson, A.R., Branson, D.H. 2022. Grasshoppers exhibit asynchrony and spatial non-stationarity in response to the El Niño/Southern and Pacific Decadal Oscillations. Ecological Modeling. 471. Article 110043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2022.110043.
Srygley, R.B. 2023. Grasshoppers and other orthopteran pests. In: Eigenbrode, S., Rashad, A., editors. Advances in Understanding Insect Pests Affecting Wheat and Other Cereals. Oxford: Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing. p 33-56.
Humphreys Jr., J.M., Srygley, R.B., Branson, D.H. 2022. Geographic variation in migratory grasshopper recruitment under projected climate change. Geographies. 2(1):12-30. https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies2010003.
Srygley, R.B., Jaronski, S.T. 2022. Increasing temperature reduces cuticular melanism and immunity to fungal infection in a migratory insect. Ecological Entomology. 47(1):109-113. https://doi.org/10.1111/een.13088.
Sabal, M.C., Boyce, M.S., Charpentier, C.L., Furey, N.B., Luhring, T.M., Martin, H.W., Melnychuk, M.C., Srygley, R.B., Wagner, C., Wirsing, A.J., Ydenberg, R.C., Palkovacs, E.P. 2021. Predation landscapes influence migratory prey ecology and evolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 36(8):737-749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2021.04.010.
Srygley, R.B. 2021. Elevational and latitudinal changes in cold tolerance of nymph and adult Mormon crickets *Anabrus simplex* (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Environmental Entomology. 50:699-705. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvab009.
Srygley, R.B. 2020. Elevational changes in Mormon cricket life histories: Minimum temperature for nymphal growth declines with elevation. Environmental Entomology. 50(1):167-172. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvaa151.
Cambraia Alves, O., Wajnberg, E., Esquivel, D.M., Srygley, R.B. 2020. Magnetic material in migratory and non-migratory Neotropical Lepidoptera: A magnetic resonance study. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials. 513:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmmm.2020.167053.
Srygley, R.B. 2020. Parental photoperiod affects egg diapause in a montane population of Mormon crickets Anabrus simplex (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Environmental Entomology. 49(4):895-901. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvaa062.
Rand, T.A., Waters, D.K., Srygley, R.B., Branson, D.H. 2020. Tri-trophic interactions are resilient to large shifts in precipitation levels in a wheat agroecosystem. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 301:1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.106981.
Srygley, R.B., Senior, L., Westwick, R.R. 2020. Singing insects of North America (SINA): Big-tooth anabrus (*Anabrus cerciata*). [World Wide Web] The Orthopterists’ Society: Pensoft Publishing. Available: https://sina.orthsoc.org/267a.htm.
Srygley, R.B. 2020. Coping with drought: Diapause plasticity in katydid eggs at high, mid, and low elevations. Ecological Entomology. 45(3):485-492. https://doi.org/10.1111/een.12820.
Srygley R., Jaronski, S., 2019. Mormon cricket, *Anabrus simplex* Haldeman, 1852 (Tettigoniidae). In: Lecoq M., Zhang L., editors. Encyclopedia of Pest Orthoptera of the World. Beijing: China Agricultural University Press. p. 219-223.
Riveros, A.J., Srygley, R.B. 2019. Magnetic compasses in insects. In: Choe, J.C., editor. Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. 2nd edition. Elsevier/Academic Press. p. 588–597. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-809633-8.01251-6.
Srygley, R.B. 2019. Coping with drought: diapause plasticity in katydid eggs at high, mid, and low elevations. Ecological Entomology. 45:485-492. DOI: 10.1111/een.12820.
Srygley R., Jaronski, S., 2019. Mormon cricket, Anabrus simplex Haldeman, 1852 (Tettigoniidae). In: Lecoq M., Zhang L., editors. Encyclopedia of Pest Orthoptera of the World. Beijing: China Agricultural University Press. p. 219-223.
Srygley, R.B. 2018. Experimental manipulation of dispersal ability in Neotropical butterfly Anartia fatima (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Insects. DOI: 10.3390/insects9030107.
Srygley, R.B., Jaronski, S. 2018. Protein deficiency lowers resistance of Mormon crickets to the pathogenic fungus *Beauveria bassiana*. Journal of Insect Physiology. 105:40-45. DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2018.01.005.
Srygley, R.B., Senior, L. 2018. The laboratory curse: variation in temperature stimulates embryonic development and shortens diapause. Environmental Entomology. 47(3):725-733. DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvy024.
Jenni-Eiermann, S., Srygley, R.B. 2017. Physiological aeroecology: Anatomical and physiological adaptations for flight. In: Chilson, P., Frick, W.F., Kelly, J., Liechti, F., editors. Aeroecology. Switzerland: Springer Verlag. p. 87-118.
Smith, C.C., Srygley, R.B., Dietrich, E.I., Mueller, U.G. 2017. Partitioning the effects of mating and nuptial feeding on the microbiome in gift-giving insects. Environmental Microbiology Reports. 9(2):104-112. DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.12506.
Smith, C.D., Srygley, R.B., Healy, F., Swaminath, K., Mueller, U.G. 2017. Spatial structure of the Mormon cricket gut microbiome and its predicted contribution to nutrition and immune function. Frontiers in Microbiology. 8:801. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00801.
Smith, C.C., Srygley, R.B., Healy, F., Swaminath, K., Mueller, U.G. 2017. Structure, and culture of the gut microbiome of the Mormon cricket Anabrus simplex. bioRxiv. DOI: DOI: 10.1101/080846.
Srygley, R.B. 2016. Diet drives the collective migrations and affects the immunity of Mormon crickets and locusts: A comparison of these potential superspreaders of disease. Integrative & Comparative Biology. 56(2):268-277. DOI: 10.1093/icb/icw035.
Srygley, R.B. 2016. Mormon crickets maximize nutrient intake at the expense of immunity. Physiological Entomology. 42(1):1-9. DOI: 10.1111/phen.12155.
Srygley, R.B., Lorch, P.D. 2016. Loss of safety in numbers and a novel driver of mass migration: radiotelemetry reveals heavy predation on a band of Mormon crickets. Royal Society Open Science. 3(5):160113. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160113.
Srygley, R.B., Riveros, A.J. 2016. Magnetic compasses in insects. In: Fraser, P., editor. Reference Module in Life Sciences. Amsterdam: Elsevier. p. 1-9. DOi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-809633-8.01251-6.
Basset, Y., Barrios, H., Segar, S., Srygley, R.B., Aiello, A., Warren, A.D., Delgado, F., Coronado, J., Lezcano, J., Arizala, S., Rivera, M., Perez, F., Bobadilla, R., Lopez, Y., Ramirez, J.A. 2015. The butterflies of Barro Colorado Island: Local extinction rates since the 1930's. PLoS One. 10(8):e0136623. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136623.
Alves, O.C., Srygley, R.B., Riveros, A.J., Barbosa, M.A., Esquivel, D.M., Wajnberg, E. 2014. Magnetic anisotropy and organization of nanoparticles in heads and antennae of neotropical leaf-cutter ants, Atta colombica. Journal of Physics D. 47(43):435401. DOI: 10.1088/0022-3727/47/43/435401.
Riveros, A.J., Esquivel, D.M., Wajnberg, E., Srygley, R.B. 2014. Do leaf-cutter ants *Atta colombica* obtain their magnetic sensors from soil? Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 68(1):55-62. (PDF)
Srygley, R.B. 2014. Effects of temperature and moisture on Mormon cricket reproduction with implications for responses to climate change. Journal of Insect Physiology. 65:57-62. DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2014.05.005.  (PDF)
Srygley, R.B., Dudley, R., Oliveira, E.G., Riveros, A.J. 2014. El Niño, host plant growth, and migratory butterfly abundance in a changing climate. Biotropica. 46(1):90-97. (PDF)
Srygley, R.B., Lorch, P.D. 2013. Coping with uncertainty: Nutrient deficiencies motivate insect migration at a cost to immunity. Integrative & Comparative Biology. 53(6):1002-1013. (PDF)
Vencl, F.V., Plata, C.A., Srygley, R.B. 2013. Proximate effects of maternal oviposition preferences on defense efficacy and larval survival in a diet-specialized tortoise beetle. Who knows best: mothers or their progeny? Ecological Entomology. 38(6):596-607. (PDF)
Vencl, F.V., Srygley, R.B. 2013. Enemy targeting, trade-offs, and the evolutionary assembly of a tortoise beetle defense arsenal. Evolutionary Ecology. 27(2): 237-252. Available: DOI 10.1007/s10682-012-9603-1.  (PDF)
Kim, S., Srygley, R.B., Lee, J.Y., Lee, S.I., Choe, J.C. 2012. Urban and natural components of Korean magpie (Pica pica sericea) territories and their effects on prey density. Polish Journal of Ecology. 60: 407-417.
Srygley, R.B. 2012. Age- and density-dependent prophylaxis in the migratory Mormon cricket *Anabrus simplex* (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Environmental Entomology. 41(1): 166-171. (PDF; 358 KB)
Srygley, R.B. 2012. Ontogenetic changes in immunity and susceptibility to fungal infection in Mormon crickets *Anabrus simplex*. Journal of Insect Physiology. 58: 342-347. (PDF; 531 KB)
Srygley, R.B., Lorch, P.D. 2011. Weakness in the band: nutrient-mediated trade-offs between migration and immunity of Mormon crickets, Anabrus simplex. Animal Behaviour. 81(2): 395-400. (PDF; 272 KB)
Riveros, A.J., Srygley, R.B. 2010. Migration, Orientation and Navigation: Magnetic Compasses in Insects. In: Breed, M.D., and Moore, J., editors. Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior. Vol. 2. Oxford: Elsevier / Academic Press. pp. 305-313. (PDF; 2477 KB)
Sane, S., Srygley, R.B., Dudley, R. 2010. Antennal Regulation of Migratory Flight in the Neotropical Moth, Urania fulgens. Biology Letters. 6:406-409. (PDF; 400 KB)
Srygley, R.B., Jaronski, S. 2010. Immune response of Mormon crickets that survived infection by Beauveria bassiana. Vol. 2011, 5 pp., Article ID 849038, DOI:10.1155/2011/849038. (PDF; 1219 KB)
Wajnberg, E., Acosta-Avalos, D., Cambraia Alves, O., Olivereira, J., Srygley, R.B., Esquivel, D.M. 2010. Magnetoreception in Eusocial Insects: An Update. Journal Royal Society Interface. 7(Suppl. 2): S207-S225. doi:10.1098/rsif.2009.0526.focus.  (PDF; 530 KB)
Rho, J.R., Srygley, R.B., Choe, J.C. 2009. Age of the Jeju pony (Equus caballus) at first reproduction: potential costs for foals and mothers that first reproduce early in life. Journal of Ethology. Journal of Ethology. 27(3):483-488.  (PDF; 329 KB)
Srygley, R. B., P. D. Lorch, S. J. Simpson and G. A. Sword. 2009. Immediate protein dietary effects on movement and the generalised immunocompetence of migrating Mormon crickets Anabrus simplex (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Ecological Entomology. 34(5): 663-668.  (PDF; 673 KB)
Srygley, R. B., R. Dudley, E. G. Oliveira, R. Aizpr?a, N. Z. Pelaez, and A. J. Riveros. 2009. El Ni?o and dry season rainfall influence hostplant phenology and an annual butterfly migration from Neotropical wet to dry forests. Global Change Biology. 16(3):936-945.  (PDF; 271 KB)
Dudley, R., Srygley, R.B. 2008. Airspeed adjustment and lipid reserves in migratory Neotropical butterflies. Functional Ecology. 22(2):264-270.  (PDF; 154 KB)
Kunz, T.H., Gauthreaux, Jr., S.A., Hristov, N.I., Horn, J.W., Jones, G., Kalko, E.K., Kelly, T.A., Larkin, R.P., Mccracken, G.F., Swartz, S.M., Srygley, R.B., Dudley, R., Westbrook, J. K. and Wikelski, M. 2008. Aeroecology: probing and modeling the aerosphere. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 48(1):1-11.  (PDF; 520 KB)
Srygley, R. B. and R. Dudley. 2008. Optimal strategies for insects migrating in the flight boundary layer: Mechanisms and consequences. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 48(1):119-133. (PDF; 460 KB)
Riveros, A. J. and R. B. Srygley. 2008. Do leaf-cutter ants Atta colombica orient their path-integrated, home vector with a magnetic compass? Animal Behaviour. 75:1273-1281.
Srygley, R. B. 2007. Evolution of the wave: Aerodynamic and aposematic functions of butterfly wing motion. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B. 274:913-917.
Srygley, R. B., R. Dudley, E. G. Oliveira, A. J. Riveros. 2006. Experimental evidence for a magnetic sense in Neotropical migrating butterflies (Lepidoptera: Pieridae). Animal Behaviour. 71:183-191.
Srygley, R. B. 2003. Wind drift compensation in migrating dragonflies Pantala (Odonata: Libellulidae). Journal of Insect Behavior. 16:217-232.
Srygley, R. B. and A. L. R. Thomas. 2002. Unconventional lift-generating mechanisms in free-flying butterflies. Nature. 420:660-664. DOI: 10.1038/nature01223


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov