Hey!

Thanks so much for visiting this project. Briefly, we are interested in getting a good handle on where this species occurs in North America, particularly at the extreme edges of its range. This will help our research team organize projects aimed at understanding the variation is traits such as defensive chemistry, acoustic courtship and anti-bat sounds, and even DNA sequences!

For more information please see the project description.

Thank you again!

• Dr. Nicolas J Dowdy, Purdue University, Milwaukee Public Museum

My name is Dr. Nick Dowdy. I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Arizona studying ecology and evolutionary biology, chemistry, and mathematics. Recently, I graduated from Wake Forest University with my doctoral degree. My dissertation was focused on the anti-bat defenses of tiger moths (Erebidae: Arctiinae), the family of which Pyrrharctia isabella is a member! I've done field work in Arizona, North Carolina, Peru, and Ecuador. I've also worked on some nature documentaries in collaboration with production companies like National Geographic and the BBC. My passion is working towards a greater understanding of all aspects of tiger moth biology, but I particularly enjoy studying the unique and amazing traits tiger moths have evolved to deal with predation. Currently, I am a post doctoral researcher at Purdue University and the Milwaukee Public Museum with Dr. Jen Zaspel. We are working on resolving the evolutionary relationships within the tiger moth subfamily using next-generation DNA sequencing techniques! I hope to use this information about tiger moth evolutionary history to understand how tiger moth defenses have come to be so diverse.