Insect Systematics and Social Biology
Jerry L. Cook, Associate Professor

My research focuses on two major areas: insect systematics and taxonomy and social insect biology. My systematics interest lies mainly in the understudied order Strepsiptera and the Hymenoptera family Formicidae. My social insect interests are primarily ants and termites. Some social insect species are extremely important in the functioning of natural ecosystems, while other species are among the major insect pests of man. My research includes several biological aspects of these insects. I am currently studying the biology of Pogonomyrmex harvester ants at the population level, primarily in the context of the interaction of these species with other ants. An additional, ongoing study focuses on the leaf-litter ant communities of the Big Thicket of Texas and Belize. A large portion of my extramural research funding provides student wages for both graduate and undergraduate students, with the graduate students also acting as mentors for undergraduate research. My lab continues to be a mixture of graduate students and undergraduate students work on projects in my lab, all of my students have independent research projects.

For more information on this REU opportunity, please e-mail Dr. Cook at bio_jlc@shsu.edu.