David Lohman

Research Interests
I am interested in the ecology and evolution of interactions between species, the natural history of ants, and the ecology of the Asian tropics.

My thesis work examined chemical communication between butterflies and ants. Many lycaenid caterpillars posess a suite of anatomical structures for maintaining relations with ants. Nutritious secretions produced by certain lycaenid caterpillars are imbibed by particular ants, which then protect the caterpillars from parasitoids and predators. This food-for-protection mutualism cannot explain the species-specifity of these interactions, nor can it explain ant-caterpillar interactions in which the caterpillars parasitize their ant partners by eating their brood or homopteran symbionts. I examined the role of cuticular hydrocarbons in parasitic and mutualistic interactions between ants and lycaenid butterfly immatures.

My postdoctoral work in Thailand investigates patterns of host plant breadth in a community of lepidopteran herbivores. I hope to expand this project to examine latitudinal patterns of host specificity in lepidopteran herbivory along the Thai-Malay peninsula. More information about this work can be found at the project's web site.

Publications
Lohman, D.J., Q. Liao, N.E. Pierce. 2006. Chemical mimicry in a guild of aphid predators. Ecological Entomology 31: 41-51. pdf

Pierce, N.E., M.R. Braby, A. Heath, D. J. Lohman, J. Mathew, D.B. Rand, and M.A. Travassos. 2002. The ecology and evolution of interactions between lycaenid butterflies and ants. Annual Review of Entomology 47: 733-771. pdf

Lohman D.J. 1999. Chemical communication between the obligately myrmecophilous phytophage Jalmenus evagoras (Lycaenidae) and its attendant ants (Abstract). Proceedings of the Second International Lepidopterists' Conference of Africa, Cape Town, South Africa: 23.

Lohman, D.J. and K.D. McConnaughay. 1998. Patterns of defensive chemical production in wild parsnip seedlings (Apiaceae: Pastinaca sativa L.). Chemoecology 8:195-200. pdf

Lohman, D.J., A.R. Zangerl, and M.R. Berenbaum. 1996. Impact of floral herbivory by parsnip webworm (Oecophoridae: Depressaria pastinacella Duponchel) on pollination and fitness of wild parsnip (Apiaceae: Pastinaca sativa L.). The American Midland Naturalist 136:407-412. pdf

Lohman D.J., I.G. Welsford & K.D. McConnaughay. 1995. Plasticity in pigmentation in Croton: uses of image analysis and infra-red gas analysis in plant physiological ecology education (Abstract). Plant Physiol. (Supplement) 108: 53.

Publications in Preparation
Lohman, D.J., D. Murawski, N.E. Pierce. Morphological changes associated with evolutionary transitions to
carnivory in larval Lepidoptera. In preparation for submission to the Journal of Natural History.

Lohman, D.J., S. Lertseri, and N.E. Pierce. Chemical mimicry in carnivorous caterpillars. In preparation for submission to Proceedings of the Royal Society (London) B.

Lohman, D.J., R.L. Kitching, and N.E. Pierce. Chemical camouflage in myrmecophilous butterflies. In preparation for submission to Oecologia.

Pierce, N.E., A.A. Mignault, M. Blair, J. Coleman, T. Suderman, D.J. Lohman, R. Eastwood. Phylogeny and evolution of ant association in the Australian butterfly genus Ogyris (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). In preparation.

Pierce, N.P. and D.J. Lohman. Acoustics and chemistry: Communication between myrmecophiles and ants. In J. Gadau, ed. Organization of Insect Societies . Harvard University Press.

Education
2004 Ph.D. in Biology; Harvard University; Thesis Advisor: Naomi E. Pierce
2000 A.M. in Biology; Harvard University
1995 B.S. in Biology summa cum laude and with Honors; Bradley University, Peoria, IL

Postdoctoral Research and Teaching

2006-	Postdoctoral Research Fellow, National University of Singapore; Genetic diversity and patterns of speciation in selected tropical southeast Asian taxa: Using molecular tools to identify conservation priorities in a region undergoing catastrophic extinctions
2005 - 2006	Lecturer on Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University; Course Head for Biological Sciences 57: Animal Behavior (49 students enrolled)
2004 -	Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard University & Center for Tropical Forest Science; The Role of Host Plant Specificity and Spatial Dynamics in the Biodiversity of a Tropical Herbivore Guild (Lepidoptera)

Honors

2004 & 2003	Two-time winner, Bowdoin Prize for Graduate Essay in the Natural Sciences, Harvard University (Previous recipients include John Updike & Ralph Waldo Emerson)
1998	Award for Distinction in Teaching, Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University (Biology 19: Ecology)
1997	Award for Distinction in Teaching, Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University (Biological Sciences 2)
1995	Phi Kappa Phi Academic Hall of Fame (elected by university faculty as one of top 5 students in graduating class), Bradley University
1995	Dean's Award, Outstanding Senior in Biology, Bradley University
1994	Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellow, University of Illinois
1991 - 1995	Dean's List every semester, Bradley University

Grants and Fellowships

2004	Center for Tropical Forest Science Research Grant, Smithsonian Institution
2002	Harvard GSAS Graduate Student Council Travel Grant
2001 - 2002	Frank Knox Memorial Traveling Fellowship to Australia
2000	Putnam Expedition Grant to Australia
2000-2003	STAR Graduate Fellowship, Environmental Protection Agency
1998	Award for Distinction in Teaching, Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University (Biology 19: Ecology)
1997-2000	Department of Defense Graduate Fellowship
1997	STAR Graduate Fellowship, Environmental Protection Agency (declined)
1997	Award for Distinction in Teaching, Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University (Biological Sciences 2)
1995-1996	Fulbright Postgraduate Student Award to Australia, Fulbright Commission
1995	Graduated summa cum laude and with Honors from Bradley University
1995	Phi Kappa Phi Academic Hall of Fame, Bradley University
1995	Dean's Award, Outstanding Senior in Biology, Bradley University
1994	Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellow, University of Illinois
1994	Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Bradley University

Other Skills

• 2002 graduate of the “Ant Course;” a 10-day workshop on ant taxonomy and identification
(http://www.calacademy.org/research/entomology/ant_course/)

• Photography – particularly insect macrophotography; Published photograph: National Geographic
(English Edition), June 2003, “On Assignment” double page spread, pp. 140-141.

• Thai language – 2.5 years formal instruction at Harvard University; over 7 years informal study and
practice; understand and communicate in spoken and written Thai

• Playing the bassoon and contrabassoon – Played with Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra (HRO) 1997-2000
(principal bassoon during 2000 tour of Brazil); performed with over a dozen other orchestras and
ensembles at Harvard University and metropolitan Boston

Collaborators
• Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand
• Chaweewan Hutatcherern, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand
• Roger Kitching, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia
• Sittiwat Lertsiri, Department of Biotechnology, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
• Qing Liao, Mass Spectrometry Facility, Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University
• Darlyne Murawski
• Andrew Tyler, formerly of the Mass Spectrometry Facility, Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University