Honours supervisors and projects

Dr Jill Lancaster

Phone: 990 20910
E-mail: Jill.Lancaster@sci.monash.edu.au

Freshwater Invertebrate Ecology

My research interests focus on the ecology of freshwater invertebrates (especially insects).

Possible honours projects for 2010

• Pupae, a missing link in the population ecology of aquatic insects: Aquatic insects have complex life cycles (typically with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults) and the events that limit population size and drive population dynamics could occur at any life stage. Most research on aquatic insects, however, focuses on the larval stage only and we have a remarkably poor understanding of the other life stages, i.e., adults, eggs and pupae (for holometabolous insects). This project will focus on the pupae of stream-dwelling caddisflies in the family Hydrobiosidae. Field surveys will be used to determine the microhabitats used for pupation, the spatial distribution of pupae (e.g., are pupae aggregated?), and the duration of the pupation period. By collecting and "hatching" pupae in the lab, we can explore whether the morphological characteristics of pupae (such as wing length and abdomen length) reflect those of the emerging adult. If so, this would be a powerful tool allowing us to make inferences about the potential fecundity and dispersal ability of adults, without the difficulties associated with sampling adults.
• Life history costs of net-building for caddisfly larvae: The larvae of many caddisflies build silken nets in which they catch prey and/or other food items. A new net has to be built every time an individual moves (due to poor foraging success, disturbance, predator avoidance, etc). Producing silk is energetically expensive and, if individuals are forced to produce many nets in a larval life, there may be life history costs in terms of body size and adult fecundity. Alternatively, there may be life history trade-offs whereby individuals maintain fecundity at the expense of, for example, a longer larval life or reduced dispersal potential. Using field surveys and lab experiments, this project will explore the movement frequency, sub-lethal costs of repeated net-building and the potential life-history trade-offs for stream-dwelling caddis of the family Ecnomidae.
• Student-led ideas: I am always interested to discuss your ideas and explore how they might be developed into an honours project. Anyone with an interest in freshwater ecology should feel free to come and discuss their ideas with me.