This National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology award for $240,000 will fund research from September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2026 exploring the role of hybridization on diet breadth evolution in the fall webworm. The fellowship recipient will conduct laboratory and field experiments in collaboration with veterans from the community college system to assess the influence of hybridization on diet breadth in two genetically distinct biotypes of the fall webworm that have diverged in their host plant ranges. Experiments will include surveys of populations across a north-south gradient with varying degrees of phenological overlap between biotypes, laboratory assays comparing hybrid herbivore performance on intermediate host plants, and field studies with veterans evaluating differences in predation of hybrids on alternative host associations. This work under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) aims to further understanding of the rules of life governing interactions between genomes, environments and phenotypes that influence biodiversity maintenance.
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