I am interested in understand how ecological and demographic processes, as well as heritable physiological and behavioral traits may drive to ecological and evolutionary shifts in the diet of tropical herbivores.

I use as study model a group of beetles from the subfamily Hispinae (Chrysomelidae). Hispine larvae and adults are herbivores of plants from the order Zingiberales. They inhabit in the young rolled leaves of their hosts. Some species are specialists feeding on only one host., Other species are generalists, feeding in up to five different species of Zingiberales.

This study was funded by the Center for Latin American Studies, University of Miami

Phenotypic and functional genders are two measures used to describe plant sexuality. Phenotypic gender refers to the presence and ratio of sexual structures such as pollen grains or ovules, which suggest the potential function as male or female. Functional gender measures the relative reproductive success through pollen donation or seed production. In hermaphroditic plants, although phenotypic gender is equivalent among individuals, functional gender could range within a continuum between mostly male to mostly female. Divergence between phenotypic and functional gender may promote sexual specialization at an ecological time scale and the evolution of separate sexes in plants.

This research combines morphological measures, field observations, and experiments to test the effects of the ecological factors that may promote a divergence between phenotypic from functional gender and the evolution of separate genders.

This research used Arcytophyllum lavarum (Rubiaceae), a neotropical herb endemic from the Paramos of Central America as study model. This species grows in patches scattered over rock outcrops, and its flowers exhibit distyly, floral polymorphism characterized by the reciprocal positioning of stigmas and anthers in different flowers.

This study was funded by the OTS – Glaxo fellowship for Latin–American researchers (Fund No.502) . Part of the equipment used in this project was provided by IDEA WILD.