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CONTACT INFORMATION |
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Research Ecologist
Phone: 406.433.9429
Cell Phone: 406.489.0326
Fax: 406.433.5038
E-mail: gsword[at]sidney.ars.usda.gov |
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EDUCATION |
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B.S. |
Ecology
&
Evolutionary Biology |
1992 |
University of Arizona,
Tucson, AZ |
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Ph.D. |
Zoology |
1998 |
University of Texas,
Austin, TX |
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Dr. Sword's research on Mormon cricket migration was
recently featured on the National Geographic Channel. Click here to see
the video. |
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CURRENT RESEARCH |
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Despite the economic and cultural
significance of grasshoppers, locusts and Mormon crickets, the
ecological processes that underlie their outbreaks are very poorly
understood. The development of sustainable ways to prevent
damaging outbreaks requires an understanding of the interactions between
these insects and their environment. My research focuses on the ecology
and evolution of grasshoppers, locusts and Mormon crickets with emphasis
on host plant use, phenotypic plasticity, swarm formation, migration,
and ecologically-based approaches to management. I attempt to
incorporate molecular, behavioral, and field biology techniques to
examine ecological processes at multiple scales.
Ongoing projects address the following:
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Developmental, geographic and genetic patterns of host plant use
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Role of
grasshopper herbivory in plant community structure
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Effects fire
and grazing on grasshopper population dynamics
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Host plant
selection behavior
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Density-dependent phenotypic plasticity (phase polyphenism)
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Mormon
cricket behavior and migration patterns
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Molecular
systematics of the locust genus
Schistocerca
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Phenotypic
plasticity and the evolution of warning coloration
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RESEARCH EXPERIENCE |
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I joined the USDA-Agricultural Research
Service as an ecologist in 2000. Prior to accepting this position, I
was fortunate enough to study grasshoppers and locusts on three
continents as part of a USDA-NRICGP funded postdoctoral fellowship. My
project dealt with a number of ecological issues related to the
expression of locust phase polyphenism (or phase polymorphism). This
study enabled me to conduct fieldwork in Mauritania where, with the help
of my collaborators from the University of Oxford, GTZ and Centre du
Lutte Antiacridienne, I demonstrated that the desert locust,
Schistocerca gregaria, derives toxicity from its host plants and
expresses density-dependent warning coloration. I also worked at the
University of Oxford where I studied the relationship between
density-dependent changes in locust coloration and behavior. I then
returned to the US to conduct an analysis of locust-like behavior in
some of the North American grasshoppers that are related to locusts, but
do not swarm. My dissertation research at the University of Texas
focused on host plant use in the grasshopper, Schistocerca emarginata
(=lineata). My odd affinity for this grasshopper led to the
initial discovery of density-dependent warning coloration. You’d
undoubtedly be reading someone else’s bio right now had I not been lucky
enough to work with Reg Chapman and Liz Bernays as an undergraduate
research assistant at the University of Arizona.
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RELATED WEBPAGES |
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Grasshoppers &
Locusts
Homing In on Hopper Hordes
Grasshopper CD request form
Grasshopper research at NPARL
Grasshoppers: Their Biology, Identification and Management
(Comprehensive web site)
"Fire"
Prevention: Exploring New Ways to Control Grasshoppers
and Mormon Crickets
(.pdf)
The Orthopterists'
Society
Mormon Crickets
Mormon cricket fact sheet
Mormon cricket research at NPARL
ARS News -
"Dinosaur Monument Study May Help Stop Mormon Cricket Scourge"
ARS News - "Tiny
Transmitters Gauge Cricket Movements"
Nature Science
Update - "Radio Tracks Crickets" (.pdf)
TechTV - Tech Live
The
Desert News - "Bugging the crickets"
NY Times -
"For
Crickets, It's Wise to Blend In" (.pdf)
USA Today -
"Scientist tracks crickets with micro-radios, glue gun" (.pdf)
Warning
Coloration & Aposematism
ABCNEWS - "Bright Colors
Taste Nasty" (.pdf)
Nature Science
Update - "How did the grasshopper get his stripes?"
NY Times - "Inside Story of Nature's Foul-Tasting Beauties"
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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS |
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Sword, G.A., Lorch, P.D. & Gwynne, D.T. (In Press) Migratory
bands give crickets protection. Nature.
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Sword, G.A., Joern, A. & Senior, L.B. (In Press) Host
plant-associated genetic differentiation in the snakeweed
grasshopper, Hesperotettix viridis (Orthoptera: Acrididae).
Molecular Ecology.
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Sword, G.A. (2005) Local population density and the activation of
movement in migratory band-forming Mormon crickets. Animal
Behaviour. 69(2):437-444.
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Babah, M.A.O. and Sword, G.A. (2004) Linking locust gregarization to
resource distribution patterns across a large spatial scale.
Environmental Entomology. 33(6):1577-1583.
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Sword, G.A.
(2003) To be or not to be a locust? A comparative analysis of
behavioral phase change in nymphs of Schistocerca americana and S.
gregaria. Journal of Insect Physiology. 47(7):709-717.
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Sword, G.A.(2002) A role for phenotypic plasticity in
the evolution of aposematism. Proceedings of the Royal Society of
London B. 269:1639-1644.
Dopman, E.B., Sword, G.A., & Hillis, D.M.
(2002) The importance of the ontogenetic niche in resource-associated
divergence: evidence from a generalist grasshopper. Evolution.
56:731-740. (Cover photo)
Sword, G.A. (2001) Tasty on the outside,
but toxic in the middle: Grasshopper regurgitation and host
plant-mediated toxicity to a vertebrate predator. Oecologia.
128:416-421.
Sword, G.A., Simpson, S.J., El Hadi,
O.T.M. & Wilps, H. (2000) Density-dependent aposematism in the desert
locust. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B.
267:63-68.
Sword, G.A. and Simpson, S.J. (2000) Is
there an intraspecific function for density-dependent color change in
the desert locust? Animal Behaviour. 59: 861-870.
Sword, G.A. (1999) Density-dependent
warning coloration. Nature. 397:217.
Sword, G.A. and Dopman, E.B. (1999)
Developmental specialization and geographic structure of host plant
use in a polyphagous grasshopper, Schistocerca emarginata (=lineata)
(Orthoptera: Acrididae). Oecologia. 120:437-445.
Chapman, R.F. and Sword, G.A. (1997)
Polyphagy in the Acridomorpha. In: Gangwere, S.K., Muralirangan, M.C.
& Muralirangan, M. (eds.) The Bionomics of Grasshoppers,
Katydids and Their Kin. CAB International, Wallingford, pp.
183-195.
Chambers, P., Sword, G., Angel, J.,
Behmer, S. & Bernays, E.A. (1996) Foraging by generalist
grasshoppers: dietary mixing in two cryptic species. Animal
Behaviour. 52:155-165.
Chapman, R.F., Espelie, K.E. & Sword,
G.A. (1995) Use of cuticular lipids in grasshopper taxonomy: A study
of variation in Schistocerca shoshone (Thomas). Biochemical
Systematics and Ecology. 23:383-398.
Sword, G.A. and Chapman, R.F. (1994)
Monophagy in a polyphagous grasshopper, Schistocerca shoshone.
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 73:225-234.
Chapman, R.F. and Sword, G.A. (1994) The
relationship between plant acceptability and suitability for survival
and development in the polyphagous grasshopper, Schistocerca
americana. Journal of Insect Behavior. 7:411-431.
Espelie, K.E., Chapman, R.F. & Sword,
G.A. (1994) Variation in the surface lipids of the grasshopper,
Schistocerca americana (Drury). Biochemical Systematics and
Ecology. 22:563-575.
Chapman, R.F. and Sword, G. (1993) The
importance of palpation in food selection by a polyphagous grasshopper
(Orthoptera: Acrididae). Journal of Insect Behavior. 6:79-91.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Biological Science Technician
Phone: 406.433.9498
Fax: 406.433.5038
E-mail: lsenior[at]sidney.ars.usda.gov |
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EDUCATION |
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B.A. Botany/Chinese/History and
Sociology of Science |
1978 |
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA |
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M.S. Botany |
1981 |
University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC |
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EXPERIENCE |
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Laura joined ARS in 1999 as a
part-time research assistant in molecular biology. Her primary duties
concerned noxious weed research. In 2000, Laura became a biological
science research technician working with Dr. Gregory Sword. She assists
Dr. Sword with his multi-faceted research in insect ecology, with the
bulk of her time dedicated to projects using molecular methods.
Prior to joining ARS, Laura has had a diverse career,
including stints at the Department of Defense, in various business
endeavors and in biological research. Her prior experience in
agricultural research includes several years as a technician at North
Carolina State University. At NCSU, she worked in two different research
programs, nematology (plant pathology) and tissue culture of soybean and
pine (botany).
At the University of North Carolina, Laura’s research
for her master’s degree concerned the life history and mycorrhizal
relationship of a native terrestrial orchid, Tipularia discolor,
the Crane Fly Orchid.
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