Rodger Gwiazdowski

Picture of First Last
Ph.D. Candidate, joint degree in OEB and Entomology
B.S., Biology, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, 2000
rodger@psis.umass.edu

Research Interests

I am interested in the diversity of species found in nature, particularly in understanding what, if anything, is a species, and practically, what do we do with that information. On a macro level, species distinctions seem easy to recognize, but that distinction quickly blurs where the rubber meets the road at the population/species interface. This conceptual boundary, between populations that exchange genes and those who do not, should be of intense interest to anyone who works with what they think of as a species. I study insects, a group with extensive species diversity. My research describes species diversity through comparative approaches using broad sampling to resolve fundamental issues in the fields of systematics, conservation biology and collection curation.

Discovery and Evolution of Cryptic Species

firstname-lastnameCryptic species are species which have been undiscovered due to their extreme morphological similarity and developing methods to identify them is a current frontier in systematics. Using genealogies, based on a multilocus DNA dataset from specimens of pine feeding armored scale insects which I have collected from across their native range in North America, I have used genealogical concordance across multiple loci to delimit 26 cryptic species out of what has been considered 2 morphological species. I am currently developing these species into a study system to explore patterns of speciation and boundaries to reproduction. Practically, cryptic species discovery has implications for all biological diciplines including control of economically important invasive insects, to discover their native range (Gwiazdowski et. al 2006) and describe their spread and genetic exchange with native species (Elkinton et. al. 2010).

Conservation Biology at the Species Level

firstname-lastnameConservation of Biodiversity requires close examination of the species we wish to conserve. To this end I have developed a captive rearing protocol for many common and several endangered species of tiger beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae: Cicindelinae) and have used this to experimentally observe species specific variation in physiology, behavior and development. I work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service where we are developing a reintroduction plan to use captive reared beetles for field experiments to test hypotheses about population decline.

Curation of Species in Natural History Collections

firstname-lastnameSpecies in natural history collections are an invaluable and irreplaceable resource for all biological disciplines and studies of species diversity depend on access to collection data. What is currently at stake for the future of collections across the world is their utility to a global community. To this end I have lead a team of 5 students where we have created an online catalogue for the >110 year old UMass Insect collection, which previously was well curated but largely uncatalogued. Information for >100,000 specimens from over 16,000 species is now available online here.

Publications

Gwiazdowski, R. A., R. G. Van Driesche, A. Desnoyers, S. Lyon, S. Wu, N. Kamata, B. B. Normark. 2006. Possible Geographic Origin of Beech Scale, Cryptococcus fagisuga (Hemiptera: Eriococcidae), an Invasive Pest in North America. Biological Control 39 (1): 9-18. Full-text available (PDF)

Elkinton, J.S., G. H. Boettner, M. Sremac, R. Gwiazdowski, R. R. Hunkins, J. Callahan, S. B. Scheufele, C. P. Donahue, A. H. Porter, A. Khrimian, B. M. Whited, and N. K. Campbell. 2010. Survey for Winter Moth, Operophtera brumata L. (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in Northeastern North America with Pheromone-baited Traps and Hybridization with the Native Bruce spanworm, Operophtera bruceata (Hulst). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 103 (2): 135-145. Full-text available (PDF)

Manuscripts in Review

Andersen, J.C.; Wu, J.; Gruwell, M.E.; Gwiazdowski, R. A.; Santana, S.E.; Feliciano, N.M.; Morse, G.E. and Normark, B.B. A phylogenetic analysis of armored scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), based upon nuclear, mitochondrial, and endosymbiont gene sequences. Under Review at Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

Manuscripts in Prep

Gwiazdowski, R. A., I. Vea, J. C. Andersen, B. B. Normark. Extensive cryptic diversity in North American pine-feeding Chionaspis scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) In prep for EVOLUTION.

Gwiazdowski, R. A., S. Gillespie, R. Weddle and J. Elkinton. Laboratory rearing of North American tiger beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae: Cicindelinae). in prep for the Journal of Insect Conservation.

Gwiazdowski, R. A, Davis, C., vonOettingen, S. Captive Propagation and Reintroduction Plan for the Puritan Tiger Beetle in the Connecticut River Watershed. In prep for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Other Publications

Gwiazdowski, R., L. Cushing, and B. B. Normark. 2009. Additional genetic data support native range hypothesis for the invasive beech scale, Cryptococcus fagisuga Lindinger. Biological Control News and Information: Vol. 30 No. 4. Full-text available (PDF)