Elizabeth Bernays

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Elizabeth A. Bernays (1940 [1] – 5 March 2024) was an Australian entomologist who was a Regents Professor at the University of Arizona. [2] She was known for studies of physiological, behavioural, and ecological interactions between plants, herbivorous insects and their predators. Bernays worked on the feeding behaviour of a variety of insects including aphids, grasshoppers, and hawkmoths. [3] [4] [5] She was known for championing the idea that predation drove many insects to specialise on a few species of hostplants, rather than specialisation being solely the outcome of a chemical arms race between plant and insect herbivores. [6] [7] [8]

Contents

Early life

Educated at the University of Queensland, Australia, she moved to London to teach high school students; she subsequently studied for a PhD there. [9] Prior to moving to the University of Arizona, she was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. [8]

Career

Bernays published more than 100 book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, edited volumes and books on a variety of entomological subjects including insect learning, feeding, taste and water homeostasis. [10] [11] [12] Her research into the feeding behaviour of insects helped guide interventions designed to minimise crop pest damage. [9] Along with Michael S. Singer, she published a paper in 2005 in Nature showing that parasitised tiger moth caterpillars have greater sensitivity to pyrrolizidine alkaloids than non-parasitised caterpillars and that parasitised caterpillars seek out plants containing these chemicals to defend themselves from predation and parasitism. [13] [14]

Academic honours

In 1986, she received the Vatican's highest scientific honour, the Pius XI Gold Medal of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. [15]

Late career activities

After retirement, Bernays studied for a master's degree in creative writing at the University of Arizona. [8] She wrote two memoirs. The first memoir, Six Legs Walking: Notes from an Entomological Live, described her childhood experiences with nature, her work with her husband as an applied entomologist in Africa, and her professional experiences as a woman in science moving from the science culture of the U.K. to a professorship at the University of California, Berkeley. [16] Her second memoir, Across the Divide: The Strangest Love Affair, describes her personal and creative relationship with her wife Linda Hitchcock which included collaborating on children's nature books and travelling the southwestern U.S. [17]

Personal life

She was married to the English entomologist Reginald Frederick Chapman until his death in 2003. She met Linda Hitchcock, photojournalist in 2004 and subsequently married in 2018 .

Selected books and edited volumes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caterpillar</span> Larva of a butterfly or moth

Caterpillars are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aphid</span> Superfamily of insects

Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A typical life cycle involves flightless females giving live birth to female nymphs—who may also be already pregnant, an adaptation scientists call telescoping generations—without the involvement of males. Maturing rapidly, females breed profusely so that the number of these insects multiplies quickly. Winged females may develop later in the season, allowing the insects to colonize new plants. In temperate regions, a phase of sexual reproduction occurs in the autumn, with the insects often overwintering as eggs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemiptera</span> Order of insects often called true bugs

Hemiptera is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from 1 mm (0.04 in) to around 15 cm (6 in), and share a common arrangement of piercing-sucking mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is often limited to the suborder Heteroptera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parasitoid</span> Organism that lives with its host and kills it

In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionary strategies within parasitism, distinguished by the fatal prognosis for the host, which makes the strategy close to predation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sphingidae</span> Family of insects

The Sphingidae are a family of moths commonly called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as hornworms. It includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, but species are found in every region. They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their agile and sustained flying ability, similar enough to that of hummingbirds as to be reliably mistaken for them. Their narrow wings and streamlined abdomens are adaptations for rapid flight. The family was named by French zoologist Pierre André Latreille in 1802.

<i>Manduca sexta</i> Species of moth

Manduca sexta is a moth of the family Sphingidae present through much of the Americas. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1763 Centuria Insectorum.

<i>Manduca quinquemaculata</i> Species of moth

Manduca quinquemaculata, the five-spotted hawkmoth, is a brown and gray hawk moth of the family Sphingidae. The caterpillar, often referred to as the tomato hornworm, can be a major pest in gardens; they get their name from a dark projection on their posterior end and their use of tomatoes as host plants. Tomato hornworms are closely related to the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta. This confusion arises because caterpillars of both species have similar morphologies and feed on the foliage of various plants from the family Solanaceae, so either species can be found on tobacco or tomato leaves. Because of this, the plant on which the caterpillar is found does not indicate its species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leafhopper</span> Family of insects

Leafhopper is the common name for any species from the family Cicadellidae. These minute insects, colloquially known as hoppers, are plant feeders that suck plant sap from grass, shrubs, or trees. Their hind legs are modified for jumping, and are covered with hairs that facilitate the spreading of a secretion over their bodies that acts as a water repellent and carrier of pheromones. They undergo a partial metamorphosis, and have various host associations, varying from very generalized to very specific. Some species have a cosmopolitan distribution, or occur throughout the temperate and tropical regions. Some are pests or vectors of plant viruses and phytoplasmas. The family is distributed all over the world, and constitutes the second-largest hemipteran family, with at least 20,000 described species.

Herbivores are dependent on plants for food, and have coevolved mechanisms to obtain this food despite the evolution of a diverse arsenal of plant defenses against herbivory. Herbivore adaptations to plant defense have been likened to "offensive traits" and consist of those traits that allow for increased feeding and use of a host. Plants, on the other hand, protect their resources for use in growth and reproduction, by limiting the ability of herbivores to eat them. Relationships between herbivores and their host plants often results in reciprocal evolutionary change. When a herbivore eats a plant it selects for plants that can mount a defensive response, whether the response is incorporated biochemically or physically, or induced as a counterattack. In cases where this relationship demonstrates "specificity", and "reciprocity", the species are thought to have coevolved. The escape and radiation mechanisms for coevolution, presents the idea that adaptations in herbivores and their host plants, has been the driving force behind speciation. The coevolution that occurs between plants and herbivores that ultimately results in the speciation of both can be further explained by the Red Queen hypothesis. This hypothesis states that competitive success and failure evolve back and forth through organizational learning. The act of an organism facing competition with another organism ultimately leads to an increase in the organism's performance due to selection. This increase in competitive success then forces the competing organism to increase its performance through selection as well, thus creating an "arms race" between the two species. Herbivores evolve due to plant defenses because plants must increase their competitive performance first due to herbivore competitive success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parasitoid wasp</span> Group of wasps

Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causing the death of these hosts. Different species specialise in hosts from different insect orders, most often Lepidoptera, though some select beetles, flies, or bugs; the spider wasps (Pompilidae) exclusively attack spiders.

<i>Cotesia congregata</i> Species of wasp

Cotesia congregata is a parasitoid wasp of the genus Cotesia. The genus is particularly noted for its use of polydnaviruses. Parasitoids are distinct from true parasites in that a parasitoid will ultimately kill its host or otherwise sterilize it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insect ecology</span> The study of how insects interact with the surrounding environment

Insect ecology is the interaction of insects, individually or as a community, with the surrounding environment or ecosystem. This interaction is mostly mediated by the secretion and detection of chemicals (semiochemical) in the environment by insects. Semiochemicals are secreted by the organisms in the environment and they are detected by other organism such as insects. Semiochemicals used by organisms, including (insects) to interact with other organism either of the same species or different species can generally grouped into four. These are pheromone, synomones, allomone and kairomone. Pheromones are semiochemicals that facilitates interaction between organisms of same species. Synomones benefit both the producer and receiver, allomone is advantageous to only the producer whiles kairomones is beneficial to the receiver. Insect interact with other species within their community and these interaction include mutualism, commensalism, ammensalism, parasitism and neutralisms.

Green leaf volatiles (GLV) are organic compounds released by plants. Some of these chemicals function as signaling compounds between either plants of the same species, of other species, or even different lifeforms like insects.

<i>Chrysopa perla</i> Species of lacewing

Chrysopa perla, the Pearly Green Lacewing, is an insect species belonging to the green lacewing family, Chrysopidae.

<i>Rhopalosiphum maidis</i> Species of true bug

Rhopalosiphum maidis, common names corn leaf aphid and corn aphid, is an insect, and a pest of maize and other crops. It has a nearly worldwide distribution and is typically found in agricultural fields, grasslands, and forest-grassland zones. Among aphids that feed on maize, it is the most commonly encountered and most economically damaging, particularly in tropical and warmer temperate areas. In addition to maize, R. maidis damages rice, sorghum, and other cultivated and wild monocots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tritrophic interactions in plant defense</span> Ecological interactions

Tritrophic interactions in plant defense against herbivory describe the ecological impacts of three trophic levels on each other: the plant, the herbivore, and its natural enemies. They may also be called multitrophic interactions when further trophic levels, such as soil microbes, endophytes, or hyperparasitoids are considered. Tritrophic interactions join pollination and seed dispersal as vital biological functions which plants perform via cooperation with animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reginald Frederick Chapman</span> American entomologist

Reginald Frederick Chapman was an English entomologist who later worked at the University of Arizona. He wrote a landmark textbook on the anatomy and physiology of insects, The Insects- Structure and Function, several editions of which have been published.

Angela Elizabeth Douglas is a British entomologist who researches insect nutrition, and is known for her research on symbiotic relationships between insects and microorganisms. She has been the Daljit S. and Elaine Sarkaria Professor of Insect Physiology and Toxicology at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, since 2008, and previously held a chair at the University of York (2003–8).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Beckage</span> American entomologist

Nancy Elizabeth Beckage was an American entomologist known for her work on host–parasitoid interactions. She held professorships in entomology and in cell biology and neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside.

Bergamotenes are a group of isomeric chemical compounds with the molecular formula C15H24. The bergamotenes are found in a variety of plants, particularly in their essential oils.

References

  1. ↑ "VIAF ID 93683213". VIAF. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  2. ↑ Garvey, Kathy Keatley (25 March 2024). "In Remembrance: Entomologists Charles Mitter, Elizabeth Bernays and Kim Flottum". UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology website. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  3. ↑ Bernays, Elizabeth A.; Funk, Daniel J. (1999). "Specialists make faster decisions than generalists: experiments with aphids". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 266 (1415): 151–156. doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0615. PMC   1689657 .
  4. ↑ Copenhaver, Larry (18 December 1990). "Pet project: Marvelous munching Menlanoplus excite, sadden students". Tucson Citizen. pp. C1. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  5. ↑ Espelie, K.S.; Bernays, E.A. (1989). "Diet-related differences in the cuticular lipids of Manduca sexta larvar". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 15 (7): 2003–2017. doi:10.1007/BF01207433. PMID   24272291.
  6. ↑ Mira, Alex; Bernays, Elizabeth A. (2002). "Tradeoffs in host use by Manduca sexta: plant characters versus natural enemies". Oikos. 97: 387–397. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2002.970309.x.
  7. ↑ Frederick, Donald J. (5 September 1993). "Potent ocean poisons could help fight diseases on land". Los Angeles Times. pp. A10. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 Minard, Anne (19 January 2005). "The writing bug has captured scientist". Arizona Daily Star. pp. B1–B2. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  9. 1 2 Bernays, Elizabeth A. (2019). "An Unlikely Beginning: A Fortunate Life". Annual Review of Entomology. 64: 1–13. doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-011118-111820. PMID   30629895.
  10. ↑ Reuven, Dukas; Bernays, Elizabeth A (2000). "Learning improves growth rate in grasshoppers". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 97: 2637–26. doi: 10.1073/pnas.05046149 (inactive 1 November 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  11. ↑ Reisenman, Carolina E.; Riffell, Jeffrey A.; Bernays, Elizabeth A.; Hildebrand, John A. (2010). "Antagonistic effects of floral scent in an insect–plant interaction". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 277 (1692): 2371–2379. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.0163. PMC   2894902 . PMID   20335210.
  12. ↑ Woods, H. Arthur; Bernays, Elizabeth A. (2001). "Water homeostasis by wild larvae of Manduca sexta". Physiological Entomology. 25: 82–87. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3032.2000.00167.x.
  13. ↑ Bernays, Elizabeth A.; Singer, Michael S. (2005). "Taste alteration and endoparasites". Nature. 436 (7050): 476. doi:10.1038/436476a. PMID   16049466.
  14. ↑ Hathaway, William (1 August 2005). "Insect eats to fight what ails it". Los Angeles Times. pp. F6. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  15. ↑ "Berkeley Professor Honored by Vatican". Los Angeles Times. 13 September 1986. p. 19.
  16. ↑ "Local authors cover wide range of topics". Arizona Daily Star. 1 May 2022. pp. E2. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  17. ↑ "Poems, memoirs, history and mysteries". Arizona Daily Star. 3 September 2023. pp. E7. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
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