Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Page 26
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29
Page 30
Page 31
Page 32
Page 33
Page 34
Page 35
Page 36
Page 37
Page 38
Page 39
Page 40
Page 41
Page 42
Page 43
Page 44
Page 45
Page 46
Page 47
Page 48
Page 49
Page 50
Page 51
Page 52
Page 53
Page 54
Page 55
Page 56
Page 57
Page 58
Page 59
Page 60
Page 61
Page 62
Page 63
Page 64
Page 65
Page 66
Page 67
Page 68
Page 69
Page 70
Page 71
Page 72
Page 73
Page 74
Page 75
Page 76
Page 77
Page 78
Page 79
Page 80
Page 81
Page 82
Page 83
Page 84
Page 85
Page 86
Page 87
Page 88
Page 89
Page 90
Page 91
Page 92
Page 93
Page 94
Page 95
Page 96
Page 97
Page 98
Page 99
Page 100
Page 101
Page 102
Page 103
Page 104
Page 105
Page 106
Page 107
Page 108
Page 109
Page 110
Page 111
Page 112
Page 113
Page 114
Page 115
Page 116
Page 117
Page 118
Page 119
Page 120
Page 121
Page 122
Page 123
Page 124
Page 125
Page 126
Page 127
Page 128
Page 129
Page 130
Page 131
Page 132
Page 133
Page 134
Page 135
Page 136
Page 137
Page 138
Page 139
Page 140
Page 141
Page 142
Page 143
Page 144
Page 145
Page 146
Page 147
Page 148
Page 149
Page 150
Page 151
Page 152
Page 153
Page 154
Page 155
Page 156
Page 157
Page 158
Page 159
Page 160
Page 161
Page 162
Page 163
Page 164
Page 165
Page 166
Page 167
Page 168
Page 169
Page 170
Page 171
Page 172
Page 173
Page 174
Page 175
Page 176
Page 177
Page 178
Page 179
Page 180
Page 181
Page 182
Page 183
Page 184
Page 185
Page 186
Page 187
Page 188
Page 189
Page 190
Page 191
Page 192
Page 193
Page 194
Page 195
Page 196
Page 197
Page 198
Page 199
Page 200
Page 201
Page 202
Page 203
Page 204
Page 205
Page 206
Page 207
Page 208
Page 209
Page 210
Page 211
Page 212
SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY Professor of Entomology Department of Life Sciences Tel 868 663 1334 ext. 83096 Fax 868 645 1732 E-mail ckstarrgmail.com PROF. CHRISTOPHER STARR 122 After developing an interest in insects at a very early age Profes- sor Starr turned his main attention to social insects -- that peculiar minority of species that lives in durablestructured groups known as colonies - about 40 years ago. The core of his scientific work has been in the nesting biology and colony life of social insects. Around this centre he has also worked on a the systematics of social insectsb the history of insect sociobiologyand c the lives of solitary insects and arachnids. Biology of social insects In his core area Professor Starr has worked on both broader theoretical questions and the lives of particular species. One of the most enduring problems in the former is the very existence and success of sociality given that there are good theoretical reasons to expect individual insects to be selfishly anti-social and the colony unstable. The general answer appears to lie in the ecological advantages that sociality confers on individuals.Profes- sor Starr has sought insight into this question by way of a exami- nation of the common basis and variation in the colony cycle analogous to the life cycles of individual organisms and b exam- ining why wasps of the genus Polistes known in Trinidad Tobago as Jack Spaniards do not revert to solitary life under any environmental conditions anywhere in the world. Most specialists on social insects work in just one of the four groupssocial waspssocial beesants and termites. While his main attention has been to social wasps Professor Starr is one of the very few with publications on the biology of species in all four groups. He credits this not to any outstanding breadth of knowl- edge or short attention span but with having spent most of his adult life in tropical areas that are very rich in species but have relatively few entomologists. Systematics of social insects Due to the species richness and scarcity of specialists in such areas as the West Indies there is often a dearth of knowledge about exactly what plants and animals are here which impedes their biological study. Professor Starr has sought to ease this situation through faunistic studies of social wasps and some solitary wasps and through contributing to others work on social bees ants and termites. In a few cases he has described and named new species of social wasps. He is especially pleased to have found a new species in Trinidad and named it Mischocyttarus baconi after the late Professor of ZoologyPeter R.Bacon. In addition patterns of geographic distribution biogeography of social insects in this archipelago are a system- atic question of interest. Professor Starr has addressed this through the working hypothesis that The manner of colony founding is the main factor in the relative ability of a species to establish itself on distant islands. The evidence shows that this is broadly truewith the few exceptions telling us something about how species reach new areas. History of insect sociobiology The scientific study of social insects goes back to the dawn of biology more than 2000 years agoand insect sociobiology is now a well-established discipline. Nonetheless the history of its growth and development has only just begun to be written Professor Starr has made one major contribution to this history and is now working on others which will mature in the next two or three years. Among these are examinations of a Franois Hubers explanation of how the honey-bee breathes like an individual organism and b Jan Dzierzons key role in forming honey-bee biology into a distinct discipline. Lives of solitary insects and arachnids Before he turned his main attention to social insects Professor Starr had long sought to penetrate the lives of other bugs. This continues as a serious side-interestwith main attention going to the nesting biology of solitary wasps. At intervals Professor Starr has conducted his departments summer field-ecology course BIOL 3068 around the topic of social insects. He is active in the organization of his discipline as archivist for the International Union for the Study of Social Insects IUSSI and a long-time executive member of the IUSSIs Bolivarian Section which has responsibility for Central America and northern South America. In addition he recently joined the board of the Pest Management Association of Trinidad Tobago PMATT and has represented the urban pest-management industry in some meetings with government. Selected Publications Starr C.K. Steps toward a general theory of the colony cycle in social insects. Pp. 1-20 in V.E. Kipyatkov ed. Life Cycles in Social Insects. 2006St PetersburgSt Petersburg Univ.Press.