Chemical Ecology Lab

Phil Schappert's research focuses on the ecological and evolutionary interactions between the chemical defenses of plants and their insect herbivores, pollinators and predators.

Projects currently underway in the Chemical Ecology Lab (BFL 116) include:

1) cyanogenesis of maypop, Passiflora incarnata

2) cyanogenesis of damiana, Turnera diffusa, and its commercially-available natural products

3) synergy between the chemical and ant defenses of Turnera ulmifolia

4) tannin inhibition of cyanogenesis in T. ulmifolia.

Additional projects being conducted at remote sites include studies of the population biology of Variegated and Gulf Fritillary butterflies (Euptoieta claudia and Agraulis vanillae, respectively) (Bastrop Co.), the mating system of distylous Turnera diffusa (Starr Co.), potential changes in self-compatibility/ecological trade-offs in the mating system of Passiflora affinis, and the ecology and pollination biology of Spiranthes parksii, the endangered Navasota Ladies Tresses (Bastrop Co.). A recent initiative is examining the feasibility of studying the production of alkaloids by ergot (Claviceps sp.) in the burs of coastal sandbur, Cenchrus spinifex, that are visited by Danaid and Nymphalid butterflies.