2025-2026 Faculty Research Grants

Benjamin Navia and David Mbungu (Biology).

 Investigating Juvenile Hormone’s mechanism of action and the effect of pheromones
in the phonotactic behavior of female cricket Acheta domesticus.

Phonotactic behavior of female crickets in response to male calls has proved to be a good model to investigate the intricacies of acoustic communication and the underlying neural networks that control behavior. The recognition of a male’s call by female cricket Acheta domesticus and the resulting orientation of the female towards the source of these calls (phonotaxis) illuminates the roles that identified neurons play in controlling behavior. To further the understanding of the neural networks and their contribution to phonotaxis, our lab has extensively tested behavior in parallel with the physiology of selected identified auditory neurons. This approach has allowed us to gather data to test a postulated model of neural processing that centers around the
influence of first order interneurons as drivers of selective phonotactic behavior in females A. domesticus. To this end, we have started to evaluate molecular mechanisms, which could possibly affect the plasticity reported in the behavioral and neuronal responses. One such mechanism is the cellular pathway triggered by juvenile hormone III (JH III). This hormone is a key regulator of diverse developmental and physiological events in insects. It has been demonstrated that high levels of JHIII in female crickets is necessary for a fine-tuned phonotactic response. Low levels of JHIII in the females results in a widely tuned phonotactic response. Therefore, investigating the cellular mechanisms through which JHIII exerts its action provides a rational footing to the model of behavioral control that we are proposing. The methodology to this evaluation will be the same used before which requires the involvement of undergraduate students. The approach is to surgically remove a small cuticular covering to expose the cricket’s nervous system and through this window, nanoinject molecules of biological importance that have the potential to modulate both the neuronal and behavioral responses of these animals. Nanoinjected females are subsequently tested for behavioral responses.