The fundamental mechanism of natural selection is differential reproduction ? selection favors individuals that reproduce better than others. Dr. Kight studies an apparent paradox: animals sometimes bring about the death of their own offspring. His laboratory investigates this behavioral pattern in several arthropod species, including giant water bugs (Belostoma flumineum) and terrestrial isopods (Porcellio laevis & Armadillidium vulgare). In giant water bugs, care of young is paternal: females oviposit eggs on the backs of males. Isopod females carry developing eggs and young in a marsupial pouch. In both species, however, parental investment is sometimes terminated before eggs hatch ? male water bugs may remove eggs from their backs and female isopods may remove eggs from their marsupia for consumption or abandonment. Dr. Kight?s research suggests that these patterns do not occur at random. Instead, natural selection appears to favor shrewd reproductive decisions that sometimes involve short-term reproductive losses but net lifetime reproductive gains.

Refereed Publications (* denotes student co-author)

Kight, S.L., *Tanner, A.W., *Coffey, G.L. In Press. Termination of brooding in male giant waterbugs is associated with season, egg pad size, and presence of females. Invertebrate Reproduction and Development.

Kight, S.L. 2008. Reproductive ecology of terrestrial isopods (Crustacea: Oniscidea). Terrestrial Arthropod Reviews. 1:95-110.

Kight, S.L., *Steelman, L., *Coffey, G., *Lucente, J., & *Castillo, M. 2008. Evidence of
population-level lateralized behaviour in giant waterbugs, Belostoma flumineum Say (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae): T-maze turning is left biased. Behavioural Processes. 79: 66-69.

Houghtaling, K. & Kight, S.L. 2006. Turn alternation in response to substrate vibration by terrestrial isopods, Porcellio laevis (Isopoda: Oniscidea) from rural and urban habitats in New Jersey, USA. Entomological News. 117: 149-154.

Kight, S.L., Gaynor, J.J. & Adams, S.A. 2006. Undergraduate research communities: A powerful approach to research training. Journal of College Science Teaching. 35: 34-39.

Castillo, M.E. & Kight, S.L. 2005. Response of terrestrial isopods, Armadillidium vulgare and Porcellio laevis (Isopoda: Oniscidea) to the ant Tetramorium caespitum: Morphology, behavior and reproductive success. Invertebrate Reproduction and Development. 47:183-190.

Kight, S.L., Eadie, C., Lynch, D., Coelho, J. & DeWera, A. 2005. Classical conditioning of red-backed salamanders, Plethodon cinereus. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society. 41:68-84.

Kight, S.L. & Nevo, M. 2004. Female terrestrial isopods, Porcellio laevis Latreille (Isopoda:
Oniscidea) reduce brooding duration and fecundity in response to physical stress. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 77:285-287.

Kight, S.L. & Hashemi, A. 2003. Diminished food resources are associated with delayed reproduction or increased post-reproductive mortality in brood-bearing terrestrial isopods, Armadillidium vulgare Latreille. Entomological News. 114: 61-68.

Kight, S.L. & Ozga, M. 2002. Costs of reproduction in the terrestrial isopod Porcellio
laevis Latreille (Isopoda: Oniscidea): brood-bearing and locomotion. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 74:166-171.

Kight, S.L., Martinez, M. & Merkulov, A. 2001. Body size and survivorship in overwintering
populations of Porcellio laevis (Isopoda: Oniscidea). Entomological News. 112: 112-118.

Kight, S.L., Batino, M. and Zhang, Z. 2000. Temperature-dependent parental investment in
giant waterbugs, Belostoma flumineum Say (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 93:340-342.

Kight, S.L. 2000. Altered photocyclic regimes influence the duration of maternal care in a
burrower bug (Heteroptera: Cydnidae). Entomological News. 111:67-73.

Kight, S.L. and Cseke, J.J. 1999. The effects of ambient temperature on the duration of maternal care in a burrower bug (Heteroptera: Cydnidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 71:183-187.

Kight, S.L. 1998. Precocene II modifies maternal responsiveness in the burrower bug, Sehirus cinctus (Heteroptera). Physiological Entomology. 23:38-42.

Krall, B.S., Zilkowski, B.W., Kight, S.L., Bartelt, R.J. & Whitman, D.W. 1997. Chemistry and defensive efficacy of the secretion of the burrower bug (Sehirus cinctus cinctus). Journal of Chemical Ecology. 23:1951-1962.

Kight, S.L. 1997. Factors influencing maternal behavior in a burrower bug, Sehirus cinctus,
(Hemiptera: Cydnidae). Animal Behaviour. 53:105-112

Kight, S.L. 1996. Post-conflict behavior in Japanese macaques at the Indianapolis zoo: Age of
opponents influences reconciliation. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science. 105:269-276.

Kight, S.L., Rozema Jenkins, J. & Ng, B. 1996. Differential contact behavior by female whirligig beetles, Dineutus assimilis Kirby (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 69:360-362

Kight, S.L. 1996. Concaveation and maintenance of maternal behavior in a burrower bug (Sehirus cinctus): A comparative perspective. Journal of Comparative Psychology. 110:69-76

Kight, S.L., Sprague, J., Kruse, K.C. & Johnson, L. 1995. Are egg-bearing male water bugs,
Belostoma flumineum Say (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae), impaired swimmers? Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 68:468-470.

Kight, S.L. 1995. Do maternal burrower bugs, Sehirus cinctus Palisot (Heteroptera: Cydnidae), use spatial and chemical cues for egg-discrimination? Canadian Journal of Zoology 73:815-817.

Kight, S.L. & K.C. Kruse. 1992. Factors affecting the allocation of paternal care in waterbugs (Belostoma flumineum Say). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 30:409-414.



Books and Chapters

Kight, S.L. In Press. Danger in the water (Giant Waterbugs). In. Prete, F. ed. Predator!
University of Chicago Press.