Don Miller, PhD – Entomology

Assistant Professor, 2002

(530) 898-6153

DGMiller@csuchico.edu

M.Sc., Oxford, 1990

Ph.D., UC Berkeley, 1997

Post-doc, Arizona, 1998

Research Interests:

Behavioral ecology, especially of invertebrates

Ecology and evolution of social behavior and social parasitism

Insect-plant interactions

Research Summary: Given that most animals live solitarily, why might some species live in groups? What are the causes and consequences of social interactions? Because of their relatively small size, ease of observation, abundance and diversity of life history types, the insects lend themselves especially well towards addressing these fundamental questions in behavioral ecology. My research involves natural populations of galling aphids (Tamalia spp.) on their food plants, manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.), both of which occur in the Sierra Nevada near the California State University, Chico campus. A remarkable fact about Tamalia aphids is that they sometimes initiate galls in groups (rather than singly, as do all other known galling aphids), raising questions about what factors favor this social behavior. Other species of Tamalia act as inquilines by invading and co-occupying these galls. My students and I are applying both field- and molecular methods to answer questions about the role of kinship in intraspecific interactions, as well as the impact of inquilines on the host aphids. Other current and recent projects include sex allocation of galling aphids, sociobiology of honey bees and yellowjackets, pollination ecology of solitary bees, shoaling behavior of cyprinid fish, migration in Black-tailed deer, and population biology of Spotted Owls.

Recent publications

Miller III, D. G. (2005). Ecology and radiation of galling aphids (Tamalia; Hemiptera: Aphididae) on their host plants (Ericaceae). Basic and Applied Ecology 6: 463-469.

Miller, Donald G. (2005). Review of Evolution of Ecological and Behavioural Diversity: Australian Acacia Thrips as Model Organisms. Systematic Entomology 30 (1): 177-178.

Miller III, D. G. (2005). Review of The Triumph of Sociobiology, by John Alcock. Sociobiology 45: 205-208.

Miller III, D. G. (2004). The ecology of inquilinism in communally parasitic Tamalia aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 97: 1233-1241.

Farmer, N.A., Ribble, D.O. and D.G. Miller III (2004). Influence of familiarity on shoaling behaviour in Texas shiner (Notropis amabilis) Girard and blacktail shiner (Cyprinella venusta) Girard. Journal of Fish Biology 64: 776-782.

Miller III, D. G. and B. Crespi (2003). The evolution of inquilinism, host-plant use, and mitochondrial substitution rates in Tamalia gall aphids. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 16: 1-13.

Miller III, D. G. and M. J. Sharkey (2000). An inquiline species of Tamalia co-occurring with Tamalia coweni (Homoptera: Aphididae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 76: 77-86.