Dr. Monica Mowery
Post Doc
In collaboration with Prof. Yael Lubin, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
I study behavioural ecology and invasion biology, specifically invasion genetics and ecology of the cosmopolitan brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus in Israel and around the world. The brown widow spider is likely native to South Africa and has successfully established populations worldwide, including in Israel, where brown widows were introduced in 1980 and have since spread south into the Negev Desert. Parasitoid flies and wasps, which lay eggs in developing spider egg sacs, are among the main predators of Latrodectus spiders. In this project, we evaluate the mechanisms and ecology of parasitoid wasp infection and how it may differentially affect invasive brown widow spiders and native widow spiders in Israel. To further understand how brown widows have been transported to and successfully colonized new habitats, we investigate connectivity and genetic differentiation among native and invasive populations using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).
