Caterpillars and Parasitoids of the Eastern Andes in Ecuador

Collaborators:  
Lee Dyer 
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University
Harold Greeny
Yanayacu Bological Station & Center for Creative Studies, Cosanga, Ecuador
Grant Gentry 
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University
Tom Walla
Department of Biology, Mesa State University

Website:  www.caterpillars.org

Project Goals:
1.  Survey and inventory a diverse community of Lepidoptera and associated parasitoid Hymenoptera and Diptera and provide specimens for future morphological and molecular systematic research.
2.  Disseminate this information with a searchable database publicly accessible through the internet and available worldwide.
3.  Collect baseline natural history information such as host plant-herbivore-parasitoid relationships, larval development rates, and other life cycle information for both known and unknown species. These data may also be used to test ecological and evolutionary hypotheses.
4.  Provide the foundation for a comprehensive guide to plants, caterpillars, and parasitoids of the Ecuadorian Andes.

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