Michelle R. Sanford
Major Professor: Dr. Jeff Tomberlin and Dr. Jim Olson
Ph.D. Candidate
"Evolutionary and Ecological Aspects of Associative Learning in Mosquitoes."
Several theories on the evolution and persistence of learning in insects have been described in the literature. This presentation examines the relationship of these theories to the life history strategies of three major mosquito genera and how we might hypothesize that appetitive, olfactory-based associative learning may have evolved in these insects. It also assesses where appetitive, olfactory-based
associative learning research currently stands within the Culicidae and where it is headed.