Most of the diversity found across the animal kingdom is related to sex. Individuals invest an incredible amount of time and energy into fighting for mates and gaining the attention of potential mates. This competition over reproduction has resulted in a diverse array of sexually selected traits and mating strategies. The McCullough lab is interested in the costs and benefits of these sexually selected traits, and how and why they differ among populations and species. Our research uses experimental tools from evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, functional morphology, physiology, and molecular biology to answer fundamental questions about biodiversity.
Lab and fieldwork photos (top to bottom, left to right): weighing a brood ball, collecting beetles in the arboretum, cleaning a brood ball, setting up a pitfall trap, sifting for brood balls, baiting a pitfall trap, positioning a beetle for photos, burying traps, measuring a beetle