Dr. Nan-Yao Su's Personnel Page
Dr. Nan-Yao Su
Professor of Entomology
Department of Entomology and Nematology
Ft. Lauderdale Research and Education Center
Dr. Rou Ling Yang
Research interests and current research projects: I’m interested in life-history strategies of insects, especially on their behavioral responses to the living environments. My current research focuses on the tunnel excavation behavior of the Formosan subterranean termite. Using individually marked termites and video recording, individual participation in tunnel excavation was explored and quantified. I also involve in studies of termites’ tunneling responses to soil irregularity and pre-formed tunnel in cooperation with Dr. Sang-Hee Lee, and the selective impact of carbon-nitrogen ratio in food on the caste development of termites in cooperation with Dr. Yutaka Kobayashi.
Nurmastini S. Bujang
Research interests and current research projects: Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer and the ability of termites to digest cellulose as their food source is a characteristic shared by very few other organisms in the food chain. Lower termites digest cellulose using independent dual cellulose-digesting systems consisting of endogenous (termite-derived) and exogenous (protozoan-derived) factors. However, the system(s) within higher termites remains debatable because instead of protozoans, they harbor bacteria in their hindgut and these bacteria’s role in cellulolysis is still unclear. My current research interest is the phylogenetic diversity of cellulase genes in higher termites and to separate them into termite-derived or bacteria-derived genes. Ultimately, I am interested to compare these genes across nutritionally diverse (xylophagous, fungus-growing and humivorous) higher termites.
Hou-Feng LiResearch interests and current research projects: My M.S. projects focus on foraging gallery construction by Formosan subterranean termites. My PhD. projects involved in phylogeographic study of the Formosan subterranean termite and Asian subterranean termites, their inter-specific competition, and population control. I also organized two long-term projects. Investigation of ecology and dispersal flight seasons of the three minor insect orders (Isoptera, Embiidina, and Strepsiptera) has been on-going in south Florida with help of the sterpsiteran expert Dr. Jeyaraney Kathirithamby from University of Oxford, and Dr. William H. Kern Jr. of Ft. Lauderdale REC. In Taiwan, survey of termites and termite-associated nematodes started in 2005 in cooperation with Dr. Natsumi Kanzaki, nematode taxonomist of Forestry and Forest Product Research Institute, Japan, and the entomologist, Dr. Yen-Chiu Lan of Leader University, Taiwan.
Thomas Chouvenc
Research interests and current research projects The focus of my research project is the relationship between subterranean termites and entomopathogenous fungi. Subterranean termites have evolved in a soil environment interacting with many soil pathogens and this led to the development of disease resistance mechanisms that allowed the termites to survive in such an environment. My goal is to study the termite-fungus relationship and to understand how the disease resistance mechanisms can prevent epizootics in a termite colony. The disease resistance mechanisms I am focusing on are behavioral interactions, antifungal chemicals produced by the termite colony and cellular immunity in individual termites. Biological control for subterranean termite has received a lot of attention in the past, but due to the existence of such mechanisms, no field success has been observed. By identifying the role of the disease resistance mechanisms, we can possibly find a way to bypass them and make biological control a feasible option for subterranean termite IPM.
Paul Bardunias
Paul Ban