Faculty

Orley R. Taylor, Jr. - Insect Ecology
Professor
Ph.D., University of Connecticut
7005 Haworth Hall
Phone: (785) 864-4051
Fax: (785) 864-4441

Area of Interest and Research

My research efforts have included studies of reproductive isolating mechanisms in sulfur butterflies, reproductive and life history patterns in plants, comparative biology of European and Neotropical African honey bees and migratory behavior of monarch butterflies. Work in progress utilizes genetic markers to quantify the interactions between invading Neotropical African bees and resident European bees in North America. These investigations should clarify why, even after 40 years of hybridization, Neotropical African bees have retained their genetic integrity. Monarch Watch [ www.MonarchWatch.org ], an outreach program I initiated in 1992, now occupies much of my time.

Representative Publications

Stable isotopes of Hydrogen and Carbon are Geographic Indicators of Natal Origins of Monarch Butterflies in Eastern North America. (with Leonard I. Wassenaar and Keith A. Hobson) Oecologia (in press).

Mark and recapture during the monarch migration: A preliminary analysis (with Kari A. Rogg and David L. Gibo) North American Conference on the Monarch Butterfly (in press).

Timing of mating flights of Neotropical African and European honey bee queens and drones (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Eastern Venezuela (with G. W. Otis, M. Spivak, M. L. Winston, S. J. Katz and P. F. Kukuk) Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society (in press).

Genetic replacement of European honey bee (Apis mellifera) subspecies by invading African bees in the Americas. Proc. Int. Workshop on Biol. Invasions of Ecosystem by Pests and Beneficial Organisms, Tsukuba, Japan (in press).

Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) are disoriented by a strong magnetic pulse. (with S. Perez and R. Jander) Naturwissenschafen (in press).

Perez, S., O. R. Taylor and R. Jander . 1997. A Sun Compass in Monarch butterflies. Nature Vol 387, No 6628, p. 29.

Loper, G.M., Wolf, W.W. and Taylor, O.R. 1991. Honeybee drone flyways and congregation areas -- radar observations. J. Kans. Ent. Soc. 65:218-222.

Sappington, T.W. and Taylor, O.R. 1990. Disruptive sexual selection in Colias eurytheme butterflies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 87:6132-6135.

Smith, D.R., Brown, W.M. and Taylor, O.R. 1989. Neotropical Africanized honeybees have African mitochondrial DNA. Nature 339: 213-215.

Taylor, O.R. and Rowell, G.A. 1988. Drone abundance, queen flight distance and the neutral mating model for honeybees, Apis mellifera. Proceedings of the International Conference on Africanized Honeybees and Bee Mites, p. 184-192.