Insects on Plants, Chemical Ecology, and Coevolution
Website of the Phytophagy Lab at Cornell University, led by Anurag Agrawal, James A. Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies
In the life of any biologist, a trip the Galapagos Islands holds a special place. For me, I was gifted the opportunity to join a Cornell course focused on Evolutionary Biology by a colleague and friend. And as fate would have it, this trip in March of 2022 held several surprises, not the least of which was that my daughter… Read more 
Although I often write about monarchs and milkweed, really I am an ecologist aspiring to study and understand the natural world, mostly in terms of the origin and maintenance of biodiversity. A long-term goal is to learn about the natural history of species, habitats, and interactions as a means to develop a view of life. It’s the interplay of our… Read more 
Although I typically write about monarchs and milkweed, really I am a field biologist aspiring to study and understand the natural world, mostly in terms of the origin and maintenance of biodiversity. A life-long goal is to learn about the natural history of species, habitats, and interactions as a means to develop a view of life. It’s the interplay of… Read more 
It is easy to think that for fabulous, bite-you-in-the-nose, natural history, you have to go to the tropics. Not true! As a response to the covid pandemic, so many of us are spending more time outside in gardens and neighborhood parks. I have been posting (mostly on twitter, @anuragasclepias) some finds such as these two organisms below in and around… Read more 
I was on sabbatical the 2017-2018 academic year, seems like years ago. We spent the fall semester in Missoula, Montana and the spring in Oaxaca, Mexico, our odyssey ended back in Ithaca. Blog posts from that era, highlighting monarchs and milkweed are here from the west and Mexico. But, one post I never got to until now was perhaps the… Read more 
I am super proud to report that Amy Hastings and I have been part of a wonderful collaboration with Noah Whiteman’s and Susanne Dobler’s labs reconstructing the evolutionary history of genetic changes in monarch butterflies experimentally (and in vivo) using fruit flies. You can read the paper, just published in Nature here.
Lots is being written about it, including the… Read more 
What to do about the decline of the monarchs? The recent Thanksgiving count in California was dire. The spiral in eastern north America is no better. The monarchs need many things, and milkweed is absolutely essential. It is the only plant their caterpillars eat. And as described in my book, Monarchs and Milkweed, the two share an intimate and antagonistic… Read more 
I study caterpillars. But really whatever you study, if you are into it enough, becomes part of you. And eventually, those targets of our attention and love (and well, okay, our obsession), get their revenge. I’ve spent a lot of time on Monarchs and Milkweed, studying and contemplating their toxicity. Milkweeds make poisons, monarchs eat the milkweed (and eat nothing… Read more 
Sabbatical is one of those remarkable gifts of the academy. At Cornell University, after 12 semesters of service on campus, one can apply for 1-2 semesters off campus, free from most administrative and teaching duties to focus on scholarship. This year has been my third sabbatical, and every one seems better than the last. I was unquestionably able to commune… Read more 
On July 24th 2017, I set out with my family from Ithaca, NY, for year-long sabbatical leave from Cornell University. Our destination for the fall semester is Missoula, Montana, but our first major stop was a family visit in Urbana, IL. Given my travel companions, especially the kids Jasper (12) and Anna (8), we decided to take our time driving… Read more 
As part of being the Vice President of the American Society of Naturalists, I had the opportunity to organize a symposium at the annual meeting in 2016 (Austin, TX). The topic was convergence, natural history, and the big questions in biology. The talks were great, and what I think (hope!) will really have an impact on the field is this… Read more 
It’s peak season for milkweed and the village of insects that make milkweed its home. In my book on Monarchs and Milkweed, I devote an entire chapter to these diverse and fascinating other milkweed insects. Below are photos from two days last week (July 6 and 7th), one set from my front yard and the other from Shawangunk National Grassland… Read more