Elizabeth A. Bernays

Regents' Professor Emerita

Research Interests

Research Professor, Arizona Research Laboratories Division of Neurobiology

Recent publications:

Chambers, P., Sword, G., Angel., Behmer, S. and Bernays, E.A. 1996 Foraging by generalist grasshoppers: two different strategies. Animal Behaviour 52:155-165.

Geitzenouer, H. L. and Bernays, E. A. 1996 Plant effects on prey choice by a vespid wasp, Polistes arizonensis. Ecological Entomology 21: 227-234.

Bernays, E.A. and Minkenberg, O. 1997 Insect herbivores: different reasons for being a generalist. Ecology 78: 1157-1169.

Bernays, E.A. 1998. The value of being a resource specialist: behavioral support for a neural hypothesis. American Naturalist 151: 451-464

Bernays, E.A. and Chapman, R.F. 1998. Phenotypic plasticity in numbers of antennal chemoreceptors in a grasshopper: effects of food. Journal of Comparative Physiology 183: 69-76.

Bernays, E.A. and Funk, D. 1999 Specialists make faster decisions than generalists: experiments with aphids. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 266: 1-6.

Bernays, E.A. 1999 When host choice is a problem for a generalist herbivore: experiments with the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. Ecological Entomology 24: 260-267

Bernays, E.A., Oppenheim, S., Chapman, R.F., Kwon, H. and Gould, F. 2000. Taste sensitivity of insect herbivores to deterrents is greater in specialists than in generalists: a test of the hypothesis using two closely related caterpillars. Journal of Chemical Ecology 26:547-563.

Bernays, E.A., Chapman, R.F. and Singer, M.S. 2000. Sensitivity to chemically diverse phagostimulants in a single gustatory neuron of a polyphagous caterpillar. Journal of Comparative Physiology 186: 13-19.

Dukas, R. and Bernays, E.A. 2000 Learning improves growth in the grasshopper, Schistocerca americana. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 97: 2637-2640.

Glendinning, J.I., Nelson, N. and Bernays, E.A 2000 How do inositol and glucose modulate feeding in Manduca sexta caterpillars Journal of Experimental Biology 203: 1299-1316.

Bernays, E.A. and Chapman, R.F. 2000 A neurophysiological study of sensitivity to a feeding deterrent in two sister species of Heliothis with different diet breadths. Journal of Insect Physiology 46,905-912.

Bernays, E.A. 2001 Neural limitations of phytophagous Insects: implications for diet breadth and host affiliation. Annual Review of Entomology 46, 703-727.

Mira A. and Bernays EA 2002. Tradeoffs in host use by Manduca sexta: plant quality vs natural enemies. Oikos 7, 387-397.

Bernays, EA, Chapman, RF and Hartmann, T. 2002 A highly sensitive taste receptor cell for pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the lateral galeal sensillum of a polyphagous caterpillar, Estigmene acrea. J.Comp.Physiol.188,715-723.

Singer M.S., Bernays, E.A. and Carriere, Y. 2002 The interplay between nutrient balancing and toxin dilution in foraging by a generalist insect herbivore.. Anim.Behav 64, 629- 643.

Bernays, E.A., Chapman, R.F. & Hartmann, T. 2002 A taste receptor cell dedicated to the perception of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in two species of polyphagous arctiids. Physiol.Ent.27,312-321.

Selected Publications

Bernays EA, Singer MS. Jul 2005. Insect defences: taste alteration and endoparasites. Nature, 436:476

Hartmann T, Theuring C, Beuerle T, Bernays EA, Singer MS. Oct 2005. Acquisition, transformation and maintenance of plant pyrrolizidine alkaloids by the polyphagous arctiid Grammia geneura. Insect Biochem Mol Biol, 35:1083-99

Hartmann T, Theuring C, Beuerle T, Klewer N, Schulz S, Singer MS, Bernays EA. May 2005. Specific recognition, detoxification and metabolism of pyrrolizidine alkaloids by the polyphagous arctiid Estigmene acrea. Insect Biochem Mol Biol, 35:391-411

Bernays EA, Chapman RF, Singer MS. Jan 2004. Changes in taste receptor cell sensitivity in a polyphagous caterpillar reflect carbohydrate but not protein imbalance. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Phys, 190:39-48