Theodore D. Sargent, 1936-2018

B.S., University of Massachusetts, 1958

M.S., University of Wisconsin, 1960

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1963

Behavioral Ecology

Research centers on problems which permit integrated field and laboratory approaches. The experimental animals most frequently used are local birds and insects. Major interest at present concerns the anti-predator adaptations of moths and butterflies and the countering adaptations of their avian predators. These studies are being related to broader issues in genetics, ecology, and evolutionary biology.

Selected Publications:

Sargent TD. 1976. Legion of Night: The Underwing Moths. Univ. of Mass. Press, 222 pp.

Sargent TD. 1990. Industrial melanism in moths: a review and reassessment. In Adaptive Coloration in Invertebrates, M Wicksten, ed., Texas A&M Press.

Sargent TD. 1990. Startle as an anti-predator mechanism with special reference to the underwing moths (Catocala). In Insect Defenses, D Evans and J Schmidt, eds., SUNY Press.

Sargent, T.D. 1995. On the relative acceptabilities of local butterflies and moths to local birds. J. Lepidopterists' Society 49: 148-162.