College of the Pacific

Leah Larkin

Leah Larkin, 2008, Assistant Professor (B.A., Swarthmore College, 1991; Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin, 2002)

One of the major challenges in explaining the diversity of both plants and insects is to understand the evolution of interactions between these two groups. The most diverse group of plants, the eudicots, is the one which interacts most with insects. Likewise, the seven insect orders most characterized by herbivory and/or pollination interactions account for nearly 95% of insect diversity. Why have these groups undergone such remarkable speciation when others have not? Fundamental traits such as pollination syndromes and feeding specialization (or lack thereof) cannot be studied in isolation from the relevant pollinator, herbivore or host.

My research integrates entomology, botany, and phylogenetics to investigate the evolutionary and ecological history of plant-insect interactions and the underlying mechanisms of diversity. I reconstruct phylogenies using both classical and modern molecular methods in order to develop and test hypotheses of relationship, association, morphology, and biogeography. I currently focus on the evolution of pollen-host relationships of the native bee genera Andrena (Andrenidae), which includes both specialist and generalist lineages, and Perdita, which are primarily specialists. These two are among the largest genera of bees; Andrena is, in fact, one of the largest genera of all organisms. A fundamental question is, Why are these two groups so large?

My additional interests are broad and include: plant systematics; biomechanical aspects of pollen exchange; neurological and nutritional aspects of ecological specialization; and the evolution of other specialized ecological interactions, such as orchid-mycorrhizal relationships and oil-bee pollination syndromes. In all of my work, I enjoy both field and lab work and mentoring students at the graduate and undergraduate levels.