Professor Robert Jackson - Research
Some of the species being studied
Especially jumping spiders (Salticidae). These include Portia, a genus of web-invading spider-eating species with pronounced predatory versatility, Evarcha culicivora, a species that feeds on vertebrate blood and Myrmarachne, a genus that mimic ants, as well as various salticids that eat ants and social salticids that live in ‘spider cities’. Other animals used in research include assassin bugs (Reduviidae) that specialize at eating spiders, bugs that eat ants, bugs that eat snails and bugs that eat other bugs.
Current research priorities
An important new research direction is being developed, linking basic research on salticid behaviour with applied research related to the control of malaria vectors. This objective is being pursued especially through affiliation with the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Kenya. The field sites for this work are in the Lake Victoria region of East Africa.