Phone: 828-227-3811; 828-526-2602
Email: costa@email.wcu.edu
Office Address: Stillwell 201
Websites: http://www.wcu.edu/hbs

Education:

• Ph.D., University of Georgia, 1992
• M.S., University of Georgia, 1988
• B.S., SUNY Cortland, 1985

Books:

• Costa, J.T.  2006.  The Other Insect Societies.  Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap/Harvard University Press.
• Costa, J.T.  An Origin Companion: A Reader’s Guide to Darwin’s Origin of Species.  Forthcoming early 2009 from Harvard University Press.

Primary journals and Book chapters:

• Costa, J.T. and T.D. Fitzgerald.  2005. Social terminology revisited: where are we a decade later?  Ann. Zool. Fennici 42: 559-564.
• Costa, J.T., T.D. Fitzgerald, A. Pescador-Rubio, J. Mays, and D.H. Janzen.  2004.  Social behavior of larvae of the Neotropical processionary weevil Phelypera distigma (Boheman) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Hyperinae).  Ethology 110: 515-530.
• Fitzgerald, T.D., A. Pescador-Rubio, M.T. Turna, and J.T. Costa.  2004.  Trail marking and processionary behavior of the larvae of the weevil Phelypera distigma (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).  Journal of Insect Behavior  17: 627-646.
• Costa, J.T., T.D. Fitzgerald, and D.H. Janzen.  2004.  Trail-following behavior and natural history of the social caterpillar of Arsenura armida in Costa Rica (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Arsenurinae).  Tropical Lepidoptera  12: 17-23.
• Costa, J.T.  2003.  Teaching Darwin with Darwin.  BioScience  53: 1030-1031.
• Costa, J. T. and K. G. Ross.  2003.  Fitness effects of group merging in a social insect.  Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B  270: 1697-1702.
• Costa, J.T., D.A. Gotzek, and D.H. Janzen.  2003.  Late-instar shift in foraging strategy and trail-pheromone use by caterpillars of the Neotropical moth Arsenura armida (Saturniidae: Arsenurinae).  Journal of the Lepidopterist's Society  57: 220-229.
• Flowers, R.W. and J.T. Costa.  2003.  Larval communication and group foraging dynamics in the red-headed pine Sawfly, Neodiprion lecontei (Fitch) (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Diprionidae).  Annals of the Entomological Society of America  96: 336-343.
• Costa, J.T.  2002.  Scale models? What insect societies teach us about ourselves.  Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society  146: 170-180.
• Costa, J.T. and R.W. Louque.  2001.  Group foraging and trail following behavior of the red-headed pine sawfly Neodiprion lecontei (Fitch) (Hymenoptera: Symphyta: Diprionidae).  Annals of the Entomological Society of America  94: 480-489.
• Ruf, C., J.T. Costa, and K. Fiedler.  2001.  Trail-based communication in social caterpillars of Eriogaster lanestris (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae).  Journal of Insect Behavior  14: 231-245.
• Fitzgerald, T. D. and J. T. Costa.  1999.  Collective behavior in social caterpillars.  pp. 379-400  In:  Information Processing in Social Insects.  C. Detrain, J. L. Denoubourg, and J. M. Pasteels, eds.  Basel: Birkhauser-Verlag.
• Costa, J.T.  1998.  Social behavior and its effects on colony and microgeographic genetic structure in phytophagous insect populations.  pp. 205-238  In: Genetic Structure and Local Adaptation in Natural Insect Populations.  S. Mopper and S. Strauss, eds.  New York: Chapman & Hall.
• Costa, J.T. and N.E. Pierce.  1997.  Social evolution in the Lepidoptera: Ecological context and communication in larval societies.  pp. 407-442  In: The Evolution of Social Behavior in Insects and Arachnids, J.C. Choe and B.J. Crespi, eds.  Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Costa, J.T. and T.D. Fitzgerald.  1996a.  Developments in social terminology: semantic battles in a conceptual war.  Trends in Ecology and Evolution  11: 285-289.
• Costa, J.T. and T.D. Fitzgerald.  1996b.  The eusociality continuum revisited: reply from J.T. Costa and T.D. Fitzgerald.  Trends in Ecology and Evolution  11: 272-273.
• Costa, J.T., J.H. McDonald, and N.E. Pierce.  1996.  The effect of ant association on the population genetics of the Australian lycaenid butterfly, Jalmenus evagoras.  Biological Journal of the Linnean Society  58: 287-306.
• Hanfstingl, U., A. Berry, E.A. Kellogg, J.T. Costa, W. Rüdiger, and F. Ausubel.  1994.  Haplotypic divergence coupled with lack of diversity at the Arabidopsis thaliana alcohol dehydrogenase locus: Roles for both balancing and directional selection?  Genetics  138: 1-18.
• Costa, J.T. and K.G. Ross.  1994.  Hierarchical genetic structure and gene flow patterns in macrogeographic populations of the eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum). Evolution  48: 1158-1167.
• Costa, J.T.  1993.  Larval ontogeny and survivorship of eastern tent caterpillar colonies.  Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera  32: 89-98.
• Costa, J.T. and K.G. Ross.  1993.  Seasonal decline in the intracolony genetic relatedness of eastern tent caterpillars: Implications for social evolution.  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology  32: 47-54.
• Shoemaker, D.D., J.T. Costa, and K.G. Ross.  1992.  Comparisons of heterozygosity in two social insects using a large number of electrophoretic markers.  Heredity  69: 573-582.
• Costa, J.T. and D.A. Crossley, Jr.  1991.  Diel patterns of canopy arthropods associated with three tree species.  Environmental Entomology  20: 1542-1548.
• Fitzgerald, T.D. and J.T. Costa.  1986.  Trail-based communication and foraging behavior of young colonies of forest tent caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae).  Annals of the Entomological Society of America  79: 999-1007.

Published abstracts, Correspondence, Magazine Articles:

• Costa, J.T.  2007.  How a naturalist found safe colours for soldiers.  Nature  448: 408.
• Costa, J.T. and L.S. Philyaw.  2007.  A different kind of exploration: William Bartram and Science in the 1700s.  Tar Heel Junior Historian  47: 36-37.
• Costa, J.T.  2001.  The sociality lexicon past, present, and future: toward an inclusive concept of animal sociality.  Advances in Ethology  36: 28.  Contributions to the 27th International Ethological Conference, Tübingen, Germany, August 2001.
• Costa, J.T.  1997.  Caterpillars as social insects.  American Scientist  85: 150-159.

Scientific Papers Presented:

• Costa, J.T.  2007.  Forms and functions of social networks in larval societies.  Symposium speaker, Entomological Society of America National Meeting, San Diego, California.
• Costa, J.T.  2005. Social biology of a processionary weevil. Symposium speaker, Entomological Society of America National Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
• Costa, J.T.  2003.  Fitness effects of group merging in eastern tent caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum): The benefits of cooperating with non-kin.  Southeastern Population Ecology and Genetics Group, Camp Sequoya, Virginia.
• Costa, J.T.  2003.  Fitness effects of group merging in eastern tent caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum): The benefits of cooperating with non-kin.  Caterpillar Biodiversity Workshop, Tropical Dry Forest Research Station, Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica.
• Costa, J.T.  2003.  Presenter in workshop “Application of digital technology to the study of insect behavior,” UNAM Biological Research Station, Chamela, Mexico. 
• Costa, J.T.  2001.  The sociality lexicon past, present, and future: toward an inclusive concept of animal sociality.  27th International Ethological Conference, Tübingen, Germany.
• Costa, J.T. and K.G. Ross.  2000.  Effects of genetic heterogeneity on eastern tent caterpillar colony performance.  Southeastern Population Ecology and Genetics Group, Highlands, NC
• Costa, J.T. and K.G. Ross.  2000.  Genetic variation for behavior expression and its implications for social evolution in tent caterpillars.  Society for the Study of Evolution, Bloomington, IN.
• Costa, J.T.  1998.  Population genetic consequences of social behavior: patterns from diverse social systems.  Invited symposium speaker, 13th Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects, Adelaide, Australia.
• Costa, J.T.  1997.  The caterpillar collective: cooperation in the absence of kinship and alternative models of sociality.  Invited Symposium speaker, Midwest Regional Animal Behavior Society, Columbus, OH.
• Costa, J.T.  1997.  A phylogenetic analysis of tent caterpillar social evolution (Lasiocampidae: Malacosoma spp.)  Society for the Study of Evolution, Boulder, CO.
• Costa, J.T.  1996.  A phylogenetic analysis of social evolution in North American Malacosoma.  Society for the Study of Evolution, St. Louis, MO.
• Costa, J.T. and N.E. Pierce.  1995.  The influence of ant association on the population genetics of the lycaenid butterfly Jalmenus evagoras.  Society for the Study of Evolution, Montreal, Que.
• Costa, J.T. and K.G. Ross.  1994.  Genetic and ecological determinants of social evolution in the Lepidoptera: lessons from the eastern tent caterpillar, Malacosoma americanum.  12th Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects, Paris, France. 
• Costa, J.T. and K.G. Ross.  1994.  Hierarchical genetic structure and gene flow in macrogeographic populations of the eastern tent caterpillar, Malacosoma americanum.  Society for the Study of Evolution, Athens, GA.
• Costa, J.T. and K.G. Ross.  1991.  Genetic structure and relatedness patterns in eastern tent caterpillar populations.  Entomological Society of America, Reno, NV. 
  First Place:  Section Cb President's Prize Competition
• Costa, J.T. and K.G. Ross.  1990.  Seasonal patterns in the kinship structure of eastern tent caterpillar colonies.  Entomological Society of America, New Orleans, LA.
  First Place:  Section Cb President's Prize Competition

Invited research Seminars (past 5 Years):

2007

• Department of Entomology, Cornell University
• Department of Biology, Western Carolina University
• Blue Ridge Naturalist Program, UNC-Asheville
• Department of Biology, UNC-Greensboro

2006

• Zahner Lectures in Conservation Biology, Highlands Biological Station
• Department of Biology, East Tennessee State University

2005

• Department of Biol. Sciences, University of Missouri, Colombia, Missouri
• Department of Biology, Appalachian State University
• Department of Biology, University of New Hampshire
• Cambridge Entomological Club, Cambridge, Mass.
• 26th Annual Darwin Festival, Salem State University, Salem, Mass.

2004

• Department of Biology, Tufts University
• Department of Biology, Central Connecticut State University
• Highlands Nature Center, Highlands Biological Station

2003

• Department of Entomology, Clemson University
• Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
• Department of Biology, Francis Marion University

Consulting and Cooperative Education (Past Five Years):

• 2005-2008: Co-instructor, Darwin and the Origins of Evolutionary Biology and Darwin and Contemporary Evolutionary Biology, Harvard Study Abroad Program in Oxford, UK.
• 2007: Speaker on “Responsibilities of Scientists to the Public,” Debating Science workshop, Center for Ethics, University of Montana, August 2007.
• 2007: Co-developer, Highlands Biological Station William Bartram exhibit, trail, and guidebook, and Bartram’s Journey exhibit, Mountain Heritage Center Museum, Western Carolina University.
• 2007: Speaker on Darwin’s Origin of Species, Center for Life Enrichment program, Highlands, North Carolina.
• 2006: Speaker on insect sociality, Center for Life Enrichment program, Highlands, North Carolina.
• 2005: Small Wonders, invited presentation in Where Art and Science Intersect staff development symposium, Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, October 2005.
• 2004: Web quiz and testbank author for iGenetics (Benjamin-Cummings/Addison-Wesley Publishers).
• 2003: Speaker in North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching seminar Science’s Time Machine: How Scientists and Writers Tell the Story of Life, November 17-21 2003.
• 2003: Speaker on forensic genetics, North Carolina Criminal Justice Association, March 2003.
• 2003: Speaker on genetically modified organisms, North Carolina Dietetic Association, May 2003.