RESEARCH INTERESTS In broad terms, I am interested in how animals modify their behavior to survive in novel environments. Kleptoparasitic Argyrodes are excellent models for this investigation. Their primary 'habitat' is their host web; as they move between hosts, they may change their foraging strategies to accomodate differences in the physical structure of the web as well as their hosts' responses to parasitism. A wrong step with the wrong host could be fatal - some spiders just don't take well to thieves and Argyrodes are occasionally captured and eaten by their would-be victims. But a spider that is too cautious could miss out on great opportunities to stuff their guts: some hosts permit Argyrodes to feed with them on large prey items at the hub of the web. Videotaping endemic Argyrodes  in Hawai'i. 2004. (Come back soon to see the thrilling footage!) On top of Mount Rotui, Mo'orea, French Polynesia. 2003. Members of the genus Argyrodes are found throughout the tropics and in some temperate areas including parts of Europe, Asia and the United States. So I can see my little buddies almost everywhere I travel. That said, I will probably be doing most of my work on islands in the Pacific and in Asia. I would like to compare spiders of the same species living on different hosts on islands and the mainland. Go see the wiggly spider again...