Staff profile
Dr Martin Steinbauer
Australian Research Council Future Fellow
Department of Zoology
Room/Location: Biological Sciences Building 1, Room 347
- T: +61 (0)3 9479 1672
- F: +61 (0)3 9479 1551
- E: M.Steinbauer@latrobe.edu.au
I grew up in Hobart, Tasmania, and have collected, grown and been interested in insects and plants from an early age. Although I collaborate extensively with entomologists and insect ecologists in Canada, France, Mexico, South Africa, Switzerland and the USA, I have remained in Australia for my entire professional career. This has given me the opportunity to observe insects native to temperate sclerophyll forests (Tasmania), the wet-dry tropics (Northern Territory), the Australian Alps (Australian Capital Territory & New South Wales), semi-arid grasslands (Queensland & New South Wales) and now Mallee eucalypt woodlands (Victoria). These experiences have been invaluable to understanding the challenges faced by native insects when persisting in the Australian environment. I welcome opportunities to collaborate with and host students and scientists interested in furthering our understanding of insects and their interactions with other organisms.
Qualifications
- BAgrSci (First Class Hons), PhD, Tas. F.R.E.S.
Professional involvement
- Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London
- International Society of Chemical Ecology
- Member of the Institute of Foresters of Australia
- Ecological Society of Australia
- Australian Entomological Society
Membership of Editorial Boards
- Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata
Research interests
Insect herbivory of Australia’s unofficial floral emblem – the eucalypt
Eucalypts dominate the Australian landscape and provide food for tens of thousands of endemic insects. Despite this, we have very little detailed information about the mechanisms underlying insect-eucalypt interactions. I study insect responses to eucalypt cues (physical and chemical) to explain these interactions. I employ the female preference-offspring performance theoretical framework to place insect responses to their hosts into an evolutionary context. I am particularly interested in determining whether similarities in eucalypt metabolites can explain the host ranges of different insects and the potential for acceptance of unfamiliar eucalypt species. I would like to expand my focus to study insect herbivory of other native plants.
Life history strategies and the population ecology of native insects
The Australian environment poses a number of challenges to native insects, most notable among these are periods of high temperature and/or high evaporation. To survive, insects must possess physiological and/or behavioural mechanisms for dealing with these abiotic factors. These adaptations can have significant consequences for the population dynamics of different species. I use manipulative experimentation to determine the effects of stressors on the susceptible life cycle stages insects and supplement these studies with field-based data to infer the significance of a specific life history trait. I am interested in the roles of aggregation and shelter formation in the ecology of lepidopterans and psyllids. A long-term objective is to determine the relative importance of insect shelters as protection against the elements versus protection against natural enemies.
Basic entomology and insect taxonomy and systematics
Australia is estimated to have an insect fauna of some 140,000 species (Nielsen & West (1994), pp. 101-121. Systematics and Conservation Evaluation. Clarendon Press, Oxford). Because all but the pest and charismatic species have been studied to any degree, there is a huge need for the study and documentation of the identities and biologies of the remaining unknown majority. I have some expertise in the taxonomy and systematics of the insect taxa with which I have worked (e.g. coreid bugs, ichneumonid wasps and moths), but prefer to collaborate with specialist entomologists from around Australia. I am interested in morphological and phenotypic plasticity within individual species and explaining its causes. This is largely a neglected area of entomology, but one deserving of attention for its possible biological and ecological consequences.
For more information, visit the Insect-plant interactions page.
Supervision
- 2011 - Kevin Farnier, PhD Student
Host plant specificity, selection and performance of eucalypt-feeding psyllids
Recent publications (2007-2011)