Research

I completed my Bachelor of Science at the University of Auckland in 2016, majoring in biological sciences and biological anthropology. Then in 2017, I completed my BSc Honours degree under the supervision of A/P Dr Greg Holwell, looking at facultative parthenogenesis in the New Zealand common stick insect, Clitarchus hookeri. During this project, I noticed that many of stick insects species display a range of colours, from bright green to tan, right down to dark brown. This led me to focus on camouflage and colour polymorphism for my PhD research. I am supervised by A/P Dr Greg Holwell (stick to what works best right?) and Professor Dr Thomas Buckley.

The appearance of an animal plays an important part in its reproduction and survival. Camouflage has a long and illustrious history within scientific academia and many examples of cryptically coloured organisms have been used as models to test several evolutionary theories. Phasmids (stick insects, order: Phasmatodea) display some of the most obvious types of camouflage and are widely known for these adaptations (the name kinda gives it away, right?). And many camouflaged organisms display colour polymorphism between individuals in a population, and at different life stages. Camouflage and colour polymorphism has been observed in many species of New Zealand phasmids. However, very little research has been conducted on them. I’m aiming to look to get a better understanding of the camouflage of stick insects, and how their colour influences that overall camouflage tactic, especially in the visual system of their predators.

Watch me quickly talk about my research: https://vimeo.com/448724802