Ellie Magera Butterfly Research

Author: Ellie Magera | Major: Biology | Semester: Spring 2023

Hello, my name is Ellie Magera, and I just graduated with honors from the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences with a B.S. in Biology. ​​I have spent the last three years conducting butterfly mating research under my mentor, Dr. Erica Westerman, in the University of Arkansas Integrative Animal Behavior Lab. I have specifically studied mate choice in the Bicyclus anynana butterfly species. My research was funded by the Honors College in the spring of 2023, but I joined Dr. Westerman’s lab in the fall of 2020. The goal of my research was to determine if the wing pattern a male initially mates with is a positive enough experience to influence male mate-preference for that female wing pattern when exposed to females a second time. Male B. anynana have two possible female wing phenotypes to choose from while mating, 0 dorsal hindwing spots or 2 dorsal hindwing spots. Exposing a previously mated male to two females, one with a familiar wing pattern and one with an unfamiliar wing pattern may provide important insight into sequential mate choice.

I found my mentor through my Honors Chemistry II class during the spring of freshman year. We conducted a project interviewing lab professors across the university, and my group decided to interview Biology professor, Dr. Westerman. I was intrigued by her research as it combined my areas of academic interest, Biology and Psychology. I reached out to Dr. Westerman over the summer and asked if she would take me on as an undergraduate student in her lab. Dr. Westerman and I spent my sophomore year during Covid with me selecting scientific articles on butterfly animal behavior and meeting on Zoom every other week to analyze those articles. Together, we discussed several potential research topics for my honors thesis and landed on the effect of prior mate choice on future male choosiness in the Bicyclus anynana species. At the start of my junior year, I was able to officially join the lab and spent that year learning lab techniques and green house care. I worked as a lab employee for Dr. Westerman the summer after my junior year and spent that summer and the following fall and spring collecting data for my honors thesis. Dr. Westerman has been an outstanding mentor and shared a great amount of her time and expertise making this thesis process an outstanding academic experience. I have learned not only about animal behavior and Bicyclus anynana but have also grown greatly as a person. Dr. Westerman has taught me invaluable lessons about working on a team in the scientific community, delicate animal care, lab techniques, and scientific reading and writing. I am leaving college greatly enriched by this research experience that the Honors College and Dr. Westerman provided me.

I’m excited to share that my research journey doesn’t end at defending my honors thesis and graduating from the University of Arkansas. I recently learned that my abstract, The Effect of Mating on Male Choosiness in Bicyclus anynana, was accepted for a poster presentation at the International Biology of Butterflies Conference in Prague this July. The International Biology of Butterflies Conference occurs every four years and is the premiere academic conference for professional biologists who study evolutionary biology, behavior, biogeography, genetics, ecology, and developmental biology with butterflies as their study species. This conference is an excellent academic and professional forum for sharing the latest discoveries in butterfly research. I am honored to have the opportunity to represent the University of Arkansas at this conference and share my butterfly mating findings with professionals from around the world who have worked with the same study species as I have in the Westerman lab. My honors thesis research has identified areas for future butterfly mating research that I will be able to share during my poster session with academicians worldwide who have devoted their life to this study system. This conference will be a tremendous learning experience and will provide an amazing opportunity to share the findings from my three years of research as a Fulbright Honors student.

I am continuing my academic pursuits by applying to the Master of Science in Anesthesia graduate program at the University of Missouri Kansas City. My years of manipulating a very delicate study species in the lab and the skills I have developed in reading, writing, and analyzing scientific research will be invaluable in my graduate studies. My participation in an academic conference with world renowned experts will provide a unique opportunity to observe the highest level of animal biology research and will fuel my future research aspirations in graduate school.