- Medical Entomologist
- Ph.D. 1967 University of California, Berkeley
TEACHING: Medical Entomology, Insect Behavior, General Entomology, Introductory Biology
RESEARCH: Major emphasis: behavior, physiology, and behavioral ecology of arthropod vectors of vertebrate pathogens. Past research has covered field and laboratory studies of bed bugs, blood-sucking maggots, dung flies, ticks, spiders, fleas, sand flies, tsetse flies, and mosquitoes. These included epidemiological investigations of encephalitis, leishmaniasis, Rocky Mtn. spotted fever, and Potomac horse fever. Present focus is on two lines of investigation: 1) the role of plant sugar in mosquito biology and vectorial capacity, and 2) the phylogeny of courtship behavior in sabethine mosquitoes. Current mosquito topics are these: nutritional ecology of African malaria vectors, attraction to volatile plant compounds, the modifiability of host preferences, and analysis of the courtship rituals of Venezuelan sabethines.
GRADUATE STUDENT ADVISEE:
RECENT PUBLICATIONS:
Taylor, R. M. and Foster, W. A. 1996. Spider nectarivory. Am. Entomol. 42: 82-86.
Philips, T. K., Hancock, R. G. and Foster, W. A. 1996. Epigamic display and unique mating position in Wyeomyia arthrostigma (Diptera: Culicidae). J. Insect Behav. 9: 739-753.
Hancock, R. G. and Foster, W. A. 1997. Larval and adult nutrition effects on the blood/nectar choice of Culex nigripalpus mosquitoes.Med. Vet. Entomol. 11: 112-122.
Foster, W. A. and Judd, D. D. 1998. Courtship behaviour and phylogeny of sabethine mosquitoes. Fourth International Congress of Dipterology, Oxford, U.K. Abstracts Volume, pp. 56-57.
Hancock, R. G. and Foster, W. A. 2000. Exogenous juvenile hormone and methoprene, but not male accessory gland substances and ovariectomy, affect the blood/nectar choice of Culex nigripalpusmosquitoes. Med. Vet. Entomol. 14:376-382.
Gary, R. E., Jr. and Foster, W. A. 2001. The effect of available sugar on the reproductive fitness and vectorial capacity of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae). J. Med. Entomol.38:22-28
Foster, W.A. and Walker, E.D. 2002. Mosquitoes (Culicidae), pp. 203-262. In G. Mullen and L. Durden [eds.] Medical and Veterinary Entomology. Academic Press, Burlington MA.
Foster, W. A. 2004. Chapter 4. Behavior and Ecology, pp. 62-98. In C. A. Triplehorn & N. F. Johnson [eds.]  Borror and DeLong’s Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th Edition. Thomson, Brooks/Cole, Belmont, CA.
