Droney

David C DroneyProfessor Emeritus of Biology

Joined faculty in 1988

Ph.D., Syracuse University
M.S., SUNY Buffalo
B.S., SUNY Buffalo

Contact Information

RosenbergPhone (315) 781-3597

Scholarly Interest

  1. Behavioral ecology
  2. Sexual selection and the evolution of social behavior
  3. Sexual conflict and the evolution of alternate behavioral tactics in males
  4. Biostatistics and experimental analysis of public health related issues

Teaching Experience

Syracuse University
 

Courses Taught

Biostatistics
Behavioral Ecology
Evolution
Biology Seminar: Sex and Evolution

Publications

Cosentino, B.J. and Droney, D.C. 2016. Movement behaviour of woodland salamanders is repeatable and varies with forest age in a fragmented landscape. Animal Behaviour 121:137-146.
Droney, D.C., Musto, C.J., Mancuso, K*. Roelofs, W.L., and Linn, C.E. 2012. The response to selection for broad male response to female sex pheromone and its implications for divergence in close-range mating behavior in the European corn borer moth, Ostrinia nubilalis. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 38, 1504-1512.
Droney, D.C. and Thaker, M*. 2006. Factors influencing mating duration and male choice in the red milkweed beetle, Tetraopes tetrophthalmus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Ethology, Ecology, and Evolution, 18: 173-183.
Droney, D.C. 2003. Females lay fewer eggs for males with greater courtship success in a Hawaiian Drosophila. Animal Behaviour, 65, 371-378.
Droney, D.C.2001. Male lekking duration and mating benefits in a lek-forming Hawaiian Drosophila. J. Insect Behavior, 14, 621-635.
Droney, D.C. 1998. The influence of the nutritional content of the adult male diet on testis mass, body condition, and courtship vigour in an Hawaiian Drosophila. Functional Ecology, 12, 920-928.
Droney, D.C.& Hock, M.B.* 1998. Male sexual signals and female choice in Drosophila grimshawi. J. Insect Behavior, 11,59-71.
Savin, T.J., Anderson, R.N., & Droney, D.C. 1998. Analysis of age-related changes in susceptibility to drinking water pathogens for risk assessment. ATSDR.
____1998. Case study: a cost-effectiveness analysis of DBP's and pathogens in drinking water. 2-16. For U.S.EPA-NCEA, Cincinnnati.
____1997. Case study: a decision analysis methodology for choosing among drinking water strategies. 2-16. For U.S. EPA-NCEA, Cincinnnati.
* HWS students

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Animal Behavior Society
American Society of Naturalists
Society for the Study of Evolution
International Society of Behavioral Ecology

PERSONAL STATEMENT

My primary research focus is the study of the mechanisms of natural and sexual selection so that the process of evolution can be better understood. My research has the objective of understanding ultimate causation, and thus, to better understand why the biological world "works" as it does.

My research organisms have primarily been insects because they provide a good opportunity to perform the necessary experiments to evaluate crucial evolutionary hypotheses. In particular, the Hawaiian Drosophila represents a remarkable and enormous adaptive radiation in a relatively short time period, and as such, presents researchers with a natural evolutionary "lab" to answer key questions of interest in the study of behavior and evolution. I am currently collaborating with researchers at Cornell University on a project to study the genetic and behavioral mechanisms of reproductive isolation and subsequent species formation using corn borer moths.