Elizabeth Capaldi

Biology Faculty

Contact Information
Dr. Elizabeth A. Capaldi Assistant Professor,
Department of Biology Director & Assistant Professor, Animal Behavior Program
ecapaldi@bucknell.edu
Offices: 305 Biology Building & 102 Animal Behavior Research Laboratories
Phone: 570-577-3822
Research Lab: 137 & 138 Animal Behavior Research Laboratories
Lab phone: 570-577-1430

Educational Background
Ph.D., Michigan State University

Teaching Interests
Courses Taught

Fall:
Animal Behavior (Biol/Anbe/Psyc 266)
Biology of Social Insects (Biol/Anbe 355)
Animal Behavior Laboratory (Anbe/Psyc 296)

Spring:
General Biology (Biol 122)
Tropical Ecology (Biol/Anbe 354)
Neuroethology (Biol/Anbe 342)

Research Interests
I am a behavioral biologist who studies the relationship between insect behavior and brain structure. One goal of my research is to explore the neurobiological underpinnings of ecologically relevant behaviors. I focus my research on honey bees, but I also study other bees found in temperate and tropical habitats. I am interested in how insects find their way in the world and in how social behavior is shaped by the environment. My work fits within the integrative discipline of neuroethology, which combines field research using insects in nature with laboratory studies of learning and the brain.

Studies of honey bee biology, including harmonic radar
Comparative studies of tropical bees, brains, and behaviors
Native bee distributions in Pennsylvania

Laboratory Facilities

colonies of honey bees (Apis mellifera) kept in standard deep Langstroth hives
specialized observation hive laboratory
beekeeping equipment: a 20 frame extractor, uncapping tank, solar wax melter, deep supers, electric uncapping knife, nucleus hives, observation hives
equipment for collecting insects and for ecological research with native bees and other insects
microscopy suite with Nikon stereomicroscopes with photography attachment, fiber optic light
modern histology laboratory for analysis of insect anatomy, including an ice maker, slide warmers, microtomes, distiller, incubator, and fume hood
digital video cameras and editing equipment

Selected Publications

Sullivan, J.P., Fahrbach, S.E., Harrison, J.F., Capaldi, E.A., Fewell, J.H. and G.E. Robinson. 2003. Juvenile hormone and division of labor in honey bee colonies: Effects of allatectomy on flight behavior and metabolism. Journal of Experimental Biology 206: 2287-96.

Capaldi, E.A., A.D. Smith, J.L. Osborne, S.E. Fahrbach, S.M. Farris, A.S. Edwards, D.R. Reynolds, A. Martin, G.E. Robinson, G. Poppy, and J.R. Riley. 2000. Ontogeny of orientation flight in the honeybee revealed by harmonic radar. Nature 403: 537-540.

Capaldi, E.A. & F.C. Dyer, 1999. The role of orientation flights on homing performance in honey bees. J. Exp. Biol. 202: 1655-1666.

Giurfa, M. & E.A. Capaldi, 1999. Vectors, routes and maps: new findings about navigation in insects. Trends in Neurosciences 22(6): 237-242.

Capaldi, E.A., G.E. Robinson, & S.E. Fahrbach, 1999. Neuroethology of spatial learning: the birds and the bees. Ann. Rev. Psych. 50: 651-682.

Fahrbach, S.E., D. Moore, E.A. Capaldi, S.M. Farris, & G.E. Robinson, 1998. Experience-expectant plasticity in the mushroom bodies of the honey bee. Learn. Mem. 5:115-123.

Capaldi, E.A. & F.C. Dyer, 1995. Landmarks and dance orientation by the honeybee Apis mellifera. Naturwissenschaften 82: 245-248.

Getty, T. & E.A.Capaldi, 1994. Inheritance of rank requires inheritance of environment. Anim. Behav. 48: 982-983.