Biological Sciences

Ken McCravy, Associate Professor

Insect Ecology, Forest Entomology, Biogeography

Contact Information:Ken McCravy
309/298-2160
Waggoner Hall 348
KW-McCravy@wiu.edu

Personal Homepage: n/a

Degree:
Ph.D., Entomology, University of Georgia, 1998
M.S., Ecological Sciences, Old Dominion University, 1990
B.S., Zoology, University of Georgia, 1981

Courses Taught:

Research Interests:
My research interests lie in the areas of insect conservation biology, insect biodiversity, and forest entomology.  Specifically, I am interested in the effects of habitat fragmentation and ecological disturbances on the abundance, diversity, and distributions of insects and other terrestrial arthropods.  Groups that my students and I are currently working on include ground beetles, robber flies, cockroaches, thread-waisted wasps, and orb-weaving spiders.  I am also interested in the ecology and management of forest insect pests.

Recent Publications:
Willand, J.E. and K.W. McCravy.  Variation in diel activity of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) associated with a soybean field and coal mine remnant.  Great Lakes Entomologist.  (In press)

McCravy, K.W. and C.W. Berisford.  2005.  Weight change of overwintering Nantucket pine tip moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) pupae in the Georgia piedmont and coastal plain.  Journal of Entomological Science 40: 343-346.

McCravy, K.W. and J.E. Willand.  2005.  Islands in the beans: ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) associated with coal mine remnants and agricultural fields in west-central Illinois.  American Entomologist 51: 234-236.

McCravy, K. W.  2004.  Conservation biological control.  Pp. 592-593.  In J. Capinera (ed.), Encyclopedia of Entomology, Vol. 1.  Kluwer Academic Publishers.

McCravy, K. W, and C. W. Berisford.  2004.  Andrew Delmar Hopkins.  Pp. 1106-1108.  In J. Capinera (ed.), Encyclopedia of Entomology, Vol. 2.  Kluwer Academic Publishers.

McCravy, K.W., R.S. Cameron, and C.W. Berisford.  2004.  Variation in developmental synchrony of the Nantucket pine tip moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) with implications for chemical control.  Journal of Entomological Science 39: 551-561.

Asaro, C.A., C.J. Fettig, K.W. McCravy, J.T. Nowak, and C.W. Berisford.  2003.  The Nantucket pine tip moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): A literature review with management implications.  Journal of Entomological Science 38: 1-40.

Graduate Student Research:
Jamie Palmer: Jamie is characterizing the genetic makeup of geographically separate populations of the flightless ground beetle Chlaenius platyderus, using DNA microsatellites.  This work is being done in collaboration with Dr. Mike Romano of the Department of Biological Sciences and Dr. Brian Sloss of the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point.

Sheri Hessler: Sheri will be studying the effects of habitat disturbance on abundance and diversity of orb-weaving spiders.  This work will be done in collaboration with Dr. Seán Jenkins of the Department of Biological Sciences.

Undergraduate Student Research:
Krista Winters: Krista is studying factors that affect parasitism of Australian cockroaches by pinworms.  This work is being done in collaboration with Dr. Shawn Meagher of the Department of Biological Sciences.