Roger Burks

About me

I am a Ph.D. student at the University of California at Riverside under Dr. John M. Heraty. My scientific goals include improving the classification,  identification methods, and overall knowledge base for parasitoid wasps. I am interested in parasitoid wasps because I believe that they are important for improvement of the quality of life for those of us who depend upon large-scale agriculture and who are impacted by diseases spread by insect vectors. The most important headway that I have made towards improving our knowledge of parasitic wasps so far has been in development and improvement of photographic identification keys, integration of molecular and morphological evidence for discovery of the phylogeny of the family Pteromalidae, and exploration of measures of the strength of evidence provided by phylogenies. I am also interested in improving the knowledge base of important host species of parasitoid wasps, and this has occasionally led me to publish revised information concerning insects other than parasitoids.

Current Research

My dissertation research at the University of California at Riverside concerns discovery of the nearest relatives of the jewel wasp Nasonia—one of the best-known parasitic wasps, but until now nothing was known about which pteromalids were closely related to it. Discovery of this information will lead to improved research into the evolution of Nasonia's morphological variation, life history traits, and interactions with other organisms. The best-studied of these interactions is with the reproduction-manipulator bacteira Wolbachia, which in the case of Nasonia causes reproductive incompatibility between infected and uninfected strains of the wasp. I have found that some of Nasonia's closest relatives are also infected by Wolbachia, although with only one kind of Wolbachia at a time, instead of the two simultaneous infections that Nasonia species have. This research is conducted in collaboration with Dr. Jack Werren's lab at the University of Rochester.

Contact Information

e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
telephone: 951-827-5740

mailing address:
Roger A. Burks
Entomology Department, University of California
Riverside, CA 92521

Curriculum vitae

Publications

Burks, R.A. 2000. Systematic investigations into four species of Trichogramma Westwood attacking codling moth and other tortricid pests of fruit. Masters thesis, University of California at Riverside. 76pp.

Burks, R.A. & J.D. Pinto. 2002. Reproductive and electrophoretic comparisons of Trichogramma californicum Nagaraja and Nagarkatti with the T. minutum complex (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 104 (1): 33-40.

Burks, R.A. & J.M. Heraty. 2002.Morphometric analysis of four species of Trichogramma (Hymenoptera, Trichogrammatidae), attacking codling moth and other tortricid pests in North America. Journal of Hymenoptera Resarch 11: 167-187.

Burks, R.A. Key to the Nearctic genera of Eulophidae: subfamilies: Entedoninae, Euderinae, and Eulophinae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). First posted May 17, 2002. http://cache.ucr.edu/%7Eheraty/Eulophidae/index.html

Burks, R.A. 2004.Dermatopelte Erdös & Novicky (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) newly recorded from the Nearctic region, with description of two new species. Zootaxa 407: 1-10.

Burks, R. A. & R. A. Redak. 2004. New species of Pteromalidae and Torymidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) from California, with taxonomic notes. Zootaxa 606: 1-20.

Buffington, M., R. Burks, and L. McNeil. 2005. Advanced techniques for imaging parasitic Hymenoptera. American Entomologist 51(1): 50-54.

Burks, R.A., G.A.P. Gibson and J. La Salle. 2005. Nomenclatural changes in Neotropical Eulophidae, Eupelmidae and Torymidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) relating to parasitoids of Cecidoses eremita (Lepidoptera: Cecidosidae). Zootaxa 1082: 45-55.

Burks, R.A. 2005. The pteromalid genus Collentis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) newly reported from the Palaearctic Region. Acta Societatis Zoologicae Bohemicae 69(1-2): 35-36.