The Vickers Lab

Welcome to the homepage of the Vickers lab in the Department of Biology at the University of Utah. In broad terms, our focus is on understanding the neural basis of naturally-occurring behaviors otherwise known as neuroethology. Historically, the lab has investigated odor-mediated behaviors primarily in adult moths. Adult moths are highly dependent upon odors that they use in mate choice, feeding and egg-laying. Of particular interest is the communication that occurs between males and females. Since most moths are primarily nocturnal they are unable to locate suitable mates visually (as compared to their related counterparts, butterflies). Females emit tiny amounts of a blend of compounds from a specialized gland located at the tip of the abdomen called the pheromone gland. Males are highly sensitive to this blend and respond to it by flying upwind to locate the calling female. Males are able to discriminate the blend of females of their species (conspecifics) from the blends of closely related species. We study how the moth olfactory system is organized to detect, process and discriminate odor so that they can accomplish this vital task without error. For more detailed information on current projects please follow the link to our Projects page.

Dr. Vickers CV

For information on other Neuroethology labs in the Department of Biology at the University of Utah please see the faculty interest pages of the following: Gary Rose, Franz Goller, Ayako Yamaguchi