Goggy Davidowitz
Dept.s of Entomology, & Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
1140 E South Campus Drive
Entomology, Forbes 410
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
Education
B.Sc. Biology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem M.Sc. Zoology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Ph.D. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (minor in Entomology), University of Arizona
Background
I have two main areas of research. My basic research is in ecological and evolutionary physiology: how organisms adjust growth and fitness in response to both short-term and long-term environmental variation. Our lab places a strong emphasis on the whole organism. We combine field, greenhouse and lab experiments and use a diverse set of tools and conceptual frameworks to integrate the fields of physiology, ecology, behavior and evolutionary biology.
My applied research is in sustainable food security. In the US, 40% of all food produced every year, ends up in the landfill. We focus on how to capture that food, process it in a unique solar drying tower, and develop it into foods for human consumption and feeds for livestock. We have developed an innovative multitrophic food system called MISAS: Modular, Integrated, Sustainable Agricultural System, where we produce food from fish, plants, insects, and mushrooms. MISAS is designed such that the waste products of any one food type is repurposed as a resource for another, creating a sustainable and efficient food production system suitable for urban and peri-urban environments.
Selected Publications:
Britton, S., & Davidowitz, G. (2025). Dietary constraints and costs of melanin pigmentation plasticity. Evolution, qpaf137.
Britton, S., & Davidowitz, G. (2025). Population differences in melanin pigmentation plasticity in response to a seasonal cue. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, voaf081.,
Dahake, A., S. Persaud, M. N. Jones, J. Goyret, G. Davidowitz, R. A. Raguso (2024). Dying of thirst: Osmoregulation by a hawkmoth pollinator in response to variability in ambient humidity and nectar availability. Journal of Insect Physiology (159:104700).
Bronstein J.L., G. Davidowitz, E. M. Lichtenberg, R. E. Irwin. (2024). The Hole Truth: Why do Bumble Bees Rob Flowers More Than Once? Plants 13, 2507. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13172507
Britton S. and G. Davidowitz (2024). No evidence for the melanin desiccation hypothesis in a larval Lepidopteran. Journal of Insect Physiology 156: 104669. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2024.104669
DeFino N. and G. Davidowitz (2024), Crop-emptying rate and nectar resource allocation in a nectivorous pollinator. Journal of insect physiology 104617.
Britton S.E. and G. Davidowitz (2023). The adaptive role of melanin plasticity in thermally variable environments. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 36:1811-1821.
Barrett M, Tigreros N, Davidowitz G., O’Donnell S (2023). Impact of body size on critical thermal maxima in female solitary desert bees Ecological Entomology 48:785-789.
Cruz, A. R., Davidowitz, G., Moore, C., Bronstein, J. L. (2023). Mutualisms in a Warming World. Ecology Letters 26:1432-1451 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14264.
Tigreros N., G. Kozhoridze, G. Davidowitz and Y. Ziv (2023). Influence of the direct and indirect effects of habitat fragmentation, via microclimate change, on animal locomotion. Landscape Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-022-01588-5.
Britton S. and G. Davidowitz (2023). The effect of diet on melanin pigmentation in animals. Functional Ecology 37:206-217. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14209.
Contreras H.L., J. Goyret; C. T. Pierce; R. A. Raguso, G. Davidowitz (2022). Eat, Drink, Live: Foraging behavior of a nectarivore when relative humidity varies but nectar resources do not. Journal of Insect Physiology 143: 104450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2022.104450.
Jeffrey Gutiérrez, E. H., M. A. Riehle, K. R. Walker, K. C. Ernst, and G. Davidowitz (2022). Using Body Size as an Indicator for Age Structure in Field Populations of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasites and Vectors 15:483. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-022-05605-z.
Davidowitz, G., J. Bronstein, N. Tigreros (2022). Flight-fecundity tradeoffs, a possible mechanistic link in plant-herbivore-pollinator systems. Frontiers in Plant Science, section Functional Plant Ecology 13:843506. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.843506.
Slagle M. L., G. Davidowitz (2022). Substrate composition effect on growth of Cotinis mutabilis larvae: a case for detritivore scarabs in the insect agriculture industry. Journal of Insects as Food and Feed 8:937-949.
Smith, G. P., G. Davidowitz, R. A. Raguso, J. L. Bronstein (2021). Proboscis curling in a pollinator causes extensive pollen movement and loss. Ecological Entomology 47:234-241, DOI: 10.1111/een.13105.
Preyer, C., and G. Davidowitz (2021). The time is ripe for expanded research on mass production of insects as food and feed. Current Opinion in Insect Science 48:viii-xi.
Davidowitz G. (2021). Habitat-centric versus species-centric approaches to edible insects for food and feed. Current Opinion in Insect Science 48:37-43.
Gutierrez-Jaramillo, A. A., G. Davidowitz, P. Waller, B. Pryor (2021). Bioregenerative Food Production System: Using integrated food production systems to feed the future. International Conference on Environmental Systems ICES 2021-169.
Smith, G.P., G. Davidowitz, R. Alarcón, D. R. Papaj, J. L. Bronstein (2021).Sex differences in the foraging behavior of a generalist hawkmoth. Insect Science DOI 10.1111/1744-7917.12926.
Johnson, C.A., G. P. Smith K. Yule, G. Davidowitz, J. L. Bronstein, and R. Ferriere (2021). Coevolutionary transitions from antagonism to mutualism explained by the Co-Opted Antagonist Hypothesis. Nature Communications 12:1-11.
Kelemen, E. P., G. Davidowitz, A. R. Dornhaus (2020). Size variation does not act as insurance in bumblebees, instead workers added weight in an unpredictable environment. Animal Behaviour 170:99-109.
Francois, C. and G. Davidowitz (2020). Genetic color polymorphism of the white lined sphinx moth larva, Hyles lineata (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Journal of Insect Science 20:1-9.
Wilson, J. K., L. Ruiz, G. Davidowitz (2020). Within-host competition drives energy allocation trade-offs in an insect parasitoid. Peer J 8:e8810 DOI 10.7717/peerj.8810.
Jeffrey Gutiérrez, E. H., K. R. Walker, K. C. Ernst, M. A. Riehle, and G. Davidowitz (2020). Size as a Proxy for Longevity in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquitoes. Journal of Medical Entomology 57:1228-1238.
McAll A. C., G. Davidowitz, J. L. Bronstein (2020). How high are the costs inflicted by an herbivorous pollinator? Arthropod-Plant Interactions 14:387-397.