Background
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Our research focuses on how insects adapt to their environments through behaviour, colour, reproduction, and ecological interactions.
In particular, we ask how animals balance visibility, signalling, and survival in complex ecological landscapes.
• How do colour signals influence detection by predators and mates?
• How do animals adjust behaviour in complex and changing environments?
• How does environmental change reshape biodiversity and ecological interactions?
Visual signals & Camouflage
How do colour patterns evolve, and how do they influence whether animals are detected or ignored by predators and conspecifics? From the deimatic displays of stick insects to the flash patterns of fireflies, we investigate how visual signals shape survival and communication.
Stick insect, Marmessoidea rosea
Image: Eunice Tan
Behaviour & Ecological Interactions
Behaviour is often the first line of response animals use to cope with environmental challenges. We study how insects modify their foraging, mating, and defensive behaviours in response to ecological pressures such as predation risk and habitat disturbance.
Spider preying on firefly
Image: Eunice Tan
Environmental change & biodiversity
Human-driven environmental change is rapidly reshaping ecosystems. Our research investigates how habitat alteration, urbanisation, and light pollution influence biodiversity, species interactions, and evolutionary trajectories. By integrating field ecology, long-term monitoring, and molecular approaches, we aim to understand how organisms respond to environmental change and what this means for the conservation of tropical biodiversity.
Habitat change
Image: Eunice Tan