Tupper 4pm seminar
Tue, May 15, 4pm seminar
speaker will be Sergei
Gavrilets, University of
Tennessee
Dynamics of ecological
speciation: case studies and
mathematical models
Bambi seminar
Thu, May 17, Bambi seminar
speaker will be Sergei
Gabrilets, University of
Tennessee
The dynamics of
Machiavellian intelligence 
Charla en Col?n
Thu May 17, Catherina
Caballero-George will present
the monthly talk at Hotel
Meli?, Col?n, at 7pm
Ecolog?a, conservaci?n y
descubrimiento de medica-
mentos: investigaciones en
el istmo paname?o
Arrivals
Stefanie Rog, The
Netherlands, to study female
choice in tungara frogs, in
Gamboa.
Elaine Day, University of
California in Los Angeles, to
study brain and behavior
relationships in birds, in
Gamboa.
Claire Baldeck, University of
Illinois Urbana-Champaign, to
study the effects of soil-borne
resource on the structure and
dynamics of lowland tropical
forest, on BCI.
Michael Kaspari, University of
Oklahoma, to work on the the
regulation of local
decomposition: four
experiments at BCNM
Safety number:
212-8211
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panam?        www.stri.org        May 11, 2007
Rubinoff comes home after six weeks at SI 
In a tie-less encounter with the
STRI community, STRI director
and SI undersecretary for
Science Ira Rubinoff, addressed
the staff to explain the state of
the Institution and answer
questions from scientists and
administrators.
Rubinoff expressed his
satisfaction for the opportunity
to help lead sciences at the
Smithsonian. ?I owe this honor
to your dedication and
commitment to tropical biology.
STRI's success is a model to be
followed, according to SI
officials.?
Rubinoff drew a picture of
today's Smithsonian after
secretary Small's resignation.
Some more news will probably
be printed next week by the
Washington Post. New
committees have been created
to revise governance rules and
regulations. A search committee
to find a permanent Secretary
has been appointed. The
process may take months,
probably the whole year.
Cristi?n Samper is planning to
visit STRI in the near future to
conduct a town hall meeting as
he has done in the other units.
As Undersecretary, Rubinoff
supervises nine centers. ?My
job is to push new
programmatic projects and to
help infrastructure progress.?
?Everything comes down to the
resources? commented acting
director Eldredge Bermingham
sitting next to Rubinoff, when
prompted on support to
specific projects.
Plant physiologist Klaus Winter
reminded Rubinoff about his
reputation as successful fund-
raiser: Can you tell us where is
your heart right now? ?My
heart is at STRI, but my head is
at the Smithsonian in
Washington.? ?Everybody
loves the Smithsonian and want
to see us succeed in overcoming
this crisis.?
En una reuni?n informal con la
comunidad de STRI, el director
de STRI y subsecretario para
Ciencias del Smithsonian, Ira
Rubinoff se dirigi? al personal
para explicar el estado de la
Instituci?n y contestar las
preguntas de cient?ficos y
administradores
Rubinoff expres? su
satisfacci?n por tener la
oportunidad de ayudar a liderar
More arrivals
Stefan Schnitzer, University of
Wisconsin - Milwaukee, to
conduct the project "Do lianas
cause chronic disturbance and
alter successional trajectories
in tropical forests?", in
Gamboa.
Jens Broch, University of
Copenhagen, to study the
evolutionary Ecology of
fungus growing ants, in
Gamboa.
Rachel Page, University of
Texas at Austin, to study
predator assessment of prey
cues: Frog eating bats and frog
calls, in Gamboa.
Lindsay Higgins, University of
Utah, to study the diversity
and ecological interactions of
fungal endophytes in tropical
grasses, on BCI.
Douglas Young, Berkeley, to
study the maximum forward
flight speed in orchid bees, on
BCI.
Benjamin Carter, University of
Georgia, to work at the 50 ha
Forest Dynamics Plot, on
BCI.
Departures
Steven Paton will be traveling
to Costa Rica from May 11th
to the 17th in order to attend
a conference at the La Selva
Biological Station, and then
later to meet with officials
from InBio
Herbert Sedelmeier to
Washington DC, on official
business at SI.
From the Library 
The STRI Library will close
from Friday, May 11, to
Monday, May 14 due to
moving activities.
las ciencias en el Smithsonian.
?Este honor se lo debo a la
dedicaci?n y compromiso de
ustedes con la biolog?a tropical.
STRI es un modelo a seguir, de
acuerdo a los funcionarios del
Smithsonian.?
Rubinoff describi? la situaci?n
del Smithsonian hoy d?a, luego
de la renuncia del secretario
Small. Es probable que haya
otras noticias en el Washington
Post la pr?xima semana. Se han
creado nuevos comit?s para 
revisar las regulaciones de
gobernabilidad. Tambi?n se creo
un comit? para buscar un
Secretario permanente. El
proceso puede tomar meses,
probablemente el resto del a?o.
Cristi?n Samper planea visitar
STRI pr?ximamente para llevar
a cabo una reuni?n general,
como lo ha hecho con las otras
unidades.
Como subsecretario, Rubinoff
supervisa nueve centros. ?Mi
trabajo es adelantar nuevos
proyectos program?ticos y
ayudar con el progreso de la
infraestructura.? ?Al final, todo
se trata de recursos? coment? el
director encargado Eldredge
Bermingham, sentado al lado de
Rubinoff, al ser cuestionado
sobre apoyo a proyectos
espec?ficos.
El fisi?logo vegetal Klaus
Winter le record? a Rubinoff su
reputaci?n como un exitoso
captador de fondos: ?Puede
decirnos donde est? su coraz?n
ahora? ?Mi coraz?n est? en
STRI, pero mi cabeza est? en el
Smithsonian de Washington
DC.? ?Todos aman al
Smithsonian y desean vernos
superar esta crisis.?
II ELEN:
Neotropical
Lepidoptera
Conference
The Second Neotropical
Lepidoptera Conference II
ELEN ?Biodiversity, Evolution
and Conservation? was held in
Panama from Monday, April
30, through Friday, May 4, at
STRI?s Tupper Center. The
previous ELEN meeting was
held in Campinas, Brazil, in
2005. The next two are
scheduled to take place in
Mexico in 2009 and Venezuela,
in 2011.
STRI acting director Eldredge
Bermigham, associate director
Gerogina de Alba, and staff
scientist Annette Aiello,
organizer of this year?s
conference, offered welcome
remarks to the audience.
The meeting gathered
specialists from Belize, Brazil,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba,
France, Mexico, Panama, Spain,
UK, US, and Venezuela, who
contributed 32 talks and 21
poster sessions. A number of
talks were organized as three
mini- symposia ?Diverse views
on Biodiversity?, "It's a whole
New World: recent revisions in
systematics? and ?Ecology,
Disturbance & Conservation.?
Triple translation among
Spanish, English, and
Portuguese, was provided for
all talks, thanks to SENACYT.
Post-conference events
included a day trip to Barro
Colorado Island, and a visit to
the Parque Natural
Metropolitano canopy crane.
El Segundo Encuentro sobre
Lepid?ptera Neotropicales II
ELEN ?Biodiversidad, Evolu-
ci?n y conservaci?n? se celebr?
en Panam? del lunes 30 de abril
hasta el viernes, 4 de mayo, en
el Centro Tupper de STRI. El
encuentro anterior se hab?a
llevado a cabo en Campinas,
Brasil, en 2005. Los pr?ximos
encuentros est?n planeados
para realizarse en M?xico en
2009 y en Venezuela en 2011.
El director encargado Eldredge
Bermingham, la directora
asociada Georgina de Alba, y la
cient?fica Annette Aiello,
organizadora del evento de este
a?o, ofrecieron palabras de
benevenida a los participantes. 
El encuentro reuni?
especialistas de Belice, Brasil,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, 
Espa?a, los Estados Unidos,
Francia, M?xico, Panam?, el
Reino Unido y Venezuela,
quienes contribuyeron con 32
conferencias y 21 afiches.
Varias conferencias fueron
organizadas en tres mini-
simposios: ?Diversos puntos de
vista sobre la Biodiversidad?,
?Es todo un mundo nuevo:
revisiones recientes en
sistem?tica? y ?Ecolog?a,
Alteraciones y Conservaci?n.?
Traducci?n triple simult?nea
entre espa?ol, ingl?s y
portugu?s fue ofrecida en todas
las charlas, gracias a
SENACYT. Luego del
encuentro se llev? a cabo una
visita de un d?a a Barro
Colorado y una visita a la Gr?a
de Acceso al Dosel en el Parque
Natural Metropolitano.
New publications
Carlson, Jane E., and Harms,
Kyle E. 2007. "The benefits of
bathing buds: water calyces
protect flowers from a
microlepidopteran herbivore."
Biology Letters Online.
Kaspari, Michael, and Weiser,
Michael. 2007. "The size-grain
hypothesis: do
macroarthropods see a fractal
world?" Ecological Entomology
Online.
Kim, Tae Won, Christy, John
H., and Choe, Jae C. 2007. "A
preference for a sexual signal
keeps females safe." Public
Library of Science PLoS 2(5):
e422.
Parker, Ingrid M., and Gilbert,
Gregory S. 2007. "When there
is no escape: The effects of
natural enemies on native,
invasive and noninvasive
plants." Ecology 88(5):
1210?1224.
STRI in the news
?Drought limits tropical plant
distributions, scientists at the
Smithsonian report? 2007.
Earth Observatory NASA. May
2.
?Drought limits tropical plant
distributions, scientists at the
Smithsonian report? 2007.
First Science News. May 7.
?Get a room! Crabs shack up
in private? 2007. LiveScience -
MSNBC.com. May 9.
?'Hoodie' increases a fiddler
crab's chance of sex? by
Catherine Brahic. 2007. New
Scientist.com. May 9.
?Choosy females prefer a male
sexual signal that helps them
avoid predators?. 2007. 
Daily India.com. May 9.
Scanned clipping from El Pa?s, April 12, 2007. Recorte fotografiado de El Pa?s, Espa?a April 12, 2007
?BBVA presents its awards in favor of biodiversity?
?Facing the biodiversity crisis is
an inexcusable imperative that
we must assume with decision?
said yesterday [April 11] the
prince of Asturias during the
award winning ceremony of
Fundaci?n BBVA to
Conservation and Biodiversity
2006. With do?a Leticia, don
Felipe presented the awards
with the attendance of
Francisco Gonz?lez, president
of BBVA. In the photo
[scanned from a Spanish
newspaper] US researcher
Jeremy Jackson, from Scripps
Institution of Oceanography
[and the Smithsonian Tropical
Research Institute]. Also
awarded was the Chilean
oceanographer Jan Carlos
Castilla, from the Grupo Balear
de Ornitolog?a y Defensa de la
Naturaleza, Fundaci?n para el
Ecodesarrollo y Conservaci?n
de Guatemala, and naturalist
Joaqu?n Ara?jo.?
PRORENA holds III Measurement Seminar
Twenty one Panamanian
students and three workers
from Futuro Forestal
participated in STRI?s III
Measurement Seminar
organized by PRORENA from
May 4-6.  Jefferson  Hall, Jos?
Deago, Dylan Craven, Jairo
Batista, Luis Mancilla, Javier
Atencia and Marcos Valdez
served as instructors. The
objective of the program was to
recruit the participants for a
project to measure 30 native
species,  the use of the
necessary tools, and the role
played by native species in
reforestation projects. 
Veinti?n estudiantes paname?os
y tres empleados de Futuro
Forestal participaron en el III
Seminario de STRI para
Mediciones de PRORENA, del
4-6 de mayo. Jefferson  Hall,
Jos? Deago, Dylan Craven, Jairo
Batista, Luis Mancilla, Javier
Atencia y Marcos Valdez fueron
los instructores. El objetivo del
program fue reclutar a los
participantes para la medici?n
de 30 especies nativas, el uso de
herramientas, y el papel de las
especies nativas en los
programas de reforestaci?n.
S M I T H S O N I A N   T R O P I C A L   R E S E A R C H   I N S T I T U TE ,    M A Y    1 1 ,   2 0 0 7
Story: John Christy
edited by B King, M
Alvarado, ML Calderon
Photos: MA Guerra and
J Christy
In dangerous
environments, females
looking for a mate run
great risks. STRI's
John H. Christy, with 
Tae Won Kim and Jae
C. Choe from Seoul
National University,
Korea, present a new
take on sexual
signaling in the May
issue of the Public
Library of Science. The
researchers report that
females prefer a male
sexual signal that
helps them avoid their
predators as they
sequentially visit and
assess potential
mates.
The traditional
explanation for the
evolution of
outrageous sexual
signals like the male
peacock's plumage is
that showy males
attract females and
give them better
offspring. Showy
males escape from
predators despite their
highly conspicuous
ornaments and
behaviors-proof of
their superiority.
"In our study of fiddler
crabs, the strength of
female preference for a
male signal that
increases her own
survival increases with
her perceived risk of
predation. That a
female's choice of a
mate is based on
sexual signals that
benefit her directly is a
fundamentally new and
perhaps widely
applicable idea," said
Tae Won Kim, and lead
author of the paper.
As the tide recedes,
revealing great
expanses of Pacific
beach, fiddler crabs
(Uca terpsichores)
segue in and out of
their burrows, dodging
predatory shorebirds.
Male crabs build
hood-like sand castles
next to the entrance of
their burrows,
attracting the attention
of females by waving
their one, super-sized
claw.
 
Females prefer males
that have built hoods
to males that have not.
When they run across
the beach to check out
or mate with a male,
they orient visually to
both the waving male
and to his hood. In this
way they reach the
male's burrow quickly
and directly and avoid
their predators. 
En ambientes
peligrosos, las
hembras que buscan
pareja corren grandes
riesgos. John H.
Christy de STRI, junto
con Tae Won Kim y Jae
C. Choe de la
Universidad Nacional
de Se?l en Korea,
presentan una nueva
visi?n de un atractivo 
sexual en el n?mero de
mayo de Public Library
of Science (PLoS). Los
autores informan que
las hembras prefieren
una se?al sexual
masculina que las
ayude a evitar
depredadores mientras
visitan y estudian
posibles parejas.
La explicaci?n
tradicional de la
evoluci?n de se?ales
de cortejo como el
plumaje del pavo real
es que los machos
vistosos atraen las
hembras al procrear
mejores cr?as. Los
machos vistosos
escapan de sus
depredadores a pesar
de sus caracter?sticas
llamativas, lo que 
prueba su
superioridad.
"En nuestro estudio de
cangrejos violinistas,
el motor de la
preferencia femenina
por una se?al
masculina que mejora
la posibilidad de que
ella sobreviva,
aumenta con su
percepci?n de
depredadores. Que la
selecci?n de la hembra
se base en se?ales
sexuales que la
beneficie a ella
directamente es
fundamentalmente
nuevo y quiz? sea una
idea  aplicable
ampliamente, comenta
Tae Won Kim, autor
principal del art?culo.
Cuando la marea
retrocede y dejan al
descubierto grandes
extensiones de playas
en el Pac?fico, los
cangrejos violinistas
(Uca terpscihores)
contin?an dentro y
fuera de sus
madrigueras, para
evadir las aves
costeras. Los
cangrejos machos
construyen castillos de
arena que parecen
capuchas cerca de la
entrada de sus
madrigueras,
atrayendo la atenci?n
de las hembras al
ondear su tenaza de
gran tama?o.
Las hembras prefieren
a machos que han
construido capuchas.
Cuando corren a trav?s
de la playa
investigando o para
aparearse con un
macho, se orientan
visualmente hacia la
tenaza del macho y su
capucha. De esta
forma llegan a la
madriguera del macho
r?pida y directamente,
evitando a sus
depredadores. 
Staying safe in the 'hood'