Phasmid Study Group

Tara Maginnis first got interested in phasmids when she learned that they are the only order of insects that readily shed and regenerate lost legs.  This topic was the focus of her Ph.D. at The University of Montana, where she explored the consequences associated with the costly process of investing in a leg not once, but twice.  Afterwards, at St. Edward’s University in Texas, Maginnis mentored several undergraduate projects on phasmid predation, mating behavior, defense, and how color polymorphisms play a role in their crypsis.  So far she has studied phasmids on three continents, and is currently a research post-doctorate at The University of Texas at Austin.  Unlike Montana, Texas is home to several species of phasmids that she can readily collect and rear in her own backyard!