Dr. Tauber's research covers three areas within biological control: insect seasonality, mass-rearing/storage of natural enemies, and the comparative biology and behavior of insect predators. It aims to replace intuitive, trial and error aspects of biological control with reliable predictive procedures. The group (Catherine A. Tauber & graduate students) strives to incorporate comparative, genetic and evolutionary concepts into the operation of biological control. Issues under investigation in the laboratory fall into five categories:

• How does prey specificity evolve? The dietary specialization of natural enemies has a special place in the theory and practice of biological control. Also, there is considerable concern that "specialist" natural enemies may shift to alternate hosts (non-target organisms). However, few studies have examined the mechanisms involved in the evolution or long-term maintenance of predator-prey associations. The group's approach emphasizes comparative and genetic studies of the life-histories and behavior of specialist and generalist predators within a phylogenetic context. Initially they proposed steps in the evolution of prey specificity (e.g., Tauber et al. 1993). Subsequent work tests the predictions described in the paper (Tauber et al. 1995, Albuquerque et al. 1996, 1997).
• Can we reliably predict significant seasonal events in the life cycles of pests and natural enemies? They have conducted phenological studies with a variety of pests and natural enemies to identify the environmental and genetic bases for the seasonal patterns of insect emergence and activity (e.g., Sawyer et al. 1992; Tauber et al. 1994, 1996). Recently, a collaborative project with J. P. Nyrop and M. G. Villani at Geneva developed a model and protocols for predicting the movement and emergence of soil-inhabiting insects in relation to the occurrence of rainfall so that pest management tactics can be applied at appropriate times (Tauber et al. 1998). Current and future work focuses on testing the model (e.g., Pires et al. 2000).
• How can the commercialization of natural enemies be accelerated? The future development of biological control rests largely on increasing the diversity of natural enemies that are mass-produced and improving the efficiency with which they are mass-reared (Tauber et al. 2000). Studies in their lab have defined the conditions under which Chrysoperla carnea (a commercially mass produced and marketed predator) has a very long shelf-life (~39 weeks) without loss of post-storage fecundity, fertility or quality of F1 offspring (Chang et al. 1995, 1996, 2000). Additional studies show the high desirability of mass-rearing and marketing trash-carrying lacewings in the genus Ceraeochrysa (López- Arroyo et al. 1999b, 2000).
• How do seasonal cycles evolve and what role do they have in speciation? Investigations focused on genetic variation in the seasonal responses of insects to major physical factors and food (i.e., geographic variation in phenotypic plasticity). We demonstrated that an environmental "switch" controlling aestival reproduction versus dormancy has evolutionary trade-offs (Tauber & Tauber 1992). These findings helped form the basis for the group's recommendations on the (a) choice and effective use of predator biotypes in biological control and (b) genetic improvement of commercially mass-produced natural enemies (Tauber & Tauber 1993, Tauber et al. 2000).
• Comparative Biology of Natural Enemies. The systematics and comparative biology of many groups of important natural enemies are in great need of attention. This aspect of the research centers on predators in North, Central and South America, as well as Hawaii (Tauber et al. 1998, López-Arroyo et al. 1999a).