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Diplomas / Degrees

PhD, Concordia University, Montreal (2004)
BSc (German Diploma), Freie Universität Berlin (1996)

Recent Courses

Behavioral Ecology
Behavioral Ecology Lab
Biological Concepts And Methods I I (lab)
Directed Readings Community Ecology I
Directed Readings Evolutionary Ecology I
Directed Readings Global Change Ecology
Experimental Design And Practical Statistics For
Experimental Design And Practical Statistics For Biologist
Principles Of Ecology
Principles Of Ecology ( L A B )
Principles Of Ecology ( Lecture )
Principles Of Ecology Lab
S/T: Experimental Design
Thesis Research Movement In Spiders I
Thesis Research Movement In Spiders II

Research Interests

General research area: Evolutionary Ecology
My research focuses currently on the evolutionary significance of extreme sexual size dimorphism (SSD). Body size is one of the most important quantitative traits of an organism; it is strongly correlated with many physiological, behavioral, and life-history traits. Natural selection (through the combined effects of sexual selection, fecundity selection and viability selection) often favors a different optimal body size in males and females of a given species, the reasons for which need to be analyzed as an important step towards understanding biological diversity. My research aims at understanding how differences in reproductive roles between the sexes, ecological variables such as habitat features, and genetic and physiological factors contribute to SSD evolution, and how these might interact in nature. I use the orb-weaving spider Argiope aurantia as a model organism to address my research questions. This species exhibits several interesting features: sexual size dimorphism is pronounced, females are much larger than males; females frequently attack males during copulation (sexual cannibalism); males spontaneously die during copulation (male self-sacrifice). Therefore, important additional areas of research include the evolution of mating systems, and the evolution of male monogyny (males mating only once with one female and then dying) in particular. Work in my group involves quantifying selection processes in the field as well as in controlled laboratory environments.

Grants / Sponsored Research

2007 – 2008 $3000 Adelphi University Faculty Development Grant
2006 – 2011 $106,000 Discovery Grant, NSERC, title: “The evolutionary significance of extreme sexual size dimorphism in orb-web spiders”

Book Chapters

Foellmer MW and Moya-Laraño J. (2007). Sexual size dimorphism in spiders: patterns and processes. In D. J. Fairbairn, W. U. Blanckenhorn and T. Szekely (Eds.). Sex, Size and Gender Roles: Evolutionary Studies of Sexual Size Dimorphism. (pp. 71-81). New York: Oxford University Press.

Recent Articles

Showing first 5 of 9. View All

Moya-Laraño J, Vinkovic D, Allard C and Foellmer MW. (2009, 4). Optimal climbing speed explains the evolution of extreme sexual size dimorphism in spiders. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 22, 954-963

Foellmer MW. (2008, 2). Broken genitals function as mating plugs and affect sex ratios in the orb-web spider Argiope aurantia. Evolutionary Ecology Research, 10, 449-462

Moya-Laraño J, Vinkoviç D, Allard C and Foellmer MW. (2007, 11). Sex differences in climbing patterns support the gravity hypothesis of sexual size dimorphism. Web Ecology, 7, 106-112

Moya-Laraño J, Vinkoviç D, Allard C and Foellmer MW. (2007, 11). Gravity still matters. Functional Ecology, 21, 1178-1181

Blanckenhorn WU, Dixon AFG, Fairbairn DJ, Foellmer MW, Gibert P, van der Linde K, Meier R, Nylin S, Pitnick S, Schoff C, Signorelli M, Teder T and Wiklund C. (2007, 2). Proximate causes of Rensch’s rule: Does sexual size dimorphism in arthropods result from sex differences in development time?. American Naturalist, 169(2), 245-257

Invited Presentations and Lectures

Showing first 5 of 6. View All

Foellmer MW (17 October 2008). The evolutionary significance of extreme sexual size dimorphism in spiders. Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

Foellmer MW (06 December 2006). The evolution of sexual size dimorphism in spiders. Trent University, Peterborough, ON

Foellmer MW (28 November 2006). The evolution of sexual size dimorphism in spiders. University of Toronto at Scarborough, ON

Foellmer MW and Moya-Laraño (22 November 2006). Sexual size dimorphism in spiders: patterns and processes. Joint meeting of the Entomological Society of Canada and the Société d’entomologie du Québec; arachnid symposium. Montreal, QC

Foellmer MW (22 August 2005). Sexual selection in a highly dimorphic orb-weaving spider. International Workshop: The Evolution of Sexual Size Dimorphism. Ascona, Switzerland

Conference Presentations and Papers

Showing first 5 of 12. View All

Foellmer MW and Inkpen AI (11 August 2008). Sex-specific foraging strategies and growth rates in early juveniles mediate the development of extreme female-biased sexual size dimorphism in a spider. Biennial Congress of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Inkpen A and Foellmer MW (16 August 2007). Web design as an indicator of sex-specific foraging strategies in juveniles of the highly dimorphic orb-web spider Argiope aurantia. International Ethological Conference, Dalhousie University, Halifax

Inkpen A and Foellmer MW (19 May 2007). Web design as an indicator of sex-specific foraging strategies in juveniles of the highly dimorphic orb-web spider Argiope aurantia. First annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution, University of Toronto

Foellmer MW and Moya-Laraño J (19 May 2007). Sexual size dimorphism in spiders: a research update. First annual meeting of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution, University of Toronto

Moya-Laraño J and Foellmer MW 2006 (05 September 2006). Sexual size dimorphism in spiders. 23rd European Colloquium of Arachnology; symposium on spider sex, Sitges, Barcelona, Spain

Professional Activities

Subject editor for Web Ecology (issued by the European Ecological Federation in cooperation with the Oikos Editorial Office, Lund, Sweden)

Reviewer for American Naturalist, Animal Behaviour, Behavioral Ecology, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Biology Letters, Ethology, Evolution, Evolutionary Ecology, Functional Ecology, Journal of Animal Ecology, Journal of Arachnology, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Naturwissenschaften, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Web Ecology