CHRISTOPHER ANGELL, PhD
Evolutionary ecologist and educator
Welcome to my home page! I am an evolutionary ecologist interested in animal life histories and insect biodiversity. I work in the biology department at Earlham College.
In 2021, I earned my PhD at the University of Ottawa in Howard Rundle's lab, where I studied the evolutionary ecology of aging using the antler fly as a field model.
ABOUT ME
I am an animal ecologist interested in a variety of ecological and evolutionary questions, ranging from behavior and life histories to evolutionary genetics. So far in my scientific career, I've worked with lots of different animal species, including painted turtles, brine shrimp, sea anemones, and two species of flies.
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In my PhD, I investigated the causes and consequences of aging (senescence) in a wild population of antler flies. These charming little flies live only on discarded moose and deer antlers, where the males live out brief lives of "combat and lust," defending territories to attract females.
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My current research includes projects related to insect biodiversity and maternal effects in water fleas.
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I am also passionate about science education and outreach. For several years, I worked as an exhibit designer and marketing assistant for the Joseph Moore Museum in Richmond, Indiana.
Photo courtesy of Samantha Stephens
MY RESEARCH
INSECT LIFE HISTORY
Aging (or senescence) is widespread among multicellular organisms, even though it causes old individuals to lose fitness. Neither the physiology nor the evolution of senescence is fully understood, and it represents an important frontier for biological research.
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Most research on senescence has been conducted on either short lived animals (nematodes, fruit flies, mice) in laboratory settings, or long lived vertebrates in the wild. Current theory predicts that senescence has evolved in response to extrinsic mortality factors, such as predation or resource limitation, which are present in nature but severly reduced in the lab. This may have produced biased or misleading results in lab experiments!
Antler flies, with high site fidelity and short adult life span, provide a rich opportunity to study the evolutionary ecology of aging in the wild, without the prohibitive time and resource costs required for vertebrate research.
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In 2016, I had the pleasure of speaking about my research with Tom Spears from the Ottawa Citizen as part of their "Science of Spring" series, and you can check out the interview here!
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Photo courtesy of Antoine Morin
BIODIVERSITY & SYSTEMATICS
Insects are by far the most diverse group of animals, and we're only scratching the surface of understanding their biodiversity. Biodiversity research is critical for ecology and conservation, good phylogenetic hypotheses are necessary for investigating the evolution of species and traits, and reliable identification guides are the bedrock of any field study involving insects.
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My interest is in the diversity and systematics of flies (Diptera), a widespread and important, but underappreciated, order of insects. I use both traditionally collected specimens and photographic community science data to study the biodiversity of our small two-winged neighbors.
PUBLICATIONS
SUBMITTED
Angell CS and Barnd BD. Heleomyza captiosa (Diptera: Heleomyzidae) newly recorded from the Nearctic Region, with an updated key to the genus Heleomyza.
PUBLISHED AND IN PRESS
Angell CS and Rundle HD. 2025. Shed antlers as a larval environment: antler quality and adult performance in wild Protopiophila litigata (Diptera: Piophilidae). The Canadian Entomologist: in press.
Angell CS, Gaimari SD, and Woźnica, AJ. 2024. New records of three introduced heleomyzid flies (Diptera: Heleomyzidae) in western North America. The Canadian Entomologist 156: e16. full text / doi
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Angell CS and Šifner F. 2024. Review and re-proposal of family-group names used for tribes of Scathophagidae (Diptera). Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 157: 23-28. pdf
Angell CS. 2024. The type species of Heteromyiella Hendel, 1910 (Diptera: Heleomyzidae). Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 157: 7-9. pdf
Angell CS. 2023. Replacement names for two Asian species of Psila Meigen, 1803, sensu lato (Diptera, Psilidae). Bionomina 34: 45-49. pdf / doi
Giordani G, Tuccia F, Martín-Vega D, Angell C, Pradelli J and Vanin S. 2023. Morphological and molecular characterization of puparia of Piophilidae species of forensic relevance. Medical and Veterinary Entomology 37: 339-358. pdf / doi
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Angell CS, Janacek R, and Rundle HD. 2022. Maternal and paternal age effects on male antler flies: a field experiment. The American Naturalist 199: 436-442. pdf / doi
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Angell CS, Oudin MJ, Rode NO, Mautz BJ, Bonduriansky R, and Rundle HD. 2020. Development time mediates the effect of larval diet on ageing and mating success of male antler flies in the wild. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287: 20201876. pdf / doi
López-García J, Angell C, and Martín-Vega D. 2020. Wing morphometrics for the identification of Nearctic and Palaearctic Piophilidae (Diptera) of forensic relevance. Forensic Science International 309: 110192. pdf (supp) / doi
Charpentier CL, Angell CS, Duffy PI, and Cohen JH. 2020. Natural variations in estuarine fish, fish odor, and
zooplankton photobehavior. Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology 52: 265-282. doi
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Angell CS, Curtis S, Ryckenbusch A, and Rundle HD. 2020. Epicuticular compounds of Protopiophila litigata (Diptera: Piophilidae): identification and sexual selection across two years in the wild. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 113: 40-49. pdf (supp) / doi
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Angell CS and Cook O. 2019. Natural variation in the growth and development of Protopiophila litigata (Diptera: Piophilidae) developing in three moose (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) antlers. The Canadian Entomologist 151: 531-536. pdf / doi
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Yun L, Chen PJ, Kwok KE, Angell CS, Rundle HD, and Agrawal AF. 2018. Competition for mates and the improvement of nonsexual fitness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115: 6762-6767. pdf / doi
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Iverson JB, Klondaris H, Angell CS, and Tori WP. 2016. Olfaction as a cue for nest-site choice in turtles. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 15: 206-213. doi
CONTACT ME
using the form at right or at
csangell11 (at) gmail (dot) com
