Philip James DeVries
Encyclopedia
Philip James DeVries PhD (born March 7, 1952) is a tropical biologist whose research focuses on insect ecology and evolution, especially butterflies. His best-known work includes symbioses between caterpillars, ants and plants, and community level biodiversity of rainforest butterflies.
, Ann Arbor DeVries was mentored in Botany
by professor Warren H. Wagner
Jr., known among colleagues as “Herb”. In 1975 DeVries received a Bachelor’s degree from the School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan, with emphasis in Botany
. His early exposure to systematic botany continues to be useful in his career.
From 1975 to 1980, DeVries was a curator of Lepidoptera
at the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica
as a Peace Corps
volunteer where he built the country’s first major butterfly collection. DeVries traveled widely in Costa Rica collecting and making observations on butterflies. This eventually provided a large body of information that formed the basis for his two volumes entitled "The Butterflies of Costa Rica and their Natural History" (vol. 1 and 2). In Costa Rica
he interacted with many field biologists, including, among others, Daniel Janzen
, Stephen Hubbell, Gary Stiles, Luis Diego Gomez, Isidro A. Chacón, Gordon B. Small, Alwyn H. Gentry, Robin Foster, Lawrence E. Gilbert, Michael C. Singer, Paul R. Ehrlich
, and Russell Lande
.
DeVries attended the University of Texas at Austin
from 1980 to 1987 where he earned a PhD in Zoology
. His doctoral work focused on the widespread symbioses between butterfly caterpillars, ants and plants, which he popularized under the nickname “Singing caterpillars”. In 1982, DeVries received a fellowship from the Fulbright Program
to visit The Natural History Museum
in London
(then British Museum of Natural History), where he spent a year preparing the first volume of his “The Butterflies of Costa Rica” book. There he collaborated with Richard I. Vane-Wright, Phillip R. Ackery, Bernard d’Abrera, Ian J. Kitching, Henry S. Barlow, and other curators and visitors deeply rooted in the history of butterfly biology, evolution and systematics.
In 1988 DeVries received a MacArthur Fellowship that allowed him to travel broadly in pursuit of tropical biology in Costa Rica
, Panama
, Ecuador
, and Argentina
. Through the MacArthur Fellows Program
he became close friends with the artists Lee Friedlander
, Steve Lacy
, John T. Scott
, Brad Leithauser
, and the historian Cornell Fleischer
.
DeVries was a pre-doctoral (1985-1986) and post-doctoral fellow (1987-1988) at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
, Panama, a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford
, UK (1990-1991), an associate of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University
(1990-1992), and a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
Fellow at Harvard University
(1993-1994). He is a research associate of the American Museum of Natural History
, Missouri Botanical Gardens, Museum of Comparative Zoology
, Harvard University
and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
.
Among other countries, DeVries has done field research in Costa Rica
, Panama
, Ecuador
, Peru
, Brazil
, South Africa
, Uganda
, Tanzania
, Madagascar
, Bhutan
, Australia
, Borneo
, Malaysia.
(1994-2000), where he developed trapping methods to accrue long-term data sets on tropical butterfly communities. Work with his colleague Russell Lande
produced some of the first rigorous insights into the spatial and temporal dynamics of diverse rainforest insect communities. From 2000 to 2004 he was the Director of the Center for Biodiversity Studies and curator of Lepidoptera at the Milwaukee Public Museum
in Wisconsin
. He is presently a professor at the University of New Orleans
in Louisiana
, along with his wife and close colleague Carla Penz. DeVries continues to study long-term butterfly community diversity, and speciation. His butterfly trapping methods are used widely in tropical diversity studies and conservation efforts. He also continues work on evolution of butterfly-ant symbioses.
families Riodinidae
and Lycaenidae
. In these symbioses, ants provide protection against arthropod
predators in exchange for food secretions. DeVries demonstrated experimentally that the calls produced by singing caterpillars function to enhance caterpillar-ant symbioses in concert with caterpillar glands that produce food and chemical secretions. He also has shown that singing caterpillars occur widely throughout the world. His studies were the first to show that acoustical calls of one insect species can evolve to attract unrelated species in the context of symbiotic associations, fitting into a field of biological science termed Bioacoustics
. Documentation and examination of interactions between organisms of different species integrate the fields of Natural History
, Ecology
and Evolution
.
, Oxford Scientific Films
, Big Wave, Wildfilms, Grenada
, and Green Umbrella Films. Fifteen of these documentaries have been televised globally by National Geographic Channel
, BBC Television
and Scientific American Frontiers
.
and TV Guide
to Nature
, Science
, and scholarly textbooks. He has done photography documenting societal effects after Hurricane Katrina
on New Orleans, with a more recent focus on musicians, bystanders, and street scenes in the New Orleans French Quarter
and elsewhere.
Early career
Phil DeVries was born in Detroit, Michigan, son of Henry William DeVries and Helen Mary DeVries (née Brnabic). His early interest in Biology was nourished by close contact with nature during his childhood in rural Michigan. As an undergraduate student at the University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, Ann Arbor DeVries was mentored in Botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
by professor Warren H. Wagner
Warren H. Wagner
Warren H. Wagner Jr. , known as Herb Wagner, from his middle name, "Herbert," was an eminent American botanist who lived in Michigan...
Jr., known among colleagues as “Herb”. In 1975 DeVries received a Bachelor’s degree from the School of Natural Resources, University of Michigan, with emphasis in Botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
. His early exposure to systematic botany continues to be useful in his career.
From 1975 to 1980, DeVries was a curator of Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
at the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
as a Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
volunteer where he built the country’s first major butterfly collection. DeVries traveled widely in Costa Rica collecting and making observations on butterflies. This eventually provided a large body of information that formed the basis for his two volumes entitled "The Butterflies of Costa Rica and their Natural History" (vol. 1 and 2). In Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
he interacted with many field biologists, including, among others, Daniel Janzen
Daniel Janzen
Daniel Hunt Janzen is an evolutionary ecologist, naturalist, and conservationist and the son of a previous Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service...
, Stephen Hubbell, Gary Stiles, Luis Diego Gomez, Isidro A. Chacón, Gordon B. Small, Alwyn H. Gentry, Robin Foster, Lawrence E. Gilbert, Michael C. Singer, Paul R. Ehrlich
Paul R. Ehrlich
Paul Ralph Ehrlich is an American biologist and educator who is the Bing Professor of Population Studies in the department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and president of Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology. By training he is an entomologist specializing in Lepidoptera , but...
, and Russell Lande
Russell Lande
Russell Lande is an American evolutionary biologist and ecologist, and a Royal Society Research Professor at Imperial College London, in Silwood Park.-Education and career:...
.
DeVries attended the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
from 1980 to 1987 where he earned a PhD in Zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
. His doctoral work focused on the widespread symbioses between butterfly caterpillars, ants and plants, which he popularized under the nickname “Singing caterpillars”. In 1982, DeVries received a fellowship from the Fulbright Program
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
to visit The Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(then British Museum of Natural History), where he spent a year preparing the first volume of his “The Butterflies of Costa Rica” book. There he collaborated with Richard I. Vane-Wright, Phillip R. Ackery, Bernard d’Abrera, Ian J. Kitching, Henry S. Barlow, and other curators and visitors deeply rooted in the history of butterfly biology, evolution and systematics.
In 1988 DeVries received a MacArthur Fellowship that allowed him to travel broadly in pursuit of tropical biology in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Through the MacArthur Fellows Program
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
he became close friends with the artists Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander is an American photographer and artist. In the 1960s and 70s, working primarily with 35mm cameras and black and white film, Friedlander evolved an influential and often imitated visual language of urban "social landscape," with many of the photographs including fragments of...
, Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
, John T. Scott
John T. Scott
John T. Scott was an African American sculptor, painter, printmaker and collagist. He was awarded a Bachelor of arts degree from Xavier University in New Orleans and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan...
, Brad Leithauser
Brad Leithauser
Brad E. Leithauser is an American poet, novelist, essayist, and teacher. After serving as the Emily Dickinson Lecturer in the Humanities at Mount Holyoke College and visiting professor at the MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, he is now on faculty at The...
, and the historian Cornell Fleischer
Cornell Fleischer
Cornell Fleischer is the Kanuni Suleyman Professor of Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies at the University of Chicago.Dr. Fleischer received his PhD from Princeton University in 1982. After leaving Princeton, Dr. Fleischer held teaching posts at Washington University in St. Louis and the Ohio...
.
DeVries was a pre-doctoral (1985-1986) and post-doctoral fellow (1987-1988) at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, the only bureau of the Smithsonian Institution based outside of the United States, is dedicated to understanding biological diversity. What began in 1923 as small field station on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal Zone has developed...
, Panama, a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, UK (1990-1991), an associate of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
(1990-1992), and a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation was created in 1973 with an $85 million bequest following the death on August 13, 1973, of Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge. Dodge was the youngest child of Standard Oil tycoon William Rockefeller and Almira Geraldine Goodsell....
Fellow at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(1993-1994). He is a research associate of the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
, Missouri Botanical Gardens, Museum of Comparative Zoology
Museum of Comparative Zoology
The Museum of Comparative Zoology, full name "The Louis Agassiz Museum of Comparative Zoology", often abbreviated simply to "MCZ", is a zoology museum located on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of three museums which collectively comprise the Harvard Museum...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County opened in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA in 1913 as the Museum of History, Science, and Art. The moving force behind it was a museum association founded in 1910. Its distinctive main building, with fitted marble walls and domed and...
.
Among other countries, DeVries has done field research in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, Malaysia.
Recent time
DeVries was an assistant professor at the University of OregonUniversity of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
(1994-2000), where he developed trapping methods to accrue long-term data sets on tropical butterfly communities. Work with his colleague Russell Lande
Russell Lande
Russell Lande is an American evolutionary biologist and ecologist, and a Royal Society Research Professor at Imperial College London, in Silwood Park.-Education and career:...
produced some of the first rigorous insights into the spatial and temporal dynamics of diverse rainforest insect communities. From 2000 to 2004 he was the Director of the Center for Biodiversity Studies and curator of Lepidoptera at the Milwaukee Public Museum
Milwaukee Public Museum
The Milwaukee Public Museum is a natural and human history museum located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. The museum was chartered in 1882 and opened to the public in 1884; it is a not-for-profit organization operated by the Milwaukee Public Museum, Inc. MPM has three floors of exhibits...
in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. He is presently a professor at the University of New Orleans
University of New Orleans
The University of New Orleans, often referred to locally as UNO, is a medium-sized public urban university located on the New Orleans Lakefront within New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a member of the LSU System and the Urban 13 association. Currently UNO is without a proper chancellor...
in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, along with his wife and close colleague Carla Penz. DeVries continues to study long-term butterfly community diversity, and speciation. His butterfly trapping methods are used widely in tropical diversity studies and conservation efforts. He also continues work on evolution of butterfly-ant symbioses.
Singing caterpillars
DeVries discovered the substrate-borne calls produced by caterpillars that form symbioses with ants in the butterflyButterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
families Riodinidae
Riodinidae
The Riodinidae are a family of butterflies. The common name "metalmarks" refers to the small metallic-looking spots commonly found on their wings. There are approximately 1,000 species of metalmark butterflies in the world...
and Lycaenidae
Lycaenidae
The Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies...
. In these symbioses, ants provide protection against arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
predators in exchange for food secretions. DeVries demonstrated experimentally that the calls produced by singing caterpillars function to enhance caterpillar-ant symbioses in concert with caterpillar glands that produce food and chemical secretions. He also has shown that singing caterpillars occur widely throughout the world. His studies were the first to show that acoustical calls of one insect species can evolve to attract unrelated species in the context of symbiotic associations, fitting into a field of biological science termed Bioacoustics
Bioacoustics
Bioacoustics is a cross-disciplinary science that combines biology and acoustics. Usually it refers to the investigation of sound production, dispersion through elastic media, and reception in animals, including humans. This involves neurophysiological and anatomical basis of sound production and...
. Documentation and examination of interactions between organisms of different species integrate the fields of Natural History
Natural History
Natural history is the scientific study of plants or animals.Natural History may also refer to:In science and medicine:* Natural History , Naturalis Historia, a 1st-century work by Pliny the Elder...
, Ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
and Evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
.
Natural History Films
For over 20 years DeVries has been involved with natural history documentary films as a writer, scientific advisor and on-camera presenter for production companies such as National Geographic, Partridge FilmsPartridge Films
Partridge Films is a TV/film production company based in Bristol, England. It specialises in wildlife programmes and is a part of United Wildlife, a United News and Media Company....
, Oxford Scientific Films
Oxford Scientific Films
Oxford Scientific Films is a British company that produces natural history and documentary programmes. Founded on 8 July 1968 by noted documentary filmmaker Gerald Thompson, the independent film company broke new ground in the world of documentaries, using new filming techniques and capturing...
, Big Wave, Wildfilms, Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, and Green Umbrella Films. Fifteen of these documentaries have been televised globally by National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
, BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
and Scientific American Frontiers
Scientific American Frontiers
Scientific American Frontiers was an American television program primarily focused on informing the public about new technologies and discoveries in science and medicine. It was a companion program to the Scientific American magazine. The show was produced for PBS in the U.S...
.
Photography
DeVries has worked as a natural history photographer, and his photographs have appeared in publications ranging from Ranger RickRanger Rick
Ranger Rick was originally titled Ranger Rick's Nature Magazine. Ranger Rick is a children’s nature magazine that is published by the National Wildlife Federation. Kenneth B...
and TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
to Nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
, Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, and scholarly textbooks. He has done photography documenting societal effects after Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
on New Orleans, with a more recent focus on musicians, bystanders, and street scenes in the New Orleans French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
and elsewhere.
Selected publications
- DeVries, P.J. (1987) The Butterflies of Costa Rica and their Natural History. Volume I. Papilionidae, Pieridae and Nymphalidae. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 327 pp.
- DeVries, P.J. (1997) The Butterflies of Costa Rica and their Natural History. Volume II. Riodinidae. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 288 pp.
- Penz, C.M. & P.J. DeVries (2006) Systematic position of Apodemia paucipuncta (Riodinidae), and a critical evaluation of the nymphidiine transtilla. Zootaxa, 1190:1-50.
- Molleman, F., A. Kop, P. Brakefield, P.J. DeVries & J.Z. Nas (2006) Vertical and temporal patterns of fruit-feeding butterflies in a tropical forest in Uganda. Biodiversity and Conservation, 15: 107-121.
- Youngsteadt, E. & P.J. DeVries (2005) The effects of ants on the entomophagous butterfly caterpillar Feniseca tarquinius, and the role of chemical camouflage in the Feniseca-ant interaction. Chemical Ecology, 31: 2091-2109.
- DeVries, P.J. (2002) Differential wing-toughness among palatable and unpalatable butterflies: direct evidence supports unpalatable theory. Biotropica, 34: 176-181.
- Engen, S., R. Lande, T. Walla & P.J. DeVries (2002) Analyzing spatial structure of communities by the two-dimensional Poisson lognormal species abundance model. American Naturalist, 160: 60-73.
- Penz, C.M. & P.J. DeVries (2002) Phylogenetic analysis of Morpho butterflies (Nymphalidae, Morphinae): implications for classification and natural history. American Museum Novitates, 3374: 1-33.
- DeVries, P.J. & T.R. Walla (2001) Species diversity and community structure in neotropical fruit-feeding butterflies. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 74: 1-15.
- DeVries, P.J., T.R. Walla & H. Greeney (1999) Species diversity in spatial and temporal dimensions of fruit-feeding butterflies in two Ecuadorian rainforests. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 68: 333-353.
- DeVries, P.J., D. Murray & R. Lande (1997) Species diversity in vertical, horizontal, and temporal dimensions of fruit-feeding butterfly community in an Ecuadorian rainforest. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 62: 343-364.
- DeVries, P.J. & G.O. Poinar (1997) Ancient butterfly-ant symbiosis: direct evidence from Dominican amber. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 264: 1137-1140.
- DeVries, P.J., J.A. Thomas & R. Cocroft (1993) A comparison of acoustical signals between Maculinea butterfly caterpillars and their obligate host ant species. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 49: 229-238.
- DeVries, P.J. & G.E. Martinez (1993) The morphology, natural history, and behavior of the early stages of Morpho cypris (Nymphalidae: Morphinae) – 140 years after formal recognition of the butterfly, Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 101: 515-530.
- DeVries, P.J. (1992) Singing caterpillars, ants and symbiosis. Scientific American, 267: 76-82.
- DeVries, P.J. (1991) The mutualism between Thisbe irenea and ants, and the role of ant ecology in the evolution of larval-ant associations. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 43: 179-195.
- DeVries, P.J. (1991) Call production by myrmecophilous riodinid and lycaenid butterfly caterpillars (Lepidoptera): morphological, acoustical, functional, and evolutionary patterns. American Museum Novitates, 3025: 1-23.
- DeVries, P.J. (1990) Enhancement of symbioses between butterfly caterpillars and ants by vibrational communications. Science, 248: 1104-1106.
- DeVries, P.J. & I. Baker (1989) Butterfly exploitation of a plant-ant mutualism: adding insult to herbivory. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 97: 332-340.
- DeVries, P.J. (1988) The larval ant-organs of Thisbe irenea (Riodinidae) and their effects upon attending ants. Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 94: 379-393.
- DeVries, P.J. (1988) Stratification of fruit-feeding butterflies in a Costa Rican rainforest. Journal of the Research on the Lepidoptera, 26: 98-108.
- DeVries, P.J., I. Kitching & R.I. Vane-Wright (1985) The systematic position of Antirrhea and Caerois, with comments on the higher classification of the Nymphalidae. Systematic Entomology, 10: 11-32.