University of California
Entomology & Nematology
Edwin Lewis
Quick Links
Office: 4208 Storer Hall
Lab: 479 Hutchison Hall
Phone: (530) 754-7659
Fax: (530) 752-5674
Email: eelewis@ucdavis.edu
Edwin Lewis - Professor of Entomology

- Biography
- A.A.S. Math & Science. 1978. Cayuga County Community College, Auburn, NY.
- Ph.D. Entomology. 1991. Auburn University, Auburn, AL.
- M.S. Entomology. 1987. University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.
- B.S. Natural Resources. 1980. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
- Professional Experience
- 2008-pres. Professor, Depts. Nematology / Entomology, University of California, Davis
- 2004-2008 Associate Professor, Depts. Nematology / Entomology, University of California, Davis
- 1998-2004 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Entomology, Virginia Tech.
- 1995-98 Research Assoc., Dept. of Entomology, University of Maryland.
- 1994-95 Assistant Research Professor, Dept. of Entomology, Rutgers University.
- 1991-94 Post-doctoral Research Assoc., Dept. of Entomology, Rutgers University.
- Professional Societies
- Entomological Society of America
- Ecological Society of America
- Society of Invertebrate Pathology
- Society of Nematologists
- Professional Service
- Subject Editor – Journal of Nematology
- North American Editor – Biopesticides International
- Editorial Board – Biological Control
- Chair – USDA Regional Project 1024
- Personnel
- Postdocs: Roy Kaspi, Anne Nielsen, Ken Spence
- Grad Students: Hanayo Arimoto, Amanda Hodson, Soledad Villamil
- Undergrads: Eric Davis, Alex Dedmon, Alexander Ko, Madeline McCurry Schmidt, Jamie Nakatani
- Technician: Andy Ross
- Research
- My research program is wide-ranging in the scope of the questions asked and in the taxa that are studied. There is, however, a common thread to the work that takes place in my laboratory; we seek to understand why and how organisms find, recognize, assess and exploit resources. We ask questions about how insects and nematodes make decisions about resource utilization and what the fitness outcomes of the decisions are. To answer these kinds of questions, we engage in studies of behavior, population ecology, community ecology and evolutionary biology with several groups of insects, nematodes and bacteria. There are also intentional links to more practical pursuits including biological control of crop pests, predicting the impact of crop management on pest and beneficial organisms and restoration ecology. I see no difference between what is traditionally called "basic" and "applied" research, thus the links of nearly all of the work in the laboratory to agricultural or environmental concerns is explicit.
Selected Publications:
Refereed Publications
- Shapiro-Ilan, D.I., E.E. Lewis and Y.S. Son. 2003. Superior efficacy observed in entomopathogenic nematodes applied in infected-host cadavers compared with application in aqueous suspension. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 83: 270-272.
- Luckhart, S., K. Li, R. Dunton, E.E. Lewis, A. Crampton, J.R. Ryan and R. Rosenberg. R. 2003. Anopheles gambiae immune gene variants associated with natural Plasmodium infection. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology. 128: 83-86.
- Campbell, J. F., E.E. Lewis, S.P. Stock, S. Nadler and H.K. Kaya. 2003. Evolution of host search strategies in entomopathogenic nematodes (Nematoda: Steinernematidae). Journal of Nematology. 35: 142-145.
- Perez, E.E., E.E. Lewis and D.I. Shapiro-Ilan. 2003. Impact of the host cadaver on survival and infectivity of entomopathogenic nematodes (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae) under desiccating conditions. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 82: 111-118.
- Cote, K.W., P.B. Schultz and E.E. Lewis. 2004. Using acaricides in combination with Phytoseiulus persimilis Athias-Henroit to suppress Tetranychus urticae Koch populations. Journal of Entomological Science. 39: 267-274.
- Nyczepir AP, D.I. Shapiro-Ilan, E.E. Lewis, and Z.A. Handoo. 2004. Effect of entomopathogenic nematodes on Mesocriconema xenoplax populations in peach and pecan. Journal of Nematology. 36:181-185.
- Perez, E.E. and E.E. Lewis. 2004. Suppression of Meloidogyne incognita and Meloidogyne hapla with entomopathogenic nematodes on greenhouse peanuts and tomatoes. Biological Control. 30: 336-341.
- Son, Y. and E.E. Lewis. 2005. Effects of temperature on the reproductive life history of the black vine weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus (F.). Entomologica Experimentalis et Applicata. 114:15-24.
- Son, Y. and E.E. Lewis. 2005. Modelling temperature-dependent development and survival of Otiorhynchus sulcatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Agricultural and Forest Entomology. 7: 201-209.
- Bruck, D., D. Shapiro-Ilan and E.E. Lewis. 2005. Evaluation of Application Technologies of Entomopathogenic Nematodes for Control of the Black Vine Weevil, Otiorhynchus sulcatus. Journal of Economic Entomology. 98: 1884-1889.
- Perez, E.E. and E.E. Lewis. 2006. Biologically-based compounds as post-plant treatments for control of nematodes on English boxwood. Plant Disease. 90: 471-475.
- Cordero, R.J., T.P. Kuhar, J. Speese, R.R. Youngman, E.E. Lewis, and J.R. Bloomquist. 2006. Field Efficacy of Insecticides for Control of Lepidopteran Pests on Collards in Virginia. Plant Health Progress. 10.1094/PHP-2006-0105-01-RS
- Kaya, H.K. and E.E. Lewis. 2006. Third international symposium on entomopathogenic nematodes and symbiotic bacteria. Biological Control. 38: 1-3.
- Lewis, E.E., J.F. Campbell, C. Griffin, H.K. Kaya and A. Peters. 2006. Behavioral ecology of entomopathogenic nematodes. Biological Control. 38: 66-79.
- Ashley, J.L., D.A. Herbert, E.E. Lewis, C.C. Brewster, R. Huckaba. 2006. Toxicity of Three Acaricides to Tetranychus urticae (Tetranychidae: Acari) and Orius insidiosus (Anthocoridae: Hemiptera). Journal of Economic Entomology. 99: 54-59.
- Caswell-Chen, E.P., J. Chen, E.E. Lewis, G.W. Douhan, S.A. Nadler and J.R. Carey. 2006. Revising the standard wisdom of C. elegans Natural History: Ecology of Longevity. Science of aging knowledge environment. DOI: 10.1126/sageke.2005.40.pe30.
- Kunkel, B.A., D.I. Shapiro-Ilan, J.F. Campbell and E.E. Lewis. 2006. Effect of Steinernema glaseri-infected host exudates on movement of conspecific infective juveniles. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 93: 42-49.
- Ramos-Rodriguez, O., J.F. Campbell, E.E. Lewis, D.I. Shapiro-Ilan and S.B. Ramaswamy. 2007. Dynamics of carbon dioxide release from insects infected with entomopathogenic nematodes. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 94: 64-69.
- Ramos-Rodriguez, O., J.F. Campbell, J.M. Christen, D.I. Shapiro-Ilan, E.E. Lewis and S.B. Ramaswamy. Attraction behavior of three entomopathogenic nematode species towards infected and uninfected hosts. Parasitology. In press.
- Christen, J.M., J.F. Campbell, E.E. Lewis, D.I. Shapiro-Ilan and S.B. Ramaswamy. 2007. Responses of the entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema riobrave to its insect hosts, Galleria mellonella and Tenebrio molitor. Parasitology. 134:889-898.
- Chen, J., E.E. Lewis, J.R. Carey, H. Caswell and E.P. Caswell-Chen. 2006. The ecology and biodemography of Caenorhabditis elegans. Experimental Gerontology. 41:1059-1065.
- Shapiro-Ilan, D.I., A.P. Nyczepir and E.E. Lewis. 2006. Entomopathogenic nematodes and bacteria applications for control of the pecan root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne partityla in the greenhouse. Journal of Nematology. 38: 449-454.
- Preisser, E.L., S.E. Gibson, L.S. Adler and E.E. Lewis. 2007. round herbivory and the costs of constitutive defense in tobacco. Acta Oecologica. 31: 210-215.
- Ramos-Rodriguez, O., J.F. Campbell, E.E. Lewis, D.I. Shapiro-Ilan and S.B. Ramaswamy. 2007 Dynamics of carbon dioxide release from insects infected with entomopathogenic nematodes. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 94:64-69
- Ramos-Rodriguez, O., J.F. Campbell, J.M. Christen, D.I. Shapiro-Ilan, E.E. Lewis and S.B. Ramaswamy. 2007. Attraction behavior of three entomopathogenic nematode species towards infected and uninfected hosts. Parasitology. 134:729-738.
- Christen, J.M., J.F. Campbell, E.E. Lewis, D.I. Shapiro-Ilan and S.B. Ramaswamy. 2007. Responses of the entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema riobrave to its insect hosts, Galleria mellonella and Tenebrio molitor. Parasitology. 134:889-898.
- Fujimoto, A., E.E. Lewis, G.Cobanoglu and H.K. Kaya. 2007. Dispersal, infectivity and sex ratio of early- or late-emerging infective juveniles of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae. Journal of Nematology. 39: 333-337.
- Molina, J. P. C. Dolinski, R.M. Souza and E.E. Lewis. 2007. Effect of Entomopathogenic Nematodes (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae) on Meloidogyne mayaguensis Rammah and Hirschmann (Tylenchida: Meloidoginidae) Infection in Tomato Plants. Journal of Nematology. 39: 338-342.
- Kang, Mi-Ae, T .M. Mott, E.C. Tapley, E.E. Lewis and S. Luckhart. 2008. Human insulin regulates oxidative stress and aging in the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi. Journal of Experimental Biology. 211: 741-748.
- Son, Y., S. Luckhart, X. Zhang, M.J. Lieberb, and E.E. Lewis. 2008. Effects and Implications of Antibiotic Treatment on Wolbachia-Infected Vine Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Agricultural and Forest Entomology. 210: 147-155.
- Stevens, G.N., E.E. Lewis, H.K. Kaya. 2008. Potential multitrophic influences of soil heterogeneity: roots, insect root herbivores, and entomopathogenic nematodes. Biopesticides International. 3: 81-95.
- Hsieh Fushing, L. Zhu, D. I. Shapiro-Ilan, J. F. Campbell and E. E. Lewis. State-space based mass event-history model I: many decision-making agents with one target. Annals of Applied Statistics. In Press.
- D.R. Boina, E.E. Lewis, and J.R. Bloomquist. Nematicidal activity of anion transport blockers against Meloidogyne incognita, Ceanorhabditis elegans, and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. Pest Management Science. In Press.
- Shapiro-Ilan, D, M. Guadalupe Rojas, J.A. Morales-Ramos, E.E. Lewis, W.L. Tedders. Effects of host nutrition on virulence and fitness of entomopathogenic nematodes: lipid and protein based supplements in Tenebrio molitor diets. Journal of Nematology. In Press
- Christen, J.M., J.F. Campbell, L. Zurek, D.I. Shapiro-Ilan, E.E. Lewis and S.B. Ramaswamy. Role of symbiotic and non-symbiotic bacteria in carbon dioxide production from hosts infected with Steinernema riobrave. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. In Press.
Book Chapters - Lewis, E.E. and E.E. Perez. 2004. Ageing and developmental behaviour. In: Nematode Behaviour (Gaugler and Bilgrami, eds.). pp. 151-176. CABI.
- Lewis, E.E. and P.S. Grewal. 2006. Interactions between plant-parasitic nematodes and entomopathogenic nematodes. In: Nematodes As Biocontrol Agents (Grewal, Ehlers and Shapiro-Ilan, eds.) pp. 349-362. CABI.
- Griffin, C., N. Boemare and E.E. Lewis. 2006. Biology and Behaviour. In: Nematodes As Biocontrol Agents (Grewal, Ehlers and Shapiro-Ilan, eds.) pp. 47-64. CABI.
Patents - Shapiro-IIan, D., M. Mcguire, R. Behle and E. Lewis. Formulated arthropod cadavers for pest suppression. U.S. Patent No. US6,524,601 B1.
- J. Bloomquist and E.E. Lewis, co-inventors. Insecticidal and Nematicidal
- Compositions Comprising Stilbene Compounds. Disclosed Fall, 2004, provisional patent applied for 11/04 (VTIP # 04.111).