Curriculum Vitae
PETER
GREGORY MAY
ADDRESS: Department of Biology
Stetson University
DeLand, FL 32723
(386) 822-8189
e-mail: pmay@stetson.edu
CURRENT POSITION: Professor
EDUCATION:
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. B.S.,
Biology. May, 1977.
Ernst. Thesis: "Secondary
succession and breeding bird community structure in the
eastern
deciduous forest formation".
Brower and Dr. Carmine A. Lanciani.
Dissertation: "Foraging selectivity in adult butterflies:
Morphological, physiological, and
ecological factors affecting flower choice".
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
Teaching assistant in Evolution, 1979, Functional
Vertebrate Anatomy, 1980, General Biology I
and II, 1980-84,Pollination Ecology, 1983.
Lecture in Cells and Organisms, 1980, Evolution,
1986, Cells, Organisms, and Genetics, 1987-88.
Coordinator of General Biology labs, 1984,
coordinator and instructor for Laboratory
in Biological Sciences, 1985-86.
Stetson University:
Lecture and laboratory instructor in: Man in the
Biological Community; Invertebrate
Zoology; Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy; Man:
From Cell to Organism; General
Biology I; .General Biology II;
Entomology; Vertebrate Zoology; Ornithology; Special
Topics in Ecological Research; Junior
seminar; Senior seminar; Experimental Biology II;
Winter term courses: Creationism vs.
Evolution; The Role of Competition in Ecology:
Communities and Ecosystems of Florida.
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
General: Evolutionary and behavioral
ecology of vertebrates and insects; plant reproductive
strategies and evolutionary ecology. Food
selection in animals. Herpetological natural history
and ecology.
Specific:
Integration of larval and adult foraging strategies in holometabolous insects;
resource
vs. pollinator limitation of plant
reproduction; mobbing behavior of passerine birds; population
biology and natural history of
reptiles and amphibians.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
Master's thesis: analysis of avian
community structure.
Dissertation: butterfly foraging
energetics and behavior.
Research assistant to Dr. Carmine Lanciani,
1980-81: effects of water mite parasites on
notonectid bugs.
Collaborator with Dr. Eugene Spears, Jr.,
1982-84: determinants and ecology of sexual
expression in an andromonoecious plant, Passiflora
incarnata.
selectivity and its effects on
growth in lubber grasshoppers; Lipid storage patterns of the zebra
butterfly, Heliconius charitonius.
Collaboration with Dr. Terence Farrell,
1992-1998: Population and thermal ecology of pygmy
rattlesnakes, Sistrurus miliarius
barbouri, 1991-1995. Movement patterns and demography of
snakes and frogs.
PHOTO
CREDITS:
The Audubon Society Field Guide to
Butterflies, Knopf; Snake of the United States and Canada,
Smithsonian; Snakes of the Southeast, University of
Georgia; North American Box Turtles,
University of Oklahoma; Biodiversity
in Lake Maracaibo, Shell Venezuela; Copperheads,
Rosen; Cottonmouths, Rosen; Biology,
LeBel; Science News; Rod and Reel Magazine;
University of Georgia Research;
Alabama Birdlife; CD Cover for Mockingbirds, Somerset
CDs. Miscellaneous publications
by Florida Freshwater Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission; Pinellas County
Environmental Management; Iowa Department of Natural
Resources; Medical Action
Communications; Various museum exhibits,
including Baylor
University Natural History
Museum, Seneca Park Zoo Society, Nature
Conservancy Blowing
Rocks Preserve, National Park
Service Point Lookout National Park.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:
Referee for manuscripts and grant proposals from
Auk, Oikos, NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship
program, Functional Ecology, American
Naturalist, Journal of Herpetology, Chelonian
Conservation and Biology, Journal of Wildlife
Biology, Ecology, Biology of the Rattlesnakes.
HONORS, FELLOWSHIPS, GRANTS:
Member, Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Chi, Beta Beta
Beta.
Governor's fellowship,
Graduate Council fellowship, University of
Florida, 1979-1981.
Research assistantship, Department of Zoology,
Sigma Xi grant-in-aid of research: Energy maximization
in foraging by Agraulis vanillae, Spring
1982.
O.C. Marsh fund grant, National Academy of
Sciences: Energy maximization in foraging by
Agraulis vanillae, Spring 1982.
Nominee for
Volusia County Department of Environmental
Management. Development of a management plan
for
Farrell).
U.S.Department of Energy,
research. $2100, Summer 1992. (with T.M.
Farrell).
1993, $300; May 1994, $1000; June
1996, $2200.; $1000, June 1997 (with T.M. Farrell).
Explorers Club of
(with T.M. Farrell).
AVID, Corp., Equipment grant for pigmy
rattlesnake study. August, 1994, $2100. (with T.M.
Farrell).
Suncoast Herpetological Society, May 1996, $150.
1997, $100. (with T.M. Farrell).
Homer and Dolly Hand Faculty Research Award, May
2000.
PAPERS PRESENTED AT MEETINGS:
T.M. Farrell, P.G. May and M.A.
Pilgrim. Reproduction in the dusky pigmy rattlesnake,
Sistrurus miliarius
barbouri).
J.N. Sourial, T.M. Farrell and P.G.
May. The impact of PIT tagging on the growth and
movement of the dusky pigmy
rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri).
Pilgrim, M.A., P.G. May and T.M.
Farrell. Growth in juvenile dusky pigmy rattlesnakes,
Sistrurus miliarius barbouri.
biology of the dusky pigmy
rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius barbouri.
May, P.G. Effects of sugar type on meal size and
lipid storage in the gulf fritillary, Agraulis
vanillae (Lepidoptera:
Nymphalidae).
American Society of Ichthyologists and
Herpetologists, The Herpetologists League,
May, P.G. and T.M. Farrell. The seasonal
activity and thermal biology of the dusky pigmy
rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius
barbouri.
Farrell, T.M., P.G. May and M.A.
Pilgrim. Reproduction in female dusky pigmy rattlesnakes,
Sistrurus miliarius barbouri.
Pilgrim, M.A., T.M. Farrell and P.G.
May. Annual variation in reproductive parameters in a
central
Bishop,
miliarius barbouri.
Herpetologists' League, Society for the Study of
Amphibians and Reptiles,
July- August 1994:
May, P.G. and T.M. Farrell. Variability in
winter activity of dusky pigmy rattlesnakes (Sistrurus
miliarius barbouri).
Farrell, T.M. and P.G. May. Are
potential fecundity costs a major component of reproductive
effort in the rattlesnake Sistrurus
miliarius?
Bishop,
miliarius.
All-Florida
Herpetological Conference, April 22, 1995:
May, P.G. and T.M. Farrell. Population
ecology of pygmy rattlesnakes in central
Invited presentation.
Society
for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles,
May, P.G. and T.M. Farrell. Seasonal
patterns of abundance and activity in dusky pigmy
rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius
barbouri).
Farrell, T.M., P.G. May and M.A.
Pilgrim. What causes offspring size variation among
rattlesnake litters?
Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles,
May, P.G. and T.M. Farrell. Recapture
frequency in pigmy rattlesnakes and its association with
body condition and movement.
Farrell, T.M. and P.G. May. Why did
rattlesnakes evolve rattles? Evidence from recent studies
of pigmy rattlesnakes (Sistrurus
miliarius).
Pilgrim, M.A., Farrell, T.M. and P.G.
May. Annual variation in the reproductive traits of the
rattlesnake Sistrurus
miliarius.
La Selva
Biological Station, Organization for Tropical Studies, Puerto Viejo
de Sarapiqui,
May, P.G. and T.M.
Farrell. Population ecology of pigmy rattlesnakes in central
Invited presentation.
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists,
Herpetologists’ League, Society for
the Study of Reptiles and Amphibians,
Farrell, T.M., M.A. Pilgrim and P.G.
May. Population structure, activity and sexual
dimorphism in a central
Heulett, S.T., T.M. Farrell and P.G.
May. Caudal luring and tail coloration in snakes: An
experimental and comparative
approach to the study of evolutionary relationships.
Cheatwood, J.L.,
P.G. May, and T.M. Farrell. Coccidian parasites in a central
population of pigmy
rattlesnakes, Sistrurus miliarius barbouri
Hendrie, A.M., T.M. Farrell, and
P.G. May. The effects of temperature and season on the
activity of the
LaBram, J.A., T.M. Farrell and P.G. May.
The home range areaof the Florida Box turtle,
Terrapene
Siefkas, J., T.M. Farrell, and P.G.
May. Infection by Mycoplasma agassizii in a box turtle and
its implications for
conservation biology.
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Herpetologists’ League,
Society for
the Study of Reptiles and Amphibians,
Farrell, T.M. and P.G. May. The
impact of fecundity on parturition date in the rattlesnake,
Sistrurus miliarius.
May, P.G. and T.M. Farrell. Maternal
attendance and post-parturient behaviors of neonate pigmy
rattlesnakes.
Pilgrim, M.A., T.M. Farrell and P.G.
May. Variation in offspring characteristics of Sistrurus
miliarius, Sistrurus
catenatus, Thamnophis sirtalis, Thamnophis proximus, and Nerodia
rhombifer.
PUBLICATIONS:
backswimmers. Parasitology 85:
1-7.
May, P.G. 1982. Secondary succession and
breeding bird community structure: patterns of
resource utilization.
Oecologia 55: 208-216.
May, P.G. 1984. Avian reproductive output in
early and late successional habitats. Oikos 43:
277- 81.
May, P.G. 1985. Nectar uptake rates and optimal
nectar concentrations in two butterfly species.
Oecologia 66: 381-386.
May, P.G. 1986. A simple method for measuring
nectar uptake rates. J. Lepidopterists' Soc. 39:
53-55.
May, P.G. and E.E. Spears, Jr. 1988.
Andromonoecy and the regulation of sexual expression in
Passiflora incarnata.
American J. Botany 75(12): 1830-1841.
Spears, E.E., Jr. and P.G. May. 1988. The effect
of herbivory on sexual expression and fruitset
in Passiflora incarnata.
American J. Botany 75(12): 1830-1841.
May, P.G. 1988. Determinants of foraging
profitability in two species of nectarivorous
butterflies. Ecological Entomology,
13: 171-184.
May, P.G. 1992. Flower selection and the
dynamics of lipid reserves in two nectarivorous
butterflies. Ecology 73: 2181-2191.
May, P.G. 1993. Effect of sugar type on food
intake and lipid dynamics in adult Agraulis
vanillae (Lepidoptera,
Nymphalidae). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 47:279-290.
May, P.G., and T.M. Farrell. 1994. Researching
the real serpent: Studies of
pigmy rattlesnakes. Newsletter of
the League of
Farrell, T.M., P.G. May and M.A. Pilgrim. 1995.
Reproduction in the rattlesnake, Sistrurus
miliarius barbouri, in
growth and movement of the
rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius. Journal of Herpetology 29: 129-
132.
Bishop,
barbouri. Herpetologica 52:
360-364.
Aycrigg, A.D., T.M. Farrell, and P.G. May.
1996. Natural History Note: Seminatrix pygaea:
Predation. Herpetological
Review 27: 84.
May, P.G., Farrell, T.M., Pilgrim, M.A.,
Heulett, S.T., Bishop,
A.R., M.C. Campbell, Aycrigg, A.D., and
W.E. Richardson II. 1996. The seasonal abundance
and activity of a rattlesnake (Sistrurus
miliarius barbouri) in central
401.
May, P.G., S.T. Heulett, T.M. Farrell, and M.A.
Pilgrim.1997. Live Fast, Love Hard, and Die
Young: The Ecology of Pigmy
Rattlesnakes. Reptile & Amphibian magazine 45: 36-49.
Pilgrim, M.A., T.M. Farrell and P.G. May. 1997.
Population structure, activity, and sexual
dimorphism in a central
Biology, 2: 483-488.
May, P.G. and T.M. Farrell. 1997. Death from
above: Adventures with arboreal snakes.
Reptiles, 5: 76-83.
Aycrigg, A.D., T.M. Farrell, and P.G. May. 1997. SOS:
Sounds of Survival. Reptile &
Amphibian, 52: 56- 63.
May, P.G. and T.M. Farrell. 1998.
magazine, 56:18-24.
Roth, E.R., P.G. May, and T.M. Farrell. 1999. Pigmy
rattlesnakes use prey-derived odor cues to
select foraging sites. Copeia 1999:
772-774.
Rowe M.P., T.M. Farrell, and P.G. May. 2002.
Rattle Loss in Pigmy Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus
miliarius): Causes,
Consequences, and Implications for Rattle Function and Evolution. pp. 385-
404 In BIOLOGY OF THE VIPERS,
edited by: Gordon W. Schuett, Mats Höggren, Michael E.
Douglas, and Harry W. Greene.
Greene, H.W., P.G. May, D.L. Hardy, Sr., J.M.
Sciturro, and T.M. Farrell. 2002. Parental
Behavior by Vipers. pp. 179-206 In
BIOLOGY OF THE VIPERS, edited by: Gordon W.
Schuett, Mats Höggren, Michael E.
Douglas, and Harry W. Greene Eagle Mountain Publishing,
LC.
Cheatwood, J.L., E. R. Jacobson, P.G. May, T.E.
Farrell B. L. Homer, D. A. Samuelson, and J.
W. Kimbrough. 2003. An
outbreak of fungal dermatitis and stomatitis in a free-ranging
population of pigmy rattlesnakes (Sistrurus
miliarius barbouri) in Florida Journal of Wildlife
Disease 39: 329-337.
Glaudas, X.,
T.M. Farrell, and P.G. May. 2005 . Defensive Behavior of Free-Ranging
Pygmy
Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus
miliarius). Copeia. 2005: 196–200.
Farrell, T.M., D.H.. Dodd, Jr., and P.G.
May. 2006. Terrapene
235-248 in Biology
and Conservation of
Research Monographs No. 3, 376.
Farrell, T. M., M.A. Pilgrim and P.G. May. 2008.
Annual variation in neonate recruitment in a
Florida population of the Pigmy
Rattlesnake, Sistrurus miliarius. pp.
257-264 in W.K. Hayes,
K.R. Beaman, M.D. Cardwell, and
S.P. Bush (eds.), The Biology of Rattlesnakes.
Loma Linda
University Press, Loma Linda,
California.
Farrell, T.M, P.G. May, and M.A. Pilgrim. 2009. Repeatability of Female Reproductive
Traits in a
Population of Pigmy
Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius). Journal of Herpetology 43: 332–335.
May, P.G. and T.M. Farrell.
2009. Patterns of Growth in a Central
Florida Population of Pigmy
Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus miliarius). in review,
Herpetological Monographs.