Dr. Chadwick Hanna

Biography

Dr. Hanna was born and raised in Wisconsin before moving to Tennessee, where he earned his B.S. at Cumberland University. While working on his master's degree at Middle Tennessee State University he focused his research on how temperature influences the development of green lynx spiders ( Peucetia viridans) and whether temperature affects where female green lynx spiders place their egg sacs. Dr. Hanna then earned his Ph.D. from the University of Louisville. At U of L, his research focused on how factors such as body color, habitat quality, prey abundance and the presence of conspecifics affect a crab spider site preference

Here at PennWest California, Dr. Hanna works with a variety of invertebrates, but his research primarily focuses on how pesticides affect the striped lynx spider (O xyopes salticus). This spider is an important predator of agricultural pests, but the application of pesticides may reduce their effectiveness. Dr. Hanna is examining how nonlethal exposure to pesticides might affect the spider's physiology and behavior, which can subsequently affect how well the striped lynx spider can reduce insect pests of agricultural crops.

Courses

• Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
• Human Physiology
• Contemporary Issues in Biology
• Human Anatomy and Physiology
• Design and Analysis

Publications

• Hanna C.J., C.J.B. Hanna.  In press. Sublethal pesticide exposure disrupts courtship in the striped lynx spider, Oxyopes salticus (Araneae: Oxyopidae). Journal of Applied Entomology
• Hanna, C.J., P.K. Eason. 2013. Juvenile crab spiders (Mecaphesa asperata) use indirect cues to choose foraging sites. Ethology Ecology & Evolution 25:161-173.
• Hanna, C.J.B., C.J. Hanna. 2013. The lethal and sublethal effects of three pesticides on the striped lynx spider (Oxyopes salticus Hentz). Journal of Applied Entomology 37:68-76.
• Vanderhoff, E.N., C.J. Byers, C.J. Hanna. 2008. Do the color and pattern of Micrathena gracilis (Araneae: Araneidae) attract prey? Examination of the prey attraction hypothesis and crypsis. Journal of Insect Behavior 21:469-475.
• Hanna, C.J., V.A. Cobb. 2007. Critical thermal maximum of the green lynx spider, Peucetia viridans (Araneae, Oxyopidae). Journal of Arachnology 35:193-196.
• Hanna, C.J., V.A. Cobb. 2006. Effect of temperature on hatching and nest site selection in the green lynx spider, Peucetia viridans (Araneae: Oxyopidae). Journal of Thermal Biology 31:262-267.
• Koczaja, K., L. McCall, E. Fitch, B. Glorioso, C. Hanna, J. Kyzar, M. Niemiller, J. Spiess, A. Tolley, R. Wyckoff, D. Mullen. 2005. Size-specific habitat segregation and intraspecific interactions in banded sculpin (Cottus carolinae). Southeastern Naturalist 4:207-218.

Research Interests

Dr. Hanna is currently examining how nonlethal pesticide exposure affects the striped lynx spider ( Oxyopes salticus), an important predator of agriculture crop pests. This is an understudied system, but, thus far, he and his colleagues have examined how pesticides affect mortality, prey capture, movement and pheromone detection.

Previous research has focused on understanding factors that affect site selection in invertebrate animals. These experiments generally examined how various physiological or behavioral factors, such as temperature, color, chemical cues, etc., influences animals' site decisions.

Student Research Projects

During the summer, a number of students have particiapted in Dr. Hanna's experiments examining how pesticides affect the physiology and behavior of the striped lynx spider. These students help collect spiders from the field and learn how to take care of them in the lab. They also help collect data and, if they feel comfortable, may undertake their own research project. Most recently, a student examined whether juvenile striped lynx spiders are able to detect and avoid pesticides.

Because spiders are difficult to collect during Pennsylvania winters, Dr. Hanna has also mentored a number of students using mealworms ( Tenebrio molitor) as a study organism. These projects have varied in nature and have included aspects of physiology, microbiology and behavior.

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