Publications

Referred, Peer-Reviewed Publications:

Orantes, L., C. Monroy, P. L. Dorn, L. Stevens, D. Rizzo, L. Morissey J. P. Hanley, B. Richards, A. G. Rodas, K. F. Wallin and S. Helms Cahan in press. Uncovering vector, parasite, blood meal and microbiome patterns from mixed-DNA specimens of the Chagas Disease vector Triatoma dimidiata. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Justi, S. A., L. Stevens, S. Helms Cahan, C. Monroy, R. Lima, P. L. Dorn, 2018. Vectors of Diversity: Genome wide diversity across the geographic range of the Chagas disease vector Triatoma dimidiata (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 120:144-150.

Waldron, A. L., S. Helms Cahan, C. S. Francklyn, A. M. Ebert, 2017. A single Danio rerio hars gene encodes both cytoplasmic and mitochondrial Histidyl tRNA Synthetases. PLoS One 12:e0185317.

Nguyen, A. D., K. Pinder, S. Resendez, J. D. Pustilnik, N. J. Gotelli, J. D. Parker and S. Helms Cahan, 2017. Effects of desiccation and starvation on thermal tolerance and the cellular stress response in forest ants. Journal of Comparative Physiology part B 187:1107-1116.

Diamond, S. E., L. Chick, C. A. Penick, L. M. Nichols, S. Helms Cahan, R. R., Dunn, A. A. Ellison, N. J. Sanders, N. J. Gotelli, 2017. Heat tolerance predicts the importance of species interaction effects as the climate changes. Integrative and Comparative Biology 57:112-120.

Helms Cahan, S. A. D. Nguyen, J. Stanton-Geddes, C. Penick, Y. Hernáiz-Hernández, B. DeMarco and N. J. Gotelli, 2017. Modulation of the heat shock response is associated with acclimation to novel temperatures but not adaptation to climatic variation in the ants Aphaenogaster picea and A. rudis. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - part A 204:113-120.

Diamond, S.E., L. M. Nichols, S. L. Pelini, C. Penick, S. Helms Cahan, G. Barber, R. R. Dunn, Aaron M. Ellison, N. J. Sanders, and N. J. Gotelli, 2016. Climate warming destabilizes forest ant communities. Science Advances 2:e1600842.

Stanton-Geddes, J., A. Nguyen, L. Chick, J. Vincent, M. Vangala, R. R. Dunn, A. M. Ellison, N. J. Sanders, N. J. Gotelli, and S. Helms Cahan, 2016.

Thermal reactionomes reveal divergent responses to thermal extremes in warm and coolclimate ant species. BMC Genomics DOI: 10.1186/ s12864-016-2466-z.

Nguyen, A., N. Gotelli and S. Helms Cahan, 2016. Sequence, cis-regulatory evolution and expression profile of ant heat shock proteins. BMC Evolutionary Biology DOI: 10.1186/s12862-015-0573-0.

Muscedere, M., S Helms Cahan, K. R. Helms, and J. F. Traniello, 2016. Geographic and life-history variation in ant queen colony founding correlate with brain amine levels. Behavioral Ecology 27:271-278.

Smith, C. R., S. Helms Cahan, C. Kemena, S. G. Brady, W. Yang, E. Bornberg-Bauer, T. Eriksson, J. Gadau, M. Helmkampf, D. Gotzek, M. O. Miyakawa, A. Suarez, and A. Mikheyev, 2015. How do genomes create novel phenotypes? Insights from the loss of the worker caste in ant social parasites. Molecular Biology and Evolution 32:2919-2931.

Gotzek, D., H. J. Axen, A. Suarez, S. Helms Cahan, and D. Shoemaker, 2015. Global invasion history of the Tropical Fire Ant, Solenopsis geminata: A stowaway on the first global trade routes. Molecular Ecology 24:374-388.

Herrmann, M. and S. Helms Cahan 2014. Inter-genomic sexual conflict drives antagonistic coevolution in harvester ants. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 281:20141771.

Helms Cahan, S and K. R. Helms 2014. Variation in social structure alters queen body mass and productivity in the desert seed-harvester ant Messor pergandei. Insectes Sociaux 61:153-161.

Axen, H. J., A. Wildermuth and S. Helms Cahan 2014. Environmental filtering of foraging strategies mediates patterns of coexistence in the fire ants Solenopsis geminata, Solenopsis xyloni, and their interspecific hybrids. Ecological Entomology 39:290-299.

Helms, K.R., N. J. Newman and S. Helms Cahan 2013. Regional variation in queen and worker aggression in incipient colonies of the desert ant Messor pergandei. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67:1563-1573.

Helms Cahan, S. and E. Gardner-Morse 2013. Emergence of reproductive division of labor in forced queen groups of the ant Pogonomyrmex barbatus. Journal of Zoology 291:12-22.

Abbott, R. et al. (Sara Helms Cahan is one of 40 co-authors), 2013. Hybridization and Speciation. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 26:229-246.

Zhou, Y. and S. Helms Cahan 2012. A novel family of terminal-repeat retrotransposon in miniature (TRIM) in the genome of the red harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus. PLoS One 7:e53401.

Helms Cahan, S. and K. R. Helms 2012. Relatedness does not explain geographic variation in queen cooperation in the seed-harvester ant Messor pergandei. Insectes Sociaux 59:579-585.

Helms, K. R. & S. Helms Cahan 2012. Large scale regional variation in cooperation, conflict, group size, and cooperative breeding among queens of the desert ant Messor pergandei. Animal Behaviour 84:499-507.

Helms Cahan, S., Graves, C. J., Brent, C. S., 2011. Intergenerational effect of maternal juvenile hormone on offspring in Pogonomyrmex harvester ants. Journal of Comparative Physiology B.181:991-999.

Helms Cahan, S., Daly, A. M., Schwander, T., Woods, H. A. 2010. Genetic caste determination does not reduce colony growth rates in Pogonomyrmex harvester ants. Functional Ecology 24:301-309.

Helms Cahan, S., Julian, G. E. 2010. Shift in frequency-dependent selection across the life-cycle in obligately interbreeding harvester ant lineages. Evolutionary Ecology 24:359-374.

Helms, K. R. and S. Helms Cahan, 2009. Divergence in mating flight patterns of the seed-harvester ant Pogonomyrmex rugosus Emery, (1895) in the western Mojave Desert. Myrmecological News 13:15-17.

Schwander, T., Helms Cahan, S., S. Suni, Keller, L. 2008. Mechanisms of reproductive isolation between an ant species of hybrid origin and its parents. Evolution 62:1635-1643.

Schwander, T., Humbert, J.-Y., Brent, C. S., Helms Cahan, S., Chapuis, L., Renai, E., Keller, L. 2008. Maternal effect on female caste determination in a social insect. Current Biology 18:265-269.

Schwander, T., Keller, L., Helms Cahan, S. 2007. Two alternate mechanisms contribute to the persistence of interdependent lineages in Pogonomyrmex harvester ants. Molecular Ecology 16:3533-3543.

Schwander, T., Helms Cahan, S., Keller, L. 2007. Characterization and distribution of Pogonomyrmex harvester ant lineages with genetic caste determination. Molecular Ecology 16:367-387.

Helms Cahan, S. Julian, G. E., Schwander, T., Keller, L. 2006. Reproductive isolation between the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex rugosus and two lineages with genetic caste determination. Ecology 87:2160-2170.

Julian, G. E., Helms Cahan, S. 2006. Behavioral differences between Pogonomyrmex rugosus and two dependent lineages (H1/H2). Ecology 87:2207-2214.

Schwander, T., Helms Cahan, S., Keller, L. 2005. Genetic caste determination in Pogonomyrmex harvester ants imposes costs during colony founding. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19:402-409.

Helms Cahan, S., Rissing, S.W. 2005. Variation in queen size across a behavioral transition zone in the ant Messor pergandei. Insectes Sociaux 52:84-88.

Helms Cahan, S., Julian, G. E., Rissing, S. W., Schwander, T., Parker, J. D., Keller, L. 2004. Loss of phenotypic plasticity explains genotype-caste association in harvester ants. Current Biology 14: 2277-2282.

Parker, J. D., Ziemba, R. E., Helms Cahan, S., Rissing, S. W. 2004. An hypothesisdriven molecular phylogenetics exercise for college biology students. Biomedical and Molecular Biology Education 32:108-114.

Helms Cahan, S., Fewell, J. H. 2004. Division of labor and the evolution of task sharing in queen associations of the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex californicus. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 56:9-17.

Helms Cahan, S., Keller, L. 2003. Complex hybrid origin of genetic caste determination in harvester ants. Nature 424:306-309.

Helms Cahan, S., Vinson, S. B. 2003. Reproductive division of labor between hybrid and non-hybrid offspring in a fire ant hybrid zone. Evolution 57:1562-1570.

Helms Cahan, S., Parker, J. D., Rissing, S. W., Johnson, R. A., Polony, T. S., Weiser, M.D., Smith, D.R. 2002. Extreme genetic differences between queens and workers in hybridizing Pogonomyrmex harvester ants. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 269:1871-1877.

Helms Cahan, S., Blumstein, D.T., Sundström, L., Liebig, J. and Griffin, A. 2002. Social trajectories and the evolution of social behavior. Oikos 96:206-216.

Helms Cahan, S., 2001. Ecological variation across a behavioral transition zone in the ant Messor pergandei. Oecologia 129:629-635.

Helms Cahan, S. 2001. Co-operation and conflict in ant foundress associations: insights from geographical variation. Animal Behaviour 61:819-825.

Cahan, S. and Julian, G. E. 1999. Fitness consequences of cooperative colony founding in the leaf-cutter ant Acromyrmex versicolor. Behavioral Ecology 10:585-591.

Julian, G.E. and Cahan, S. 1999. Undertaking specialization in the desert leaf-cutter ant, Acromyrmex versicolor. Animal Behaviour 58:437-442.

Cahan, S., Carloni, E., Liebig, J., Pen, I. and Wimmer, B. 1999. Causes and consequences of sociality. Ethology Ecology and Evolution 11: 85-87.

Cahan, S., Helms, K. R. and Rissing, S. W. 1998. An abrupt transition in colony founding behaviour in the ant Messor pergandei. Animal Behaviour 55:15831594.

Manuscripts submitted:

Diamond, S.E., L. M. Nichols, S. L. Pelini, C. Penick, S. Helms Cahan, G. Barber, R. R. Dunn, Aaron M. Ellison, N. J. Sanders, and N. J. Gotelli. Climate warming alters species interaction and destabilizes forest ant communities. To Science.

Manuscripts in preparation:

Helms Cahan, S., G. Cosgrove, G. and J. Stanton-Geddes. Juvenile hormone increases propensity to forage but does not influence ovarian development in harvester ant workers. Draft in progress, for Insectes Sociaux.

Helms Cahan, S. A. D. Nguyen, J. Stanton-Geddes, C. Penick, Y. Hernáiz-Hernández and N. J. Gotelli. Modulation of the heat shock response underlies acclimation to novel temperatures but not adaptation to climatic variation in woodland ants in the genus Aphaenogaster. Draft in progress, for Journal of Evolutionary Biology.