Catherine Loudon

Picture of Catherine Loudon
Vice Chair & Senior Lecturer SOE, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
School of Biological Sciences
Ph.D., Duke University, 1986, Zoology (minor Mechanical Engineering)
Bachelor of Science (Honors), Brown University, 1980, Biophysics
Phone: (949) 824-0371
Fax: (949) 824-2181
Email: cloudon@uci.edu
University of California, Irvine
5215 McGaugh Hall
Mail Code: 2525
Irvine, CA 92697
Research Interests
biomechanics, insect physiology, sensory ecology, biomimetic design
Academic Distinctions
Fellow of the Entomological Society of America 2020
UCI Anthology "Outstanding Professor" in Biological Sciences 2017
Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award 2016
National Academies Education Fellow in the Life Sciences for 2012-2013
Instructional Technology Innovation Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction (UCI) 2012
UCI Anthology "Outstanding Professor" in Biological Sciences 2012
NSF CAREER award 2000-2005
NSF Visiting Professorship for Women award 1993-1995
Eloise Gerry Fellowship (Graduate Women in Science) 1991
NSF Post-doctoral fellowship 1988-1990
NSF Pre-doctoral fellowship 1982-1985
Appointments
1990-1992 University of California at Berkeley, Postdoctoral Research Associate
1989-1990 Cornell University, NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
1986-1988 University of Minnesota, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Available Technologies
Publications
Loudon, C. 2022. Perspectives on bioinspired product development: Entrapping surfaces based on leaf microstructures. Integrative and Comparative Biology icac051, https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icac051

McCarter, M.G. and C. Loudon. 2021. Caution for mentors: Evidence of confirmation bias in measurements taken by undergraduate students in course-based research. Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring; Special Issue: Mentoring Students in Course-Embedded Undergraduate Research 10.1, 1-11.

Coyle, D., Brosius, T., DeVries, Z., Schmidt-Jeffris, R., Gott, R. C., Loudon, C., Saguez, J., Simonsen, T., Van Den Berg, J., McDonnell, R., Ronai, I., Zhu, L., Siebert, M., Wessels, F., Hamm, R., Higgins, L., Thompson, S., Serikawa, R., Spomer, N. and Spencer, J. L. 2020. COVID-19: Reflections from entomologists who rose to the occasion. American Entomologist 66, 34-41.

Shaffer, J. F., S. E. Schriner, C. Loudon, S. J. Dacanay, U. Alam, J. V. Dang, N. Aguilar-Roca, P. Kadandale, and B. K. Sato. 2018. Impacts of physiology prerequisites on future anatomy and physiology courses. Human Anatomy and Physiology Society Educator 22(3): 199-207.

Loudon, C. and A. Macias-Muñoz. 2018. Item statistics derived from 3-option versions of multiple-choice questions are usually as robust as 4- or 5-option versions: implications for exam design. Advances in Physiology Education 42: 565-575.

Bustamante Jr., J., J. F. Panzarino, T. J. Rupert, and C. Loudon. 2017. Forces to pierce cuticle of tarsi and material properties determined by nanoindentation: The Achilles’ heel of bed bugs. Biology Open 6(10), 1-11 DOI:10.1242/bio.028381.

Loudon, C. 2017. Rapid killing of bed bugs (Cimex lectularius L.) on surfaces using heat: application to luggage. Pest Management Science 73(1) 64-70 DOI: 10.1002/ps.4409.

Loudon, C., J. Bustamante Jr., D. W. Kellogg. 2014. Cricket antennae shorten when bending (Acheta domesticus L.). Frontiers in Physiology, Section Invertebrate Physiology 5:1-9. doi 10.3389/fphys.2014.00242

Szyndler, M. W., K. F. Haynes, M. F. Potter, R. M. Corn, and C. Loudon. 2013. Entrapment of bed bugs by leaf trichomes inspires microfabrication of biomimetic surfaces. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 10:20130174.

Loudon, C., E.C. Davis-Berg and J. T. Botz. 2012. A laboratory exercise using a physical model for demonstrating countercurrent heat exchange. Advances in Physiological Education 36:58-62.

Feldlaufer, Mark and C. Loudon. 2011. Undesirable dispersal of eggs and early-stage nymphs of the bed bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) by static electricity and air currents. Journal of Entomological Science 46(2):169-170.

Loudon, C. 2009. Antennae. in Encyclopedia of Insects (Resh, V. H. and R. Cardé, eds.) Second Edition. Academic Press, Inc.

Miller, G. L., C. Loudon, and S. Freed. 2007. Position around a tree: consequences for pheromone detection. Journal of Chemical Ecology 33(3): 525-539.

Bau, J., K. A. Justus, C. Loudon, and R. T. Cardé. 2005. Electroantennographic resolution of pulsed pheromone plumes in two species of moths with bipectinate antennae. Chemical Senses 30: 1-10.

Breed, M. and C. Loudon. 2005. Mechanical properties of arthropod structures: engineering the future. American Entomologist 51(1): 30.

Loudon, C. 2005. Flexural stiffness of insect antennae. American Entomologist 51(1): 48-49.

Loudon, C. and E. C. Davis. 2005. Divergence of streamlines approaching a pectinate antenna: consequences for chemoreception. Journal of Chemical Ecology 31(1): 1-13.

Loudon, C. 2003. Antennae. in Encyclopedia of Insects (Resh, V. H. and R. Cardé, eds.) pp. 26-28. Academic Press, Inc.

Botz, J. T., C. Loudon, J. B. Barger, J. S. Olafsen and D. W. Steeples. 2003. Effects of slope and particle size on ant locomotion: implications for choice of substrate by antlions. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 76: 426-435.

Loudon, C. 2003. The biomechanical design of an insect antenna as an odor capture device. pp. 609-630 in Insect Pheromone Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: The Biosynthesis and Detection of Pheromones and Plant Volatiles (Blomquist, G. J. and R. G. Vogt, eds.). Elsevier Academic Press: New York, NY.

Loudon, C. and J. Zhang. 2002. Measuring drag without a force transducer: a terminal velocity assay. Functional Ecology 16: 268-272.

Loudon, C. and M. A. R. Koehl. 2000. Sniffing by a silkworm moth: wing fanning enhances air penetration through and pheromone interception by antennae. Journal of Experimental Biology 203: 2977-2990. [selected for "Editor's Choice," Science, Sept. 22, 2000, vol. 289 p. 2007]

Loudon, C. 1999. How is fluid mechanics taught to biologists? Proceedings of the 3rd ASME/JSME Joint Fluids Engineering Conference FEDSM99-6828:1-5.

Loudon, C. and K. McCulloh. 1999. Application of the Hagen-Poiseuille equation to fluid feeding through short tubes. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 92(1): 153-158.

Loudon, C. and A. Tordesillas. 1998. The use of the dimensionless Womersley number to characterize the unsteady nature of internal flow. Journal of Theoretical Biology 191: 63-78.

Loudon, C. 1995. Insect morphology above the molecular level: Biomechanics. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 88: 1-4.

Loudon, C., B. Best, and M. A. R. Koehl. 1994. When does motion relative to neighboring surfaces alter the flow through arrays of hairs? Journal of Experimental Biology 193: 233-254.

Loudon, C. and D. N. Alstad. 1993. Mechanical analysis of particle capture by rectangular-mesh nets. in Fluid Dynamics in Biology, Proceedings of an AMS-IMS-SIAM Joint Summer Research Conference July 6-12, 1991 (Cheer, A. Y. and C. P. van Dam, eds.) Contemporary Mathematics 141: 123-134.

Loudon, C. and D. N. Alstad. 1992. Architectural plasticity in net construction by individual caddisfly larvae (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 70: 1166-1172.

Loudon, C. 1990. Empirical test of filtering theory: Particle capture by rectangular-mesh nets. Limnology and Oceanography 35(1): 143-148.

Loudon, C. and D. N. Alstad. 1990. Theoretical mechanics of particle capture: Predictions for hydropsychid caddisfly distributional ecology. American Naturalist 135(3): 360-381.

Loudon, C. 1989. Tracheal hypertrophy in mealworms: Design and plasticity in oxygen supply systems. Journal of Experimental Biology 147: 217-235.

Loudon, C. 1988. Development of Tenebrio molitor in low oxygen levels. Journal of Insect Physiology 34(2): 97-103.

Rudolph, S. and C. Loudon. 1986. Load size selection by workers of the leafcutter ant (Atta cephalotes). Ecological Entomology 11: 401-410.

Vogel, S. and C. Loudon. 1985. Fluid mechanics of the thallus of an intertidal red alga, Halosaccion glandiforme. Biological Bulletin (Woods Hole) 168: 161-174.

Scheltema, R.S., I.P. Williams, M.A. Shaw, and C. Loudon. 1981. Gregarious settlement by the larvae of Hydroides dianthus (Polychaeta; Serpulidae). Marine Ecology Progress Series 5: 69-74.
Professional Societies
Entomological Society of America
Sigma Xi
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Other Experience
Associate Professor
University of Kansas 2002—2006
Assistant Professor
University of Kansas 1996—2002
NSF Visiting Professor
Kansas State University 1993—1995
Graduate Programs
Comparative Physiology
Last updated
10/12/2022