LAUSR

Anurag A. Agrawal once considered himself a “muddy boots ecologist,” but his career studying the interactions between plants and insects has led him to embrace a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating the latest tools from genetics and exploring the intricacies of chemical interactions. Much of his research has focused on the relationship between milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) and monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus). Milkweed plants produce abundant toxins to repel insects and other herbivores, but the caterpillars of monarch butterflies have evolved to exclusively feed on toxic milkweed leaves. This relationship formed the subject matter of Agrawal’s popular science book, Monarchs and Milkweeds (1), published in 2017. Agrawal, who was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2021, is currently the James Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. In his Inaugural Article (2), Agrawal explores the dynamics of an evolutionary arms race between common milkweeds (Asclepias syriaca) and large milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus).