Matthew Lim Lek Min (Instructor)   Contact Information: Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Science Drive 4 Singapore 117543 Tel: 65162715 Fax: 67792486 Email: dbsllmm@nus.edu.sg

PhD, BSc (Hons), National University of Singapore

Research Area

Behavioral Ecology

Award

Chua Toh Hua Memorial Gold Medal 2007 (Best Doctor of Philosophy graduate with most outstanding research work done in Life Sciences)

Editorial Board

Raffles Bulletin of Zoology (Associate Editor, 2008 - current)

Research Interests

My PhD project involved investigating the adaptive significance of ultraviolet (UV) vision in jumping spiders that mainly focused on the sexual selection of UV colorations in an iridescent jumping spider Cosmophasis umbratica (Lim & Li 2004). Main findings include the spider's ability to reflect and see UV (Lim & Li 2006ab), factors (Lim & Li 2007) and mechanisms (Land et al 2007) that influenced UV reflection, the role of UV in mate selection (Lim et al 2008a), and an emphasis on the importance of UV in the light environment in facilitating male-female interactions in this jumping spider's sex-specific UV-reflective males and fluorescing females (Lim et al 2007).

Long-term research interests 

My chief research interest is in the behaviour and sensory ecology of animals and how they interact with their abiotic and biotic environment, the working mechanism of the sense organ/s involved, and how naturally-occurring and human-induced environmental variations can interefere with the sensory systems and signals. In studying animal structural colours, for example, understanding the underlying mechanisms, together with the evolution of animal colour signals and various visual systems of different animals in different habitats, can one go a long way in investigating how environmental changes (e.g. climate change, urbanization, habitat degradation) can affect their behaviour and consequently the ecological functions these animals provide. My current and past projects include: 

(1) Adaptive role of polarized UV reflection and vision in the jumping spider Cosmophasis umbratica

(2) Functional role of the Nepenthes crab spider in phytotelmata community structure

(3) Potential applications of thermography in ecological studies (e.g. animal behaviour, physiology, pollination)

(5) Investigating the importance of pollinator behaviour and floral spectral reflectance

(6) Functional significance of yellow coloration in the Striped-nose halfbeaks

(7) Role of UV reflection and UV-induced fluorescence in the jumping spider Cosmophasis umbratica

Main Publications 

1. Lim MLM, Li JJ & Li D (2008a) Effect of UV-reflecting markings on female mate choice decisions in Cosmophasis umbratica, a jumping spider from Singapore. Behavioral Ecology 19:61-66

2. Lim MLM, Sodhi NS & Endler JA (2008b) Conservation with sense. Science 319:281 (Letter)

3. Lim MLM & Li D (2007) Effects of age and feeding history on structure-based ornaments of a jumping spider. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274: 569-575

4. Lim MLM, Land MF & Li D (2007) Sex-specific UV and fluorescence signals in jumping spiders. Science 315: 481 (Brevia)

5. Land MF, Horwood J, Lim MLM & Li D (2007) Optics of the ultra-violet reflecting scales of a jumping spider. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274: 1538-1589

6. Lim MLM & Li D (2006a) Extreme ultraviolet sexual dimorphism in jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 89: 397-406

7. Lim MLM & Li D (2006b) Behavioural evidence of UV sensitivity in jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). Journal of Comparative Physiology A 192: 871-878

8. Li D & Lim MLM (2005) Ultraviolet cues affect the foraging behaviour of jumping spiders. Animal Behaviour 70:771-776

9. Lim MLM & Li D (2004) Courtship and male-male agonistic behaviour of Cosmophasis umbratica Simon, an ornate jumping spider (Araneae: Salticidae) from Singapore. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 52: 97-110

Other Publications

1. Li JJ, Zhang Z, Liu F, Liu Q, Gan W, Chen J, Lim MLM & Li D (2008) UVB-based mate-choice cues used by females of the jumping spider Phintella vittata. Current Biology 18: 699-703

2. Li JJ, Lim MLM, Zhang Z, Liu Q, Liu F, Chen J & Li D (2008) Sexual dichromatism and male colour morph in ultraviolet-B reflectance in two populations of the jumping spider Phintella vittata (Araneae: Salticidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 94: 7-20

3. Du N, Liu XY, Narayanan J, Li L, Lim MLM & Li D (2006) Design of superior spider silk: from nanostructure to mechanical properties. Biophysical Journal 91: 4528-4535

4. Li D, Lim MLM, Seah WK & Tay SL (2004) Prey-attraction as a possible function of discoid stabilimenta of juvenile orb-spinning spiders. Animal Behaviour 68: 629-635

5. Li D, Jackson RR & Lim MLM (2003) Influence of background and prey orientation on an ambushing predator's decisions. Behaviour 140: 739-764

6. Li D, Kok LM, Seah WK & Lim MLM (2003) Age-dependent stabilimentum-associated predator-avoidance behaviours in orb-weaving spiders. Behaviour 140: 1135-1152