Dr. Cushing conducts research on the diversity of spiders in the Rocky Mountain/Great Plains ecoregion (Colorado Spider Survey). She also oversees projects exploring the taxonomy, systematics, and natural history of spiders and solifuges. She has published on myrmecophilic spiders—spiders that live inside ant colonies—and their evolutionary relationship with the ant hosts. She has done research in Florida, Arizona, Virginia, Puerto Rico, Panama, and India.
Dr. Cushing also oversees the arachnid and conchology collections in the Department of Zoology. Dr. Cushing is the recipient of numerous awards and research grants. She has published several scientific articles and is currently serving as the managing editor of the Journal of Arachnology and is the President Elect of the American Arachnological Society.
Current Projects
Recent Publications
Cushing, P.E. 2005. Chapter 1. Introduction. Pp. 1-17 In: Ubick, D, P. Paquin, P.E. Cushing, & V. Roth (eds). 2005. Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual (PDF | 1.5MB). American Arachnological Society.
Cushing, P.E. J.O. Brookhart, H.-J. Kleebe, G. Zito, & P. Payne. 2005. The suctorial organ of the Solifugidae (Arachnida, Solifugae). Arthropod Structure & Development (PDF | 917KB), 34(4):397-406.
Brookhart, J.O., & P.E. Cushing. 2005. Three new species of Solifugae from North America and a description of the female of Branchia brevis (PDF | 478KB) (Arachnida, Solifugae). Journal of Arachnology, 33: 127-133.
Brookhart, J. O. & P. E. Cushing. 2004. The systematics of the Eremobates scaber (PDF | 3.2MB) species-group (Solifugae, Eremobatidae). Journal of Arachnology, 32:284-312.
Vetter, R.S., P.E. Cushing, R.L. Crawford, L.A. Royce. 2003. Diagnoses of brown recluse spider bites (loxoscelism) greatly outnumber actual verifications of the spider in four western American states. Toxicon (PDF | 104KB), 42:413-418.
