Dr. Kruse is interested in behavioral ecology in general and sexual selection specifically.  He has published peer-reviewed articles in national and international journals dealing with mate choice in toads and insects.  He is interested in the phenomenon of sex-role reversal and has been studying paternal care in the Giant Waterbug (Belostoma flumineum).  More recently, he is working  jointly with Dr. Paul Switzer on the mating biology of the Japanese Beetle (Popilla japonica).  He has been able to attract grant funds from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety, and the Illinois Department of Health.  Dr. Kruse has mentored more than 55 undergraduate and MS level graduate students through a variety of research topics in the past 24 years while at Eastern Illinois University.  Dr. Kruse has multiple awards in teaching, service and research.  He has been awarded the University's highest honor, DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR,  and recently was award the College of Sciences highest honor, The RINGENBERG AWARD.
 

Recent Grants

1999-2002 National Institutes of Health-AREA Program-"Effects of apoE on olfactory neuron plasticity in mice" - $93,310--co-PI with Dr. Britto Nathan).

2000-2001 Illinois Department of Commerce-Department of Sustainable Energy – "Renewable energy resources, specifically wind energy in Illinois" - $15,800

2001-2003 United States Department of Agriculture Seed "Reproductive decisions in the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica)" - $75,000—Co-PI with Dr. Paul Switzer

Recent Publications

Kruse, K.C. and P.V. Switzer. (In Review). Male fighting behavior in the Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica Newman). Journal of Insect Behavior.

M.R. Gilg* and K.C. Kruse. (2003). "Reproduction Decreases Life Span in the giant waterbug (Belostoma flumineum). Am. Midl. Nat. 149: 306-319.
 

Saeki*,Y., K.C. Kruse and P.V. Switzer (2005). Male preference for large females in the Japanense beetle (Popillia japonica) (Coleoptera:Scarabaeidae). J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 78(1):13-19.

Saeki, Y.*, K. C. Kruse, and P. V. Switzer. (In Press). Social environment affects mate guarding behavior in Japanese beetles, Popillia japonica Newman (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Journal of
Insect Science.
 

Saeki, Y.*, K. C. Kruse, and P. V. Switzer. (In Press). Physiological costs of mate guarding in the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica Newman). Ethology
 

Switzer, P.V., P.S. Forsythe*, K. Escajeda*, and K.C. Kruse. (2004). Effects of Environmental  and social conditions on homosexual pairing in the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica Newman).  Journal of Insect Behavior 17:1-16.

Switzer, P.V., K. Escajeda*, and K.C. Kruse. (2001). Pairing patterns in Japanese beetles (Popillia  japonica Newman): effects of sex ratio and time of day. Journal of Insect Behavior 14(6): 713-724.

Switzer, P.V., P.S. Forsythe*, and K.C. Kruse. (In Review). Homosexual behavior and the (un)reliability of body size as a cue for mate choice in the Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica Newman). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.

Van Timmeren*, S, P. Switzer and K. Kruse. (2000).  Emergence and reproductive patterns in the Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 74 (1):17-27.