REU: Cooperation and Conflict in Burying Beetles (Silphidae,Nicrophorus)

非人类物种社会行为的进化是一个 这本身就是一个很吸引人的话题， 理解人类社会行为的本质。 之间 昆虫，社会行为的研究集中在高度 社会性的蚂蚁、蜜蜂、黄蜂和白蚁，而忽视了其他的 组 PI将研究一组甲虫（Silphidae， Nicrophorus）是兼性的公共繁殖者;小型的 资源被一只雄性和雌性所垄断， 资源由两个或两个以上的两性共享。 有利于集体繁殖的生态条件， 使甲虫能够容忍其他昆虫的行为 繁殖个体，以及社区的遗传后果 育种将结合实地和 实验室实验

The evolution of social behavior in nonhuman species is a fascinating subject in itself and also important for understanding the nature of human social behavior. Among insects, studies of social behavior have focused on the highly social ants, bees, wasps and termites, to the neglect of other groups. The PI will study a group of beetles (Silphidae, Nicrophorus) that are facultative communal breeders; small resources are monopolized by a single male and female while large resources are shared by two or more individuals of each sex. Ecological conditions that favor communal breeding, the social behaviors that cause beetles to facultatively tolerate other breeding individuals, and the genetic consequences of communal breeding will be explored with a combination of field and laboratory experiments.