Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Molecular Evolution

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The larvae of tent caterpillars display a diversity of lifestyles, ranging from solitary individuals to simple aggregations to highly integrated societies. There are six Malacosoma species in North American as well as five European species. Social complexity in this group is defined in terms of interaction and communication between group members, and is thought to be correlated with patterns of host plant utilization and foraging. The diversity of social forms in this genus provides a model system for the elucidation of ecological correlates to the evolution of sociality, as well as of the ways in which sociality may influence host plant use. Phylogenetic relationships among species of the social tent caterpillar genus Malacosoma (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae) will be assessed through application of cladisitic methods to gene sequence data to investigate patterns of social-behavioral evolution in this group. Some tent caterpillars are economic pests and better knowledge of the group-living characteristics of this group is of important economic interest to homeowners and farmers.