The evolution of mimicry in a changing world: how shifting bumblebee communities affect selection on a colour-polymorphic hoverfly

不断变化的世界中拟态的演变：熊蜂群落的变化如何影响颜色多态食蚜蝇的选择

• 批准号: 2604204
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Nottingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2604204
• 关键词: evolution; mimicry; changing; world; how

Global climate change, habitat loss and the impact of invasive species are major threats to economically and ecologically important pollinators, including bees and hoverflies. Shifts in species ranges, extinctions and colonization events will change community composition, with manifold effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Our ability to predict these effects is hampered by the complexity of natural ecosystems: species interact ecologically, and coevolve, such that species responses to environmental change cannot be estimated in isolation. In this project, we will explore the ecological and evolutionary relationships between a community of important pollinators (bumblebees) and a mimic, pollinator and putative parasite (the hoverfly Volucella bombylans), in the context of environmental change. The aim is to predict the likely consequences of future shifts in species distributions for the host-parasite relationship, whilst providing a rare insight into the genetic origins of mimicry. V. bombylans larvae infest the nests of various species of bumblebee (Bombus spp.). They eat bumblebee brood cells, pollen stores and detritus, but the impact on host fitness, and hence the degree of parasitism, has not been quantified. The adult flies display a striking colour polymorphism, with different individuals resembling different bumblebee species. They are assumed to be "Batesian" mimics, fooling predators into thinking that palatable and harmless flies are heavily-defended and unpalatable. In the era of species distribution modelling and genome sequencing, this system provides unique opportunities to address two fascinating research questions. Firstly, how will global environmental change affect the relationship between a putative parasite and its hosts, when those hosts also act as a model for mimicry? Secondly, which genes are responsible for Batesian mimicry, and how is selection on those genes influenced by variation in community composition? This project will address these two questions with a combination of laboratory experiments and species distribution modelling.

全球气候变化、栖息地丧失和入侵物种的影响是对经济和生态上重要的传粉媒介（包括蜜蜂和食蚜蝇）的主要威胁。物种范围的变化、灭绝和殖民事件将改变群落组成，对生物多样性和生态系统服务产生多重影响。我们预测这些影响的能力受到自然生态系统复杂性的阻碍：物种在生态上相互作用并共同进化，因此无法孤立地估计物种对环境变化的反应。在这个项目中，我们将在环境变化的背景下探索重要传粉媒介（大黄蜂）群落与模仿者、传粉媒介和推定寄生虫（食蚜蝇 Volucellaombomylans）之间的生态和进化关系。其目的是预测未来物种分布变化对宿主-寄生虫关系可能产生的后果，同时提供对拟态遗传起源的罕见见解。 V. bombylans 幼虫侵染各种熊蜂（Bombus spp.）的巢穴。它们吃大黄蜂的育雏细胞、花粉储备和碎屑，但对宿主适应性的影响以及寄生程度尚未量化。成年果蝇表现出惊人的颜色多态性，不同的个体类似于不同的熊蜂物种。它们被认为是“贝茨式”模仿者，欺骗捕食者，让他们认为可口且无害的苍蝇受到严密防御，令人难以接受。在物种分布建模和基因组测序时代，该系统为解决两个令人着迷的研究问题提供了独特的机会。首先，当宿主也充当拟态模型时，全球环境变化将如何影响假定的寄生虫与其宿主之间的关系？其次，哪些基因负责贝氏拟态，以及群落组成的变化如何影响这些基因的选择？该项目将结合实验室实验和物种分布建模来解决这两个问题。