THE USE OF INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL INFORMATION IN INSECTS

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THE USE OF INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL INFORMATION IN INSECTS**We use insect model systems to examine how animals use information to reach key decisions affecting growth, survival and reproduction. In addition to merely responding to a variety of cues, individuals in many species show learning, defined as the acquisition of internal representations of new information. Learning can be based either on an individual's own experience (individual learning), or the experience of others (social learning). While much of the past research in my lab has focussed on individual learning, we have recently added novel lines of research examining the ecology, evolution and mechanisms of social information use. Our current focus is on fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) larvae, a key model system in biology with numerous powerful research tools and with a simple brain of only a few thousand functional neurons.**SOCIALLY INFLUENCED BEHAVIOUR IN FRUIT FLIES. We have recently developed powerful new protocols for quantifying social behaviour and social information use in fruit fly larvae. Using these protocols, we have documented social attraction and social learning in the larvae, identified gut bacteria as the source of the volatiles mediating social attraction, and quantified larval spontaneous social behaviour (tendency to form social groups) from hatching until pupation. We will build on these initial results to quantify the magnitude of natural genetic variation in social behaviour, artificially select for social and solitary lines of larvae and assess the benefits that social larvae derive from being social. In addition, we will measure the role of indirect genetic effects in structuring the dynamics of larval social behaviour, assess through the use of mutants the sensory modalities mediating larval social behaviour, and test whether groups of larvae make foraging decisions superior to those of solitary larvae. **INFORMATION AND NUTRITION. There is controversial literature suggesting that animals can assess specific nutritional deficiencies and rely on learning to seek the desired nutrients. We intend to use fruit flies for a thorough examination of this unresolved issue. We believe that behavioural protocols we have developed together with fruit flies' powerful neurogenetic tools can help us answer key questions about animals' abilities to detect and adaptively respond to specific nutrient deficiencies.**SIGNIFICANCE. Our work will help us to understand the evolution and mechanisms of sociality and social information use, including the foundation for treatments of social disorders in humans. Our research on learning and nutrition will help us understand mechanisms underlying diet choice and obesity in humans.