Genetic and Environmental Influences on Behavioral Flexibilty in an Insect

9306818丁格尔因为个体之间的大多数行为差异可能是由于基因和环境之间的相互作用造成的，所以研究不同基因类型在一系列环境条件下的行为是有利的。利用这一视角，丁格尔博士和卡罗尔博士将比较社会、数量、遗传和种群对来自两个不同环境的肥莓臭虫的战术决策的影响。与一种昆虫物种合作可以在短时间内繁衍出许多世代，因此增加了获得可靠结果的机会。丁格尔博士和卡罗尔博士将通过实验操纵这些动物所经历的环境，以揭示基因和环境是如何相互作用，在种群之间和个体之间创造行为差异的。这里采用的方法为行为进化研究提供了一种新的模型范式。以前对动物行为的研究已经考察了个体差异的生态和社会原因，但几乎没有人试图分析基因和环境(先天和后天)如何共同影响行为。人类心理学是这种概括的一个例外：通过将谱系信息与环境分析相结合，对人类行为的研究在其他动物鲜有探索的水平上取得了进展。由于如此多的个体可以如此迅速地被饲养，而且由于它们被发现与其他种类的动物一样具有行为变异，昆虫是这类研究的极好的模式生物。

9306818 Dingle Because most behavioral variation among individuals probably results from interactions between genes and environments, it is advantageous to study the behavior of different genotypes across a range of environmental conditions. Using this perspective, Drs. Dingle and Carroll will compare social, quantitative genetic, and populational influences on the tactical decisions of soapberry bugs from two different environments. Working with an insect species permits raising many generations in a short period of time, and so increases the chances of obtaining reliable results. Drs. Dingle and Carroll will experimentally manipulate the environments that these animals experience to reveal how genes and environment interact to create behavioral differences between populations and among individuals. The approach taken here exemplifies a new model paradigm for the study of behavioral evolution. Studies of animal behavior have previously examined ecological and social causes of individual differences, but hardly any have attempted to analyze how genes and the environment (nature and nurture) influence behavior together. Human psychology is an exception to this generalization: By combining pedigree information with environmental analyses, the study of human behavior has advanced on levels little explored for other animals. Because so many individuals can be raised so quickly, and because they have been found to have as much behavioral variation as do other kinds of animals, insects are excellent model organisms for this kind of study.