DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Exploring the Form & Function of Intergall Migration in the Social Aphid, Pemphigus obesinymphae

蚜虫是一种以植物为食的小昆虫。一些种类的蚜虫是“群居”的：一些个体充当“士兵”，通过攻击捕食性敌人来自我牺牲地保卫群体。在一些物种中，士兵是不能繁殖的；在一些物种中，士兵甚至会攻击和咬人，就像蚂蚁、黄蜂和蜜蜂一样。目前还不清楚为什么一些蚜虫有这些士兵，而另一些没有。对于像黄蜂和蜜蜂这样的群体，研究人员讨论了家庭亲缘关系与生态因素(如捕食和寄生)在促进社会性和合作性方面的相对作用。蚜虫代表了一个独立的、未经探索的群体，在这个群体中研究这些问题。在亚利桑那州南部的一种群居蚜虫物种中，个体在群体之间移动，减少了每个群体内的遗传联系。这个项目将利用分子工具来量化群体内的亲缘关系，并观察遗传亲缘关系对社会行为的影响。这一结果将有助于我们越来越多地理解为什么各种动物都向合作社会过渡。更广泛地说，这项研究将有助于阐明群居昆虫的扩散、遗传变异和行为之间的关系。社会性昆虫研究是发展和检验与所有社会性动物相关的社会性理论的重要模式生物。

Moran9902331Aphids are small insects that feed on plants. A few aphid species are 'social': some individuals act as 'soldiers', self-sacrificially defending the colony by attacking predaceous enemies. In some species, soldiers are reproductively sterile; in some, soldiers will even attack and bite humans, much like ants, wasps and bees. It is not yet known why some aphids have these soldiers, whereas others do not. For groups like wasps and bees, researchers have debated the relative roles of familial relatedness versus ecological factors (like predation and parasitism) in favoring sociality and cooperation. Aphids represent an independent and unexplored group within which to examine these issues. In a social aphid species in southern Arizona, individuals move between colonies, reducing the genetic relatedness within each colony. This project will utilize molecular tools to quantify relatedness within colonies and to look at the effects of genetic relatedness for social behavior. The results will contribute to our growing understanding of why a variety of animals have made the transition to cooperative societies. More broadly, the research will help to elucidate the relationship between dispersal, genetic variation, and behavior in social insects. Social insect studies are important model organisms for developing and testing theories of sociality that are relevant to all social animals.