The interplay of genes and ecology in the social behavior of a halictid bee

----------------------------------------------------------------------组成社会群体的动物是地球上最成功的物种之一。在过去的50年里，数学和理论模型提高了我们对一些有利于社会行为起源的机制的理解；然而，我们仍然缺乏对社会行为变异背后的遗传和生理过程的清楚理解。这项研究使用蜜蜂来研究分子和环境过程，这些过程可以导致物种内部和物种之间的社会结构变化。对于这些类型的问题，Halictids是一个很好的模型系统，因为与蜂蜜或大黄蜂(它们都是高度社会性的)不同，Halictids既包括独居物种，也包括群居物种。这项研究聚焦于一种在社会性上有显著差异的单一物种(白舌蜂)：来自不同种群的蜜蜂要么是独居的，要么是群居的。这个项目利用这种变异来研究潜在的社会行为变化的机制，并结合基因组学和生态学的方法来确定该物种社会结构变化的一些关键的遗传和环境机制。将与其他物种进行比较，以确定白纹伊蚊体内潜在差异的相同因素是否也是蜜蜂总体上社会行为差异的基础。这项工作完成后，将对社会行为背后的一些关键遗传和环境因素进行深入评估。这项工作的综合性为教育和推广创造了一个有效的平台，包括：(1)与哈佛自然历史博物馆合作，为博物馆参观者制作关于群居昆虫的演示文稿，(2)在线教材，包括可纳入课堂的行为生物学活动，(3)为博物馆工作人员创建关于动物社会行为的专业发展计划，以及(4)培训本科生和研究生。

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Animals that form social groups are among the most successful species on the planet. Over the past 50 years, mathematical and theoretical models have improved our understanding of some of the mechanisms favoring the origins of social behavior; however, we still lack a clear understanding of the genetic and physiological processes underlying variation in social behavior. This research uses halictid bees to study the molecular and environmental processes that can lead to changes in social structure within and between species. Halictids are an excellent model system for these types of questions because, unlike honey or bumble bees (which are all highly social), halictids encompass both solitary and social species. This work focuses on a single species (Lasioglossum albipes) with remarkable variation in sociality: bees from different populations are either solitary or social. This project harnesses this variation to study the mechanisms underlying changes in social behavior, and combines methods from genomics and ecology to identify some of the key genetic and environmental mechanisms underlying changes in social structure in this species. Comparisons with other species will be made to determine whether the same factors underlying variation within L. albipes also underlie variation in social behavior across bees in general. When completed, this work will provide an in-depth assessment of some of the key genetic and environmental components underlying social behavior. The integrative nature of this work creates an effective platform for education and outreach, including: (1) a collaboration with the Harvard Museum of Natural History to produce a presentation on social insects for museum visitors, (2) online teaching materials with activities on behavioral biology that can be incorporated in classrooms, (3) creation of a professional development program on animal social behavior for museum staff and (4) training of undergraduate and graduate students.