Download Parent-offspring interactions in paper wasps (Polistes) Parental care

Parent-offspring interactions in paper wasps (Polistes)
Parental care and eusociality are two of the best-studied forms of social behaviour.
Interactions and conflict between immature offspring and adults have been well studied in
birds (offspring begging, parental provisioning), but less so in social insects. Functional
(adaptive) questions about sociality have also been well investigated, but less is known about
underlying mechanisms. The studentship will focus on mechanisms underlying parentoffspring interactions in paper wasps (Polistes). Paper wasps are ideal for this purpose
because of their small colony size, open nests and easily manipulated, extremely plastic
social system. All adults and immature larvae are continuously visible on the naked nest
‘comb’, and behaviour is easily video-recorded. Group size is small enough that each adult
can be given a unique identifying mark, and because each immature cannot leave its
individual ‘cell’ in the comb, we can also keep track of it as it develops.
The research will use spring co-foundress associations of the well-studied P. dominulus,
where typically 3-5 adults tend a group of 20-30 immature offspring. The main focus will be
on how adult wasps choose how much effort to put into provisioning the offspring. To what
extent does an adult follow a fixed provisioning rule, or at the other extreme, modulate its
behaviour according to the needs of the offspring and the provisioning behaviour of its
partners? And how does an adult decide which offspring to feed? The research will involve
both fieldwork in Spain and lab experiments in the UK, potentially including molecular
genotyping.
Our website (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lifesci/fieldlab/) gives more details of our friendly
research group. The School of Life Sciences provides excellent opportunities to interact with
leading researchers. The student will particularly benefit from an exceptional (on a world
scale) concentration of research expertise at Sussex that focusses on social evolution in
insects. Jeremy Field, Francis Ratnieks, Bill Hughes, Dave Goulson (joining Sussex in April
2013), Tom Collett and Paul Graham all lead well-established research groups (see
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lifesci/ebe/research for details). Our seminar series have a
correspondingly strong (though by no means exclusive) focus on social evolution, meaning
that students are frequently exposed to leading researchers from other universities. The
student will attend annual UK conferences (e.g. the annual 1-2 day UK meeting of the
International Union for the Study of Social Insects) and at least one international conference.
REQUIREMENTS: we seek a well-motivated student with an interest in
behavioural/evolutionary ecology, who enjoys fieldwork. Applicants must have or expect to
receive at least a 2:1 degree and be a UK citizen. If you are a citizen of another EU member
state you will not generally be eligible, unless you have spent the previous three years in the
UK undertaking education (undergraduate or masters) (see
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/available/postgrad/eligibility.asp for eligibility details). The
successful applicant must be able to work in the field, and because the work involves
recording colour marks on individual animals, it would not be suitable for someone who is
colour-blind. Driving licence/ability to speak Spanish useful but not essential.
Funding Notes (100 words) :
The studentship is joint-funded by NERC and the School of Life Sciences at Sussex
University, and will commence in either October 2013 or January 2014. Full funding is
definitely available for 3.5 years, including research costs. In addition to research, the student
will be expected to contribute up to 50 hours/academic year demonstrating/tutorial teaching
without additional remuneration.
7. References (related to your research topic)
(1) LEADBEATER, E., CARRUTHERS, J.M., GREEN, J.P., ROSSER, N.S. & FIELD, J.
(2011) Nest inheritance is the missing source of direct fitness in a primitively eusocial insect.
Science 333:874-876. [see also commentary on this paper in Science 333:833-4, 2011]
(2) FIELD, J., CRONIN, A. & BRIDGE, C. (2006). Future fitness and helping in social
queues. Nature 441: 214-217. [see also commentaries on this paper in Nature 444:42-3, and
Current Biology 16: R599-R601]
(3) CANT, M.A. & FIELD, J.P. (2005). Helping effort in a dominance hierarchy. Behavioral
Ecology 16:708-715.
(4) SHREEVES, G.E., CANT, M.A., BOLTON, A. & FIELD, J. (2003). Insurance-based
advantages for subordinate co-foundresses in a temperate paper wasp Proceedings of the
Royal Society of London Series B 270:1617-1622.
(5) CANT, M.A. & FIELD, J.P. (2001). Helping effort and future fitness in cooperative
animal societies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 268: 1959-1964.
Application Enquiries (Deeptima to do)
Please email a CV and covering letter, explaining your suitability for the post, to Jeremy
Field ([email protected]). The CV should include:
1. Contact details (including e-mail addresses) for the applicant and 2-3 referees who would
be available to provide references during Jan-Feb 2013.
2. The applicant's availability for interview at Sussex University during Feb 2013.
3. Statement of whether the applicant (a) has a driving licence; (b) speaks Spanish at any
level. Informal enquiries: e-mail Jeremy Field