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SUMMARY:Cooperation under the bark: Understanding sociality and symbioses 
 in ambrosia beetles - Dr Peter Biedermann\, Max Planck Research Group Inse
 ct Symbiosis
DTSTART:20150127T160000Z
DTEND:20150127T170000Z
UID:TALK55529@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Hannah Rowland
DESCRIPTION:Sociality and fungiculture independently evolved multiple time
 s in wood-boring weevils. Interestingly\, these lineages vary in ploidy le
 vels (haplodiploidy vs. diploidy) and mating systems (inbreeding vs. outbr
 eeding)\, which makes them ideal models for testing the importance of thes
 e factors for social evolution. Here I present our most recent findings on
  our focal species\, Xyleborinus saxesenii\, which demonstrate the potenti
 al of wood-boring weevils for studies on social evolution and evolution of
  symbiosis. This species is facultatively eusocial\, i.e. given optimal co
 nditions many females decide to delay dispersal from the mother’s nest a
 nd help to rear their siblings. In a selection experiment on either early 
 dispersal or philopatry\, we show that philopatric and cooperative behavio
 urs are jointly selectable in females. Remarkably\, this is the first succ
 essful selection for cooperative behaviour in an animal and thus unravels 
 important trade-offs and mechanisms underlying the evolution of sociality.
  In the following\, it will be of utmost importance to investigate the und
 erlying genetic mechanisms that facilitate such processes. However\, this 
 would be meaningless without investigating the main driver of beetle socia
 lity – fungiculture. Sociality apparently evolved only in weevils nutrit
 ionally associated with fungi. Fungal yields are probably higher in social
 ly maintained nests\, but to be sure I study also the mechanisms of beetle
  fungiculture. Several symbiotic fungi and bacteria occur in ambrosia beet
 le nests and I currently aim (i) to identify the role of the major microbi
 al players\, (ii) to understand how those interact with each other and mos
 t importantly (iii) to explore how the beneficial crops are maintained and
  defended against fungal weeds.
LOCATION:Main Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
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