Department of Entomology

Title: “Causes and consequences of behavioral plasticity in bees”

Abstract: The great insect societies found among ants, bees, and wasps are exemplars of phenotypic plasticity, as multiple behavioral and morphological phenotypes (castes: queens, workers) develop from a shared genotype. This plasticity provides the substrate for some of the most sophisticated forms of cooperative behavior found among animals. Yet the role of plasticity as both cause and consequence of social evolution is not clear. My research is centered on investigating the mechanistic underpinnings of variation in social behavior among bees, and using these insights to understand the evolutionary processes responsible for its origins and elaborations. My talk will focus primarily on my work with a tropical, nocturnal sweat bee (Megalopta genalis), which exhibits both solitary and social behavior in sympatry. I will discuss recent findings regarding the genomic basis for this behavioral polyphenism in light of the role of phenotypic plasticity in social evolution.