The motivating central theme of my research program for the past twenty years has been to unravel the natural selection foundations of the evolution of insect sociality, with particular emphasis on the wasp family Vespidae. The haplodiploidy hypothesis of W. D. Hamilton is false, and kin selection as a general paradigm may be non-falsifiable. Darwin unequivocally ascribed the evolution of insect sociality to natural selection, not, as is widely and incorrectly promulgated, to family-level selection. Darwin, as usual, was right.
The bulk of my research before now emphasized what I have called a "nutritional scenario" for the evolution of vespid sociality. Components of the scenario include: the nutrient richness of the trophallactic saliva that vespid larvae produce as an appeasement to forestall cannibalism by their mother or other colony adults during times of low colony-level nourishment; differential nourishment of vespid larvae during development, which profoundly affects reproductive potential and, hence, caste differentiation; and the highly significant role of haplodiploidy in biassing early brood away from males, who do not work and who by insemination could preclude early emerged females from working. General features of the evolution of insect sociality include nest sharing by related individuals other than a mated pair, unequal nourishment among nestmates, unequal reproductive competence as a correlate of differential nourishment, and allo-parental brood care ("work") by low nourishment non-reproductives.
Current research in my lab is proceeding along several fronts. One, I have performed two years of pilot (small-scale) demographic studies of the most common Missouri paperwasp, Polistes metricus. Colonies that received honey supplements reached larger size and had more offspring but had no greater number of workers. Colonies diminished by taking larval saliva had higher mortality, reached smaller sizes, and produced fewer offspring. The work is showing that typical colony demographics for P. metricus are strongly shaped by nutritional environment. Present activity is focused on a proposal for intensive study to generate baseline data on parameters for a model of colony growth and reproductive output and for the implementation of intensive field manipulation studies intended to reveal the developmental bases and fitness consequences of the variability revealed by the pilot studies. Two, I am documenting non-size-based, pre-imaginal caste determination in highly social wasps (Epiponini) of the Neotropics. Morphometric analysis of Epipona guerini confirms pre-imaginal queen/worker differentiation. Samples from the genera Polybia, Parachartergus, Leipomeles, Agelaia, and Metapolybia are either under analysis or awaiting analysis. Colleagues Bob Jeanne (Wisconsin) and Sean O'Donnell (U. Washington) are pursuing similar studies on other taxa. Three, samples have been collected for the first attempt to locate a genetic marker for queen/worker caste differentiation. Colleague Neil Chernoff (EPA) has done a subtractive hybridization of worker and queen larvae of Agelaia yepocapa in hopes of finding a gene or genes differentially active in one of the castes that can then be used to build a probe to examine the context and timing of caste determination. The subtraction yielded a band in queen cDNA that did not hybridize with worker mRNA. The sample is currently in the freezer awaiting sequencing. Four, there are always little projects that manage to divert my attention. Current things include wasp midgut proteases (redux), wasp honey, and assorted natural history phenomena in Neotropical swarm-founding wasps.
Kelleen Flaherty
B.S., M.S., George Washington University. Kelly has completed her first year of doctoral study; a dissertation topic has not yet been identified. She has a strong background in invertebrate zoology and general biology, with command of a number of physiological and biochemical analytical techniques. A possible subject area for her dissertation is the anatomy and functional significance of the thread waist in Apocrita.
Susanne Greenlee
B.S., University of Michigan. Susanne has strong interests in Orthoptera and in the conservation of species, habitats, and communities. M.S. research will probably involve censuses of orthops as the central feature of habitat evaluations, endangered species monitoring, or a related conservation focus.
Jon Seal
B.S., B.A., University of Missouri - St. Louis. Jon is presently thinking
about possible M.S. research to investigate the presence of storage proteins
in Polistes and, if present, their possible significance with regard to
queen/worker differentiation.