ECOL 497S/597S:
TOPICS IN SOCIAL INSECT BIOLOGY
 

description

syllabus

ECOL567

ECOL596V

ECOL596H

all EEB courses

Soc. Ins. Lab

We will discuss current and classic literature on social insect research. After introductory lectures, the course will include student presentations, discussions of current papers, and guest lectures by experts on various topics.
In the first class session, we will discuss student interests and pick an overarching theme for the class, perhaps 'Colony size', 'Collective foraging', or 'Division of labor'.

The goal of this class is to help students get a solid foundation of knowledge in insect sociobiology, including multilevel selection theory, complex systems theory, behavioral ecology, etc. In addition, students will be introduced to different methods and approaches used in this field, including modeling, lab and field techniques, and genetic tools, and led to consider the use of such methods for their own research. Finally, students will be trained in presentation skills, as well as learning about the career paths of various successful researchers in this field.


Instructor: Anna Dornhaus
- I'm a biologist with a special interest in collective behavior and cognition (esp. 'collective intelligence'). I work with social insects, particularly bumble bees, honey bees, and ants.
check out my lab webpage, department webpage, or personal webpage
Feel free to contact me with questions about the course or if you are interested in working in my lab:
dornhausemail.arizona.edu
 
  Course plan for Fall 2010

Date	Topic	Presenter	Reading
Aug 25	Decided on topics and schedule	Dornhaus
Sep 1	Overview of class and social insect biology, tips on talks	Dornhaus
Sep 8	Evolution of eusociality I: kin selection and haplodiploidy [also: Ant Course in Borneo by Pedro]	Dornhaus
Sep 15	Mechanisms of task allocation (division of labor): in particular, the role of learning	Lisa (Danfeng) Wang	Ravary et al.
Sep 22	Behavioral syndromes in social insects?	Vishwas Boregowda	Raine et al.
Sep 29	Evolution of eusociality II: kin vs. group selection and recent controversy	Alex Walton	Nowak et al.; perhaps also look at the older paper Wilson & Hoelldobler
Oct 6	Social genomics	Ryan Ruboyianes	Gadau et al. or Bonasio et al.; for a review, check Robinson et al.
Oct 13	The superorganism concept	Pedro Rodrigues	Strassman & Queller; I also recommend the recent editorial
Oct 20	Evolution of sociality in spiders	Scott Trageser	Agnarsson et al.
Oct 27	Evolution of learning in bees and other insects	Aimee Dunlap	Dunlap & Stephens
Nov 3	A discussion on group selection	Omar Eldakar	Wilson & Wilson; perhaps also check out DS Wilson's blog letter to Dawkins
Nov 10	Structure and function of ant brains	Wulfila Gronenberg	Gronenberg
Nov 17	Caste evolution	Scott Powell	Powell; also check out this list for other relevant literature
Nov 24	Evolution and development of morphological castes in ants	Diana Wheeler	Heinze & Tsuij (focus on winglessness) and Mole et al.
Dec 1	Evolution of body size in insects	Goggy Davidowitz	Kaspari
Dec 8	Discussion & remaining who's whos	Anna Dornhaus	-

Who's who in social insect research
All Who's who slides that were presented in Fall 2010.
Who's who talks: everybody will give 5 very short (max 5 min) talks on 5 interesting people who study behavior (I suggest 1 slide).
You have to pick people that noone else is already talking about. Please remember that you cannot do more than one who's who per lecture.
Each who's who should include some bioraphic details, a picture where possible, and a description of major scientific contributions.

Wikipedia articles
Each student writes or substantially expands a wikipedia article. Articles worked on by students from this class:
Apis cerana indica (VB)
Social spiders (ST)
Proboscis extension reflex (DW)
Dominance hierarchy (PAR)
Evolution of eusociality (AW)
Sociogenomics (RR)