{"id":173,"date":"2022-09-08T09:41:57","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T08:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/?post_type=research_group&p=173"},"modified":"2022-12-21T10:24:30","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T10:24:30","slug":"insect-behavioural-ecology","status":"publish","type":"research_group","link":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/research-group\/insect-behavioural-ecology\/","title":{"rendered":"Insect Behavioural Ecology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our research group believes in international collaborations, and we remain committed to a strong EU, even if the UK no longer wishes to be a part of it. Collaborations between scientists, be they early-stage researchers or established PIs, break down intellectual and social barriers, and enrich us all. Dave strongly opposes leaving the EU.<\/p>\n

We study the evolution and ecology of insect behaviour, particularly sexual and reproductive behaviour.\"Shuker<\/p>\n

We are interested in how natural and sexual selection interact to shape behavioural diversity across insects. In particular, we consider how conflicting processes of selection resolve themselves into the patterns of phenotypic evolution we see around us. Our research uses theory-led whole-organism and genetic approaches, in the lab and the field, to try and understand phenotypic evolution and its ecological context.<\/p>\n

Our work at the moment focuses on two groups of insects \u2013 parasitoid wasps and lygaeid seed-bugs \u2013 and current research includes the genetic basis of adaptive sex allocation, the evolution of polyandry, the context-dependence of reproductive decision-making, the interaction between pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection, and the links between sexual conflict over mating and reproductive interference.<\/p>\n

If these are the sorts of questions that interest you, for the\u00a0latest news on available post-doc positions, PhD studentships, and undergraduate research experience, please see our\u00a0opportunities<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>page or email me at:<\/p>\n

david.shuker@st-andrews.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dr David Shuker
\nHarold Mitchell Building
\nUniversity of St Andrews
\nSt Andrews
\nFife
\nKY16 9TH
\nUnited Kingdom
\nTel: +44 (0)1334 463376
\nFax: +44 (0)1334 463366<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Group website: https:\/\/shuker.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We study the evolution and ecology of insect behaviour, particularly sexual and reproductive behaviour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":174,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-173","research_group","type-research_group","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"group_members":"

\r\n

People<\/h1>\r\n<\/header>\r\n
\r\n

Dr David Shuker\"\"<\/h2>\r\nMy research interests focus\u00a0on\u00a0insect behavioural ecology, especially the evolution of insect reproductive behaviour. We use whole-organism and genetic approaches to explore how insect behaviour evolves, testing ecological and evolutionary theory in the process. Until recently I was also the Secretary for the\u00a0<\/span>Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour<\/a>.\r\n\r\nBrief CV<\/em>\r\n2015-2015 Visiting Research Fellow, University of Western Australia, Australia.\r\n2013-date\u00a0 Senior Lecturer, University of St Andrews, U.K.\r\n2012-2013 Lecturer, University of St Andrews, U.K.\r\n2009-2011 NERC Advanced Research Fellow & Lecturer, University of St Andrews, U.K.\r\n2007-2009 NERC Advanced Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh, U.K.\r\n2004-2006 NERC Post-doc, University of Edinburgh, U.K.\r\n2001-2004 BBSRC Post-doc, University of Edinburgh, U.K.\r\n2000-2001 NERC Post-doc, University of Leeds, U.K.\r\n1999-2000 Research Assistant, University of Manchester, U.K.\r\n1998-1999 Teaching Fellow, University of Nottingham, U.K.\r\n1994-1998 PhD. University of Nottingham, U.K.\r\n1991-1994 BSc. (Hons) Pure and Applied Ecology, University of Sheffield, U.K.\r\n1990-1991 The Natural History Museum, London.\r\n\r\nFor a thinly disguised pen-portrait of me, Dan Brown borrowed me for a character in one of his novels \u2013 please go\u00a0<\/span>HERE\u00a0<\/span><\/a>to read it.\r\n
\r\n
\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Eleanor Gourevitch<\/h2>\r\nUniversity of St Andrews PhD student (2019-date)\"\"<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSexual selection in true bugs\r\n\r\n \r\n

Vicki Balfour<\/h2>\r\nUniversity of St Andrews PhD Apprentice (2017-date)\"\"<\/strong>\r\n\r\nMating failure in seed bugs\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>","publications":"[publications flag='individual' code='dms14' dois='1' max='10' categorise='1']","research_projects":"We are interested in the evolution of reproductive behaviour, particularly in insects. We use our studies of insect reproduction to try and explain the tremendous\u00a0diversity of insect strategies we see around us, and also to try and uncover general principles of adaptive evolution. Our work has focused on sexual selection, sexual conflict, and sex allocation.\r\n\r\nIn the lab at the moment our research focuses on sex allocation and the evolution of multiple mating in the parasitoid wasp\u00a0<\/span>Nasonia vitripennis<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>\"\"(pictured) and also sexual conflict and inter-species reproductive interference among five species of lygaeid seed bug. We mix behavioural experiments, ecological fieldwork, theoretical modelling, and genetic analysis to explore the evolutionary causes and consequences of variation in reproductive and sexual behaviour.\r\n\r\nPrevious insects that David and the lab have worked on include (in rough chronological order): butterflies (from the Natural History Museum to the North Wales coast); the damselfly\u00a0<\/span>Calopteryx splendens<\/em>; the seaweed fly\u00a0<\/span>Coelopa frigida<\/em>; the beetle\u00a0<\/span>Psilothrix viridicoeruleus<\/em>;\u00a0the mediterranean fruit-fly\u00a0<\/span>Ceratitis capitata<\/em>; the meadow grasshopper\u00a0<\/span>Chorthippus paralellus<\/em>;\u00a0the two-spot ladybird\u00a0<\/span>Adalia bipunctata<\/em>; the mealybug\u00a0<\/span>Planococcus citri<\/em>. Further additions to this list are always welcome, and may even include\u00a0<\/span>Drosophila\u00a0<\/span><\/em>one of these days.\r\n\r\nDavid has also done a little bit of general insect ecology (in Bolivia and Namibia) and has also worked on humans and thought about\u00a0puzzles in coevolution (especially hosts and parasites and immune systems).","related_theme":false,"related_centre":[{"ID":85,"post_title":"Centre for Biological Diversity","post_content":"The Centre for Biological Diversity (CBD) is an interdisciplinary group of researchers across St\u00a0Andrews focused on the measurement, origin and consequences of biological variation. The Centre's\u00a0objective is to advance scientific understanding of the diversity of life and contribute pro-actively to policy that protects biological diversity.<\/span>\r\n\r\nMain website<\/a>","post_excerpt":"","post_author":"4","post_date":"2022-01-17 16:17:03","post_date_gmt":"2022-01-17 16:17:03","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"centre-for-biological-diversity","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-09-20 13:32:17","post_modified_gmt":"2022-09-20 12:32:17","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/?post_type=research_centre&p=85","menu_order":0,"post_type":"research_centre","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","comments":false,"id":85}],"contact":"david.shuker@st-andrews.ac.uk<\/a>\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nDr David Shuker\r\nHarold Mitchell Building\r\nUniversity of St Andrews\r\nSt Andrews\r\nFife\r\nKY16 9TH\r\nUnited Kingdom\r\nTel: +44 (0)1334 463376\r\nFax: +44 (0)1334 463366","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research_group\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research_group"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/research_group"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biology.st-andrews.ac.uk\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}