PhD position: The evolution of the supercolony and the role of parasites

Investigating the evolution of cooperation is essential to explaining the

ecological dominance of many social species. The highly successful social

insects are often thought of as colonies residing in single

internally-cooperative nests. In reality, many ant species form nests that

connect cooperatively with neighbouring nests, becoming 'unicolonial'.

Explaining the evolution of unicolonial cooperation is challenging because

although conspecifics in these extended colonies are behaving

co-operatively, they also compete for resources. Resource competition means

that a unicolonial strategy should be vulnerable to cheats who recognise

closer kin and cooperate selectively, securing resources for their own near

relatives, at the expense of the whole colony. In the light of this

potential instability, how does unicoloniality arise and persist? One

possibility is that parasitism drives co-occurrence of multiple queens for

increased genetic diversity, allowing colonies to split between connected

nests. This studentship addresses the current lack of theoretical models of

the evolutionary of unicoloniality and the absence of empirical data on the

effects of parasitism on unicoloniality.

How to apply

This project will be co-supervised by Elva Robinson (Biology, University of

York) and James Marshall (Computer Science, University of Sheffield). The

project will start Oct 2015 and is competitively funded. UK/EU students

only. If you would like to apply, please send a CV and covering letter to:

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