Recently I gave an online talk about some of my research for the Canadian Entomology, Ecology and Evolution seminar series. I spoke about my work on the social spider Anelosius eximius in Ecuador with James L. L. Lichtenstein and others.
I cover work from two papers, the first estimating selection on collective prey attack for both high and low levations, while the second looking at the resemblence between parent and offpsring colonies, and so getting a idea of a colony level “heritability”. The idea I suggest in the talk is that we may be able to use the breeder’s equation to model microevolutionary change in “superorganisms”, by estimating selection and heritability at the level of the group.
Please let me know what you think of the talk. Trying to study selection and evolution at the level of the group can be controversial, so I am interested in your thoughts on whether I am on the right track or not.
The CEEE seminar series is a great iniative, and it was lovely to be involved and to hear the presentations of other passionate entomologists. For the list of previous talks, and YouTube links to some of them, the future schedule, and details on how to sign up, head to this Google Sheet.
Evolutionary Ethology Lab 