The evolution of social behavior in nonhuman species is a fascinating subject in itself and also important for understanding the nature of human social behavior. Among insects, studies of social behavior have focused on the highly social ants, bees, wasps and termites, to the neglect of other groups. The PI will study a group of beetles (Silphidae, Nicrophorus) that are facultative communal breeders; small resources are monopolized by a single male and female while large resources are shared by two or more individuals of each sex. Ecological conditions that favor communal breeding, the social behaviors that cause beetles to facultatively tolerate other breeding individuals, and the genetic consequences of communal breeding will be explored with a combination of field and laboratory experiments.
