University of California, Los Angeles
Graduate Student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Thesis Title: Group benefit, nepotism and intragenomic conflict: multiple levels of selection in honey bees.
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Peter Nonacs
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About
My interests include the evolution of sociality, the dynamics of conflict and cooperation, group decision making, and multi-level selection. My PhD investigates multiple levels of selection on reproductive behaviour in honeybees (Apis mellifera). Honeybees are the model eusocial insect and throughout history they have been upheld as the exemplar of a harmonious society. However, in recent years this view has changed as it has been shown that colonies are rife with conflict. One example of such conflict is that over the production of males. Here, some workers lay males whilst others destroy (police) those worker-laid eggs. My research will use a combination of colony manipulations, and genetic analyses to resolve the importance of selection at multiple levels.
