Award details

Dimorphism in fighting fig wasps

ReferenceS20002
Principal Investigator / Supervisor Professor Stuart West
Co-Investigators /
Co-Supervisors
Professor James Cook, Dr Jamie Moore
Institution University of Edinburgh
DepartmentInst of Evolutionary Biology
Funding typeResearch
Value (£) 160,683
StatusCompleted
TypeResearch Grant
Start date 05/09/2003
End date 04/09/2006
Duration36 months

Abstract

Explaining genotypic and phenotypic variation within species is a major challenge for evolutionary biology. Variation (dimorphism) in the mating strategies of fig wasps provides an excellent model system for addressing this problem because the crucial parameters are easily quantified, and show natural variation within/across species. We will test if: (1) variation in male morphology within a single species is linked to variation in behaviour and sperm investment; (2) the fitness of different mating strategies is consistent with that predicted by evolutionary theory; (3) evolutionary theory can explain the occurrence and form of variation in mating system across 8 closely related species.

Summary

unavailable
Committee Closed Committee - Animal Sciences (AS)
Research TopicsX – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research PriorityX – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative X - not in an Initiative
Funding SchemeX – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme
terms and conditions of use (opens in new window)
export PDF file