Funded PhD project at Durham, UK: Brain evolution and comparative anatomy across bumblebee species

This project will investigate and compare brain anatomy of 7 species of bumblebees. We will specifically focus on antennal and optic lobes - the olfactory and visual processing centres of an insect brain. We hypothesise the existence of strong sexual and inter- and intra-specific dimorphisms, related to the quality of the bee's nutrition during development, bee age or to the tasks that an adult bee performs within the colony or when foraging outside.

Aim 1) Characterise brain anatomy in 7 species of field-collected bumblebees

Aim 2) Establish how larval nutrition, age and task experiences of adult bees affect their brain anatomy

Aim 3) Establish how floral diversity and climatic conditions affect brain anatomy

Bumblebees are agriculturally important pollinators, but are currently declining in abundance in the UK and around the world. Understanding these declines requires research on bee biology and physiology. So far the bumblebee nervous system has been extensively studied only in the species that may be purchased commercially and kept in a laboratory: Bombus terrestris and Bombus impatiens. The aim of this project is to investigate brain anatomy of 7 closely-related bumblebees from the North-East of England, together with the degree of plasticity and factors that may affect it: nutrition, climate, flower diversity and availability, bee tasks in the nest, etc.