Seirian Sumner

Last updated

Seirian Sumner

FRES
Born1974 (age 49–50)
Aberystwyth, Wales, UK
Alma mater University College London (BSc, PhD)
Scientific career
Institutions University of Bristol
University College London

Seirian Sumner (born 1974) FRES is a British entomologist and behavioural ecologist. She is a professor at University College London and is an expert in social wasps.

Contents

Education and career

Sumner was educated at Ysgol Gyfun. Aberaeron, Wales [1] and then at University College London where she was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Zoology and in 1999 was awarded a PhD on Conflicts over reproduction in facultatively eusocial hover wasps'. [2] Her postdoctoral work was with Jacobus Boomsma at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark; she then held fellowships at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and at the Institute of Zoology, London. [3] Sumner moved to the University of Bristol as a Senior Lecturer in 2012 and then moved to University College London as a Reader in Behavioural Ecology in 2016 and Professor in 2020. [4]

Research

Sumner's research looks at the evolution of insect social behaviour and she has studied insect species along a continuum of sociality. She showed that insects can have simple sociality based on behaviour rather than physical characteristic of a caste, [5] and that in these simple societies individuals can change caste from worker to queen, which is not possible in complex insect societies such as honeybees. [6] Sumner made the first use of RFID tags in field research, finding that the movement of paper wasp queens away from their home nests was much higher than expected [7] On more complex insect societies, Sumner did some of the first research on the genetic relatedness of bumblebee colonies, showing that sister queens emerging from the same colony travel far apart from each other to establish their new colonies. [8] Sumner has looked at the effect of social insect populations on their environments such as the impact of Argentine ants on seed dispersal. [9] She has worked on ants, looking at a parasitic ant species which evolved from and parasitises on a leaf-cutter species in Panama, she found that queens of the parasite species only mate with a single male, compared to the host leaf-cutter queens which mate with multiple males. [10]

She is an advocate of the ecosystem services of social wasps [11] saying that wasps are useful, indeed essential, [12] that social wasps can be predators that can help control populations of pest insects, [13] and that wasps matter. [14] Sumner's lab are researching how social wasps might communicate within their colony about where resources are, perhaps like honey bees do the waggle dance. [15] In 2019 she published a Proceedings of the Royal Society B article on showing how social paper wasps can be successful predators of two economically important pests the sugarcane borer and the fall armyworm. [16] Her research on public attitudes to bees and wasps showed that the benefits of bees are widely understood but those of wasps are not, which is also reflected in the amount of scientific research into the two groups, with wasps being underresearched compared to bees. [17] Sumner cofounded the citizen science initiative The Big Wasp Survey in 2017 with Professor Adam Hart to raise awareness of the role and diversity of social wasp species in the UK [18] and to compare the accuracy of citizen science data with long-term biological recording data. [19]

Public activities

With Dr Nathalie Pettorelli of the Zoological Society of London, Sumner cofounded Soapbox Science in 2011, a platform that promotes women working in science. [20] Sumner has taken part in several Pint of Science events, [21] [22] [23] and has spoken at the Cheltenham Science Festival in 2016. [24] With the FoAM Kernow lab in Falmouth, Sumner helped create an online game #wasplove [25] for people to create their own wasp societies. [26] Sumner was an invited speaker at the EntoSci event in 2020 talking about her career to 14 to 18 year olds. [27] In 2022, Sumner gave an invited talk at New Scientist Live in London. [28]

She has written a popular science book titled Endless Forms on wasps, published by William Collins in 2022. [29] The Observer commented that the book "wearily" catalogues the "anti-wasp media" from Aristotle and Shakespeare to modern times, and that Sumner argues it is time to drop the "lazy tropes" associated with the wasp. Instead, she sets out the case for appreciating wasps, in science, society, and culture. [30]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ant</span> Family of insects

Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their geniculate (elbowed) antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their slender waists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bee</span> Clade of insects

Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea. They are currently considered a clade, called Anthophila. There are over 20,000 known species of bees in seven recognized biological families. Some species – including honey bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees – live socially in colonies while most species (>90%) – including mason bees, carpenter bees, leafcutter bees, and sweat bees – are solitary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hymenoptera</span> Order of insects comprising sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants

Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or places that are otherwise inaccessible. This ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism — that is, they have a wormlike larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they reach adulthood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bumblebee</span> Genus of insect

A bumblebee is any of over 250 species in the genus Bombus, part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related genera are known from fossils. They are found primarily in higher altitudes or latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, although they are also found in South America, where a few lowland tropical species have been identified. European bumblebees have also been introduced to New Zealand and Tasmania. Female bumblebees can sting repeatedly, but generally ignore humans and other animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ant colony</span> Underground lair where ants live, eat, and tend eggs

An ant colony is a population of a single ant species able to maintain its complete lifecycle. Ant colonies are eusocial, communal, and efficiently organized and are very much like those found in other social Hymenoptera, though the various groups of these developed sociality independently through convergent evolution. The typical colony consists of one or more egg-laying queens, numerous sterile females and, seasonally, many winged sexual males and females. In order to establish new colonies, ants undertake flights that occur at species-characteristic times of the day. Swarms of the winged sexuals depart the nest in search of other nests. The males die shortly thereafter, along with most of the females. A small percentage of the females survive to initiate new nests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominance hierarchy</span> Type of social hierarchy

In the zoological field of ethology, a dominance hierarchy is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social groups interact, creating a ranking system. A dominant higher-ranking individual is sometimes called an alpha, and a submissive lower-ranking individual is called a beta. Different types of interactions can result in dominance depending on the species, including ritualized displays of aggression or direct physical violence. In social living groups, members are likely to compete for access to limited resources and mating opportunities. Rather than fighting each time they meet, individuals of the same sex establish a relative rank, with higher-ranking individuals often gaining more access to resources and mates. Based on repetitive interactions, a social order is created that is subject to change each time a dominant animal is challenged by a subordinate one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polistinae</span> Subfamily of insects

The Polistinae is a subfamily of eusocial wasps belonging to the family Vespidae. They are closely related to the wasps and true hornets of the subfamily Vespinae, containing four tribes. With about 1,100 species total, it is the second-most diverse subfamily within the Vespidae, and while most species are tropical or subtropical, they include some of the most frequently encountered large wasps in temperate regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haplodiploidy</span> Biological system where sex is determined by the number of sets of chromosomes

Haplodiploidy is a sex-determination system in which males develop from unfertilized eggs and are haploid, and females develop from fertilized eggs and are diploid. Haplodiploidy is sometimes called arrhenotoky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sociality</span> Form of collective animal behaviour

Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gyne</span> Primary reproductive female castes of insects, also known as queens

The gyne is the primary reproductive female caste of social insects. Gynes are those destined to become queens, whereas female workers are typically barren and cannot become queens. Having a queen is what makes a "queenright" hive, nest, or colony of eusocial insects. A colony with multiple queens is said to be a polygyne form, whereas one with only one is a monogyne form.

Task allocation and partitioning is the way that tasks are chosen, assigned, subdivided, and coordinated within a colony of social insects. Task allocation and partitioning gives rise to the division of labor often observed in social insect colonies, whereby individuals specialize on different tasks within the colony. Communication is closely related to the ability to allocate tasks among individuals within a group. This entry focuses exclusively on social insects. For information on human task allocation and partitioning, see division of labour, task analysis, and workflow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wasp</span> Group of insects

A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. The wasps do not constitute a clade, a complete natural group with a single ancestor, as bees and ants are deeply nested within the wasps, having evolved from wasp ancestors. Wasps that are members of the clade Aculeata can sting their prey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eusociality</span> Highest level of animal sociality a species can attain

Eusociality is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care, overlapping generations within a colony of adults, and a division of labor into reproductive and non-reproductive groups. The division of labor creates specialized behavioral groups within an animal society which are sometimes referred to as 'castes'. Eusociality is distinguished from all other social systems because individuals of at least one caste usually lose the ability to perform behaviors characteristic of individuals in another caste. Eusocial colonies can be viewed as superorganisms.

<i>Ropalidia marginata</i> Species of insect

Ropalidia marginata is an Old World species of paper wasp. It is primitively eusocial, not showing the same bias in brood care seen in other social insects with greater asymmetry in relatedness. The species employs a variety of colony founding strategies, sometimes with single founders and sometimes in groups of variable number. The queen does not use physical dominance to control workers; there is evidence of pheromones being used to suppress other female workers from overtaking queenship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution of eusociality</span> Origins of cooperative brood care

Eusociality evolved repeatedly in different orders of animals, notably termites and the Hymenoptera. This 'true sociality' in animals, in which sterile individuals work to further the reproductive success of others, is found in termites, ambrosia beetles, gall-dwelling aphids, thrips, marine sponge-dwelling shrimp, naked mole-rats, and many genera in the insect order Hymenoptera. The fact that eusociality has evolved so often in the Hymenoptera, but remains rare throughout the rest of the animal kingdom, has made its evolution a topic of debate among evolutionary biologists. Eusocial organisms at first appear to behave in stark contrast with simple interpretations of Darwinian evolution: passing on one's genes to the next generation, or fitness, is a central idea in evolutionary biology.

<i>Dolichovespula sylvestris</i> Species of wasp

The tree wasp is a species of eusocial wasp in the family Vespidae, found in the temperate regions of Eurasia, particularly in western Europe. Despite being called the tree wasp, it builds both aerial and underground paper nests, and can be found in rural and urban habitats. D. sylvestris is a medium-sized wasp that has yellow and black stripes and a black dot in the center of its clypeus. It is most common to see this wasp between May and September during its 3.5 month colony cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worker policing</span> Insects destroying eggs not laid by queen

Worker policing is a behavior seen in colonies of social hymenopterans whereby worker females eat or remove eggs that have been laid by other workers rather than those laid by a queen. Worker policing ensures that the offspring of the queen will predominate in the group. In certain species of bees, ants and wasps, workers or the queen may also act aggressively towards fertile workers. Worker policing has been suggested as a form of coercion to promote the evolution of altruistic behavior in eusocial insect societies.

<i>Liostenogaster flavolineata</i> Species of wasp

Liostenogaster flavolineata is an insect that belongs to the wasp family Vespidae. This hairy-faced hover wasp species is predominantly found in South Asian rain forests, especially in Malaysia. Individual colonies of this species are very small, but aggregations of nests allow for interactions between many smaller colonies. Some worker wasps, known as "helpers", will move between multiple nests in an attempt to improve their position in the dominance hierarchy. Its nests are pale-colored and are usually built with mud. Liostenogaster flavolineata is one of the most studied species in the Stenogastrinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social immunity</span> Antiparasite defence mounted for the benefit of individuals other than the actor

Social immunity is any antiparasite defence mounted for the benefit of individuals other than the actor. For parasites, the frequent contact, high population density and low genetic variability makes social groups of organisms a promising target for infection: this has driven the evolution of collective and cooperative anti-parasite mechanisms that both prevent the establishment of and reduce the damage of diseases among group members. Social immune mechanisms range from the prophylactic, such as burying beetles smearing their carcasses with antimicrobials or termites fumigating their nests with naphthalene, to the active defenses seen in the imprisoning of parasitic beetles by honeybees or by the miniature 'hitchhiking' leafcutter ants which travel on larger worker's leaves to fight off parasitoid flies. Whilst many specific social immune mechanisms had been studied in relative isolation, it was not until Sylvia Cremer et al.'s 2007 paper "Social Immunity" that the topic was seriously considered. Empirical and theoretical work in social immunity continues to reveal not only new mechanisms of protection but also implications for understanding of the evolution of group living and polyandry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemical communication in insects</span>

Chemical communication in insects is social signalling between insects of the same or different species, using chemicals. These chemicals may be volatile, to be detected at a distance by other insects' sense of smell, or non-volatile, to be detected on an insect's cuticle by other insects' sense of taste. Many of these chemicals are pheromones, acting like hormones outside the body.

References

  1. ↑ "Serian Sumner". Linkedin. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  2. ↑ Sumner, Seirian-Rose Maria (1999). PhD Thesis. ethos.bl.uk (Ph.D). British Library . Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  3. ↑ "The Scientist Article". www.the-scientist.com. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  4. ↑ Sumner, Serian (May 2019). "Academic Homepage". Division of Biosciences. University College London . Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  5. ↑ Sumner, Seirian (2015). "Long live the wasp: adult longevity in captive colonies of the eusocial paper wasp Polistes canadensis (L.)". PeerJ. 3:e848: e848. doi: 10.7717/peerj.848 . PMC   4375972 . PMID   25825677.
  6. ↑ Sumner, Seirian (2015). "Molecular signatures of plastic phenotypes in two eusocial insect species with simple societies". PNAS. Early Edition (45): 13970–13975. Bibcode:2015PNAS..11213970P. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1515937112 . PMC   4653166 . PMID   26483466.
  7. ↑ Sumner, Seirian (2007). "Radio-Tagging Technology Reveals Extreme Nest-Drifting Behavior in a Eusocial Insect". Current Biology. 17 (2): 140–145. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2006.11.064 . PMID   17240339. S2CID   15738463.
  8. ↑ Sumner, Seirian (2014). "Fine‐scale spatial genetic structure of common and declining bumble bees across an agricultural landscape". Molecular Ecology. 23 (14): 3384–3395. doi:10.1111/mec.12823. PMC   4142012 . PMID   24980963.
  9. ↑ Sumner, Seirian (2014). "Invasive ants take and squander native seeds: implications for native plant communities". Biological Invasions. 21 (2): 451–466. doi:10.1111/mec.12823. PMC   4142012 . PMID   24980963.
  10. ↑ Sumner, Seirian (2004). "Ant parasite queens revert to mating singlys". Nature. 428 (6978): 35–366. Bibcode:2004Natur.428...35S. doi:10.1038/428035a. PMID   14999273. S2CID   30986614.
  11. ↑ "BBC News article". www.bbc.co.uk. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  12. ↑ "ITV News article". www.itv.com. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  13. ↑ "The Conversation article". theconversation.com. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  14. ↑ Sumner, Serian (17 February 2021). "Why I Matter". newint.org. New Internationalist . Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  15. ↑ "This idea must die". Portico. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  16. ↑ Southon, Robin J.; Fernandes, Odair A.; Nascimento, Fabio S.; Sumner, Seirian (6 November 2019). "Social wasps are effective biocontrol agents of key lepidopteran crop pests". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 286 (1914): 20191676. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.1676 . PMC   6842862 . PMID   31690237.
  17. ↑ Sumner, Seirian (2018). "Why we love bees and hate wasps". Ecological Entomology. 43 (6): 836–845. doi: 10.1111/een.12676 .
  18. ↑ "Big Wasp Survey". www.bigwaspsurvey.org. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  19. ↑ Sumner, Seirian (2019). "Mapping species distributions in 2 weeks using citizen science" (PDF). Insect Conservation and Diversity. online early view (5): 382–388. doi:10.1111/icad.12345. S2CID   109920397.
  20. ↑ "Soapbox Science". soapboxscience.org. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  21. ↑ "The really wild show". Pint of Science. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  22. ↑ "Unwanted Visitors". Pint of Science. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  23. ↑ "Welcome to Insect night!". Pint of Science. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  24. ↑ "Experts create a buzz as they reveal why we should love wasps". ITV News. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  25. ↑ "The #wasplove game". wasplove.com. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  26. ↑ "The #wasplove game". FoAM. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  27. ↑ "Events - EntoSci20". Harper Adams University. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  28. ↑ "Seirian Sumner". New Scientist Live 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  29. ↑ Sumner, Seirian (26 May 2022). Endless Forms: The Secret World of Wasps (1st ed.). HarperCollins. ISBN   978-0-00-839449-3 . Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  30. ↑ Coldwell, Will (22 May 2022). "Why we should all love wasps". The Observer . Retrieved 24 June 2022.
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