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Robert Jeanne

Professor Emeritus

608-262-3227

Russell Laboratories
1630 Linden Dr
Madison, WI 53706

Research Interests:

Behavior and ecology of social insects, especially social wasps, their evolution, defensive mechanisms, colony size, division of labor, organization of work, communication, and nest architecture. Students in my lab are working on both temperate zone and tropical species. One project on yellowjackets in Wisconsin focuses on foraging behavior, including recruitment of nestmates and chemical cues used in food location. A second addresses the question of whether colony organization changes as the colony grows during the season. In Costa Rica we are investigating the relationship between the size of a group and the properties of emergent group behavior. Using the organization of nest construction in the tropical swarm-founding epiponine Polybia occidentalis as a paradigm, we are investigating the effects of group size, worker age/fat content, and parasitism on individual work rate, mortality rate, per capita productivity, tempo, and, ultimately, colony life history strategy. We are also analyzing the mechanisms by which task groups interact to regulate nest construction and respond to perturbations in nest construction activity.

 

Publications since 2009:

  1. Perez, Kathryn E., Strauss, Eric A., Downey, Nicholas, Galbraith, Anne, Jeanne, Robert, Cooper, Scott. 2010. Does displaying the class results affect student discussion during peer instruction? CBE–Life Sciences Education 9: 133-140.
  2. Jandt, J., Taylor, B.J., Jeanne, R.L. 2010. Temperature and forager body size affect carbohydrate collection in German yellowjackets, Vespula germanica (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Insectes Sociaux 57:275-283.
  3. Heitz, JG, Capes, EM, Cheetham, JA, and Jeanne, RL. 2010. Interactive evolution modules promote conceptual change. Evolution: Education and Outreach. DOI 10.1007/s12052-010-0208-2.
  4. Schueller, T.I., Nordheim, E.V., Taylor, B.J., Jeanne, R.L. 2010. The cues have it; nest-based, cue-mediated recruitment to carbohydrate resources in a swarm-founding social wasp. Naturwissenschaften 97(11):1017-1022. DOI 10.1007/s00114-010-0712-9.
  5. Taylor, B.J., Schalk, D.R., Jeanne, R.L. Yellowjackets use nest-based cues to differentially exploit higher-quality resources. Naturwissenschaften 97: 1041-1046. DOI 10.1007/s00114-010-0724-5.
  6. Suryanarayanan, S., Hantschel, A.E., Torres, C.G., and Jeanne, R.L. 2011. Changes in the temporal pattern of antennal drumming behavior across the Polistes fuscatus colony cycle (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Insectes Sociaux 58: 97-106. DOI 10.1007/s00040-0122-1
  7. Suryanarayanan, S., Hermanson, J.C., Jeanne, R.L. 2011. A mechanical signal biases caste development in a social wasp. Current Biology 21:231-235. DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2011. 01.003
  8. Taylor, B.J., Nordheim, E.V., Schueller, T.I., Jeanne, R.L. 2011. Recruitment in swarm-founding wasps: Polybia occidentalis does not actively scent-mark carbohydrate food sources. Psyche , 2011, Article ID 378576, 7 pages. doi:10.1155/2011/378576
  9. Jeanne, R.L. and Suryanarayanan, S. 2011. A new model for caste development in social wasps. Communicative & Integrative Biology 4 (4): 373-377. DOI: 10.4161/cib.4.2.15262
  10. Jeanne, R.L. 2011. My years at Fazenda Taperinha. In: Nelson Papavero and William L. Overal (editors). Taperinha: Histórico das pesquisas de história natural realizadas em uma fazenda da região de Santarém, do Pará, nos séculos XIX e XX. Chapter 20, pp. 369-400. Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Pará, Brazil.
  11. Taylor, B.J., Brus, E.J., and Jeanne, R.L. 2012. Introduction of a scented carbohydrate resource into the nest increases departure rate in Polybia occidentalis. Insectes Sociaux 59:151-157. DOI 10.1007/s00040-011-0200-z
  12. Taylor, B.J., Nordheim, E.V., and Jeanne, R.L. 2012. Allocation of colony-level foraging effort in Vespula germanica in response to food resource quantity, quality, and associated olfactory cues. Ethology 118 (2012) 594-605. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2012.02050.x
  13. Schueller, Teresa I. and Jeanne, Robert L.   Cue-mediated recruitment in a swarm-founding wasp: successful foragers induce nestmates to search off-nest for a scented carbohydrate resource. Psyche, volume 2012, Article ID 585014, 10 pages. doi:10.1155/2012/585014.
  14. Howard, Kenneth J. and Jeanne, Robert L. 2013. Developmental plasticity in the queen polymorphic ant Temnothorax longispinosus. Insectes Sociaux 60:179-189. Doi 10.1007/s00040-013-1=0181-y
  15. Toth, Amy L., Sumner, Seirian, Jeanne, Robert L. 2016. Patterns of longevity across a sociality gradient in vespid wasps. Current Opinion in Insect Science 16:28-35. 10.1016/j.cois.2016.05.006
  16. Jeanne, R. L. 2016. Commentary: Division of labor is not a process or a misleading concept. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 70: 1109-1112. 10.1007/s00265-016-2146-7
  17. Jandt, J. M., Suryanarayanan, Sainath, Hermanson, John C., Jeanne, Robert L., Toth Amy L. Maternal and nourishment factors interact to influence offspring developmental trajectories in social wasps. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 284: 20170651. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.0651.
  18. Taylor, B. J. Jeanne, Robert L. 2018. Gastral drumming: a nest-based food-recruitment signal in a social wasp. Science of Nature 105: 1-9 10.1007/s00114-018-1550-4
  19. Jeanne, Robert L. 2020. The evolution of swarm founding in the wasps: Possible scenarios. In: Neotropical social wasps: Basic and applied aspects. F. Prezoto, F. S. Nascimento, B. C. Barbosa, A. Somavilla (Eds.). Chapter 2, pp. 23-46. Springer, Switzerland.
  20. Jeanne, Robert L., Taylor, Benjamin J. 2020. Research techniques used in the study of social wasps. In: Neotropical social wasps: Basic and applied aspects. F. Prezoto, F. S. Nascimento, B. C. Barbosa, A. Somavilla (Eds.). Chapter 19, pp. 337-372. Springer, Switzerland.
  21. Jeanne, Robert L. (2021). Nesting associations among social insects. Pp. 660-668. In: Encyclopedia of social insects. C. K. Starr (Ed.). Springer, Switzerland.
  22. Jeanne, Robert L. (2021). Swarm-founding wasps. Pp. 918-934. In: Encyclopedia of social insects. C. K. Starr (Ed.). Springer, Switzerland.
  23. Detoni, Mateus; Féas, Xesús; Jeanne, Robert L.; Loope, Kevin J.; O’Donnell, Sean; Santoro, Davide; Sumner, Seirian; Jandt, Jennifer M. (2021). Evolutionary and ecological pressures shaping social wasps collective defenses. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 20 (20): 1-15. doi: 10.1093/aesa/saaa063
  24. Jeanne, Robert L., Loope, Kevin J., Bouwma, Andrew M., Nordheim, Erik V., Smith, Michael L. (2022). Five decades of misunderstanding in the social Hymenoptera: a review and meta-analysis of Michener’s paradox. Biological Reviews. doi: 10.1111/brv.12854
  25. Jeanne, Robert L. (in press). My life as a curious naturalist. Sociobiology.

 

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