@article{hunt_2021, title={Origin of an evolutionary novelty: the worker phenotype of eusocial wasps}, ISSN={["1420-9098"]}, DOI={10.1007/s00040-021-00834-4}, abstractNote={AbstractComplex problems in evolutionary biology can be approached in two ways, top down using theoretical constructs and bottom up using empirical studies . Theoretical concepts predominate evolutionary interpretations of eusociality in a literature that is small relative to an enormous literature of natural history and basic research that is not synthesized into a conceptual whole. Here, I draw insights from this literature to show how paper wasps’ allomaternal non-reproductive worker phenotype originates in every colony cycle via confluence of multiple factors of paper wasp biology. These include behavior, development, nutrient dynamics, indirect genetic effects, sex ratio, and demography. A novel perspective on the colony cycle, based on individuals’ reproductive physiology, serves as context to examine of each of these. It will be shown that the allomaternal non-reproductive worker phenotype does not require relatedness among colony members to originate. Allomaternal care of non-relatives is frequent and can occur in at least twelve contexts. Life histories of living species as they will be presented here show that relatedness among colony members is not the target of selection in simple eusociality. However, the novel allomaternal non-reproductive worker phenotype had to be present at the ancestral origins of complex eusociality in which relatedness among colony members is essential.}, journal={INSECTES SOCIAUX}, author={Hunt, J. H.}, year={2021}, month={Oct} }
 @article{hunt_toth_2017, title={Sociality in wasps}, journal={Comparative Social Evolution}, author={Hunt, J. H. and Toth, A. L.}, year={2017}, pages={84–123} }
 @article{berens_hunt_toth_2015, title={Nourishment level affects caste-related gene expression in Polistes wasps}, volume={16}, ISSN={["1471-2164"]}, DOI={10.1186/s12864-015-1410-y}, abstractNote={Social insects exhibit striking phenotypic plasticity in the form of distinct reproductive (queen) and non-reproductive (worker) castes, which are typically driven by differences in the environment during early development. Nutritional environment and nourishment during development has been shown to be broadly associated with caste determination across social insect taxa such as bees, wasps, and termites. In primitively social insects such as Polistes paper wasps, caste remains flexible throughout adulthood, but there is evidence that nourishment inequalities can bias caste development with workers receiving limited nourishment compared to queens. Dominance and vibrational signaling are behaviors that have also been linked to caste differences in paper wasps, suggesting that a combination of nourishment and social factors may drive caste determination. To better understand the molecular basis of nutritional effects on caste determination, we used RNA-sequencing to investigate the gene expression changes in response to proteinaceous nourishment deprivation in Polistes metricus larvae.We identified 285 nourishment-responsive transcripts, many of which are related to lipid metabolism and oxidation-reduction activity. Via comparisons to previously identified caste-related genes, we found that nourishment restriction only partially biased wasp gene expression patterns toward worker caste-like traits, which supports the notion that nourishment, in conjunction with social environment, is a determinant of developmental caste bias. In addition, we conducted cross-species comparisons of nourishment-responsive genes, and uncovered largely lineage-specific gene expression changes, suggesting few shared nourishment-responsive genes across taxa.Overall, the results from this study highlight the complex and multifactorial nature of environmental effects on the gene expression patterns underlying plastic phenotypes.}, journal={BMC GENOMICS}, author={Berens, Ali J. and Hunt, James H. and Toth, Amy L.}, year={2015}, month={Mar} }
 @article{judd_teal_hernandez_choudhury_hunt_2015, title={Quantitative Differences in Nourishment Affect Caste-Related Physiology and Development in the Paper Wasp Polistes metricus}, volume={10}, ISSN={["1932-6203"]}, DOI={10.1371/journal.pone.0116199}, abstractNote={The distinction between worker and reproductive castes of social insects is receiving increased attention from a developmental rather than adaptive perspective. In the wasp genus Polistes, colonies are founded by one or more females, and the female offspring that emerge in that colony are either non-reproducing workers or future reproductives of the following generation (gynes). A growing number of studies now indicate that workers emerge with activated reproductive physiology, whereas the future reproductive gynes do not. Low nourishment levels for larvae during the worker-rearing phase of the colony cycle and higher nourishment levels for larvae when gynes are reared are now strongly suspected of playing a major role in this difference. Here, we present the results of a laboratory rearing experiment in which Polistes metricus single foundresses were held in environmental conditions with a higher level of control than in any previously published study, and the amount of protein nourishment made available to feed larvae was the only input variable. Three experimental feeding treatments were tested: restricted, unrestricted, and hand-supplemented. Analysis of multiple response variables shows that wasps reared on restricted protein nourishment, which would be the case for wasps reared in field conditions that subsequently become workers, tend toward trait values that characterize active reproductive physiology. Wasps reared on unrestricted and hand-supplemented protein, which replicates higher feeding levels for larvae in field conditions that subsequently become gynes, tend toward trait values that characterize inactive reproductive physiology. Although the experiment was not designed to test for worker behavior per se, our results further implicate activated reproductive physiology as a developmental response to low larval nourishment as a fundamental aspect of worker behavior in Polistes.}, number={2}, journal={PLOS ONE}, author={Judd, Timothy M. and Teal, Peter E. A. and Hernandez, Edgar Javier and Choudhury, Talbia and Hunt, James H.}, year={2015}, month={Feb} }
 @article{berens_hunt_toth_2015, title={Comparative Transcriptomics of Convergent Evolution: Different Genes but Conserved Pathways Underlie Caste Phenotypes across Lineages of Eusocial Insects}, volume={32}, ISSN={["1537-1719"]}, DOI={10.1093/molbev/msu330}, abstractNote={An area of great interest in evolutionary genomics is whether convergently evolved traits are the result of convergent molecular mechanisms. The presence of queen and worker castes in insect societies is a spectacular example of convergent evolution and phenotypic plasticity. Multiple insect lineages have evolved environmentally induced alternative castes. Given multiple origins of eusociality in Hymenoptera (bees, ants, and wasps), it has been proposed that insect castes evolved from common genetic "toolkits" consisting of deeply conserved genes. Here, we combine data from previously published studies on fire ants and honey bees with new data for Polistes metricus paper wasps to assess the toolkit idea by presenting the first comparative transcriptome-wide analysis of caste determination among three major hymenopteran social lineages. Overall, we found few shared caste differentially expressed transcripts across the three social lineages. However, there is substantially more overlap at the levels of pathways and biological functions. Thus, there are shared elements but not on the level of specific genes. Instead, the toolkit appears to be relatively "loose," that is, different lineages show convergent molecular evolution involving similar metabolic pathways and molecular functions but not the exact same genes. Additionally, our paper wasp data do not support a complementary hypothesis that "novel" taxonomically restricted genes are related to caste differences.}, number={3}, journal={MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION}, author={Berens, Ali J. and Hunt, James H. and Toth, Amy L.}, year={2015}, month={Mar}, pages={690–703} }
 @article{s. o'donnell_hunt_2013, title={Group hunting by workers of two Neotropical swarm-founding paper wasps, Parachartergus apicalis and Agelaia sp.}, volume={60}, ISSN={["0020-1812"]}, DOI={10.1007/s00040-013-0302-x}, number={3}, journal={INSECTES SOCIAUX}, author={S. O'Donnell and Hunt, J. H.}, year={2013}, month={Aug}, pages={369–372} }
 @misc{richard_hunt_2013, title={Intracolony chemical communication in social insects}, volume={60}, ISSN={["1420-9098"]}, DOI={10.1007/s00040-013-0306-6}, number={3}, journal={INSECTES SOCIAUX}, author={Richard, F-J. and Hunt, J. H.}, year={2013}, month={Aug}, pages={275–291} }
 @misc{hunt_richard_2013, title={Intracolony vibroacoustic communication in social insects}, volume={60}, ISSN={["1420-9098"]}, DOI={10.1007/s00040-013-0311-9}, number={4}, journal={INSECTES SOCIAUX}, author={Hunt, J. H. and Richard, F. -J.}, year={2013}, month={Nov}, pages={403–417} }
 @misc{hunt_2012, title={A conceptual model for the origin of worker behaviour and adaptation of eusociality}, volume={25}, ISSN={["1420-9101"]}, DOI={10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02421.x}, abstractNote={AbstractIn a model based on the wasp family Vespidae, the origin of worker behaviour, which constitutes the eusociality threshold, is not based on relatedness, therefore the origin of eusociality does not depend on inclusive fitness, and workers at the eusociality threshold are not altruistic. Instead, incipient workers and queens behave selfishly and are subject to direct natural selection. Beyond the eusociality threshold, relatedness enables ‘soft inheritance’ as the framework for initial adaptations of eusociality. At the threshold of irreversibility, queen and worker castes become fixed in advanced eusociality. Transitions from solitary to facultative, facultative to primitive, and primitive to advanced eusociality occur via exaptation, phenotypic accommodation and genetic assimilation. Multilevel selection characterizes the solitary to highly eusocial transition, but components of multilevel selection vary across levels of eusociality. Roles of behavioural flexibility and developmental plasticity in the evolutionary process equal or exceed those of genotype.}, number={1}, journal={JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY}, author={Hunt, J. H.}, year={2012}, month={Jan}, pages={1–19} }
 @article{hunt_mutti_havukainen_henshaw_amdam_2011, title={Development of an RNA Interference Tool, Characterization of Its Target, and an Ecological Test of Caste Differentiation in the Eusocial Wasp Polistes}, volume={6}, ISSN={["1932-6203"]}, DOI={10.1371/journal.pone.0026641}, abstractNote={Recent advancements in genomics provide new tools for evolutionary ecological research. The paper wasp genus Polistes is a model for social insect evolution and behavioral ecology. We developed RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated gene silencing to explore proposed connections between expression of hexameric storage proteins and worker vs. gyne (potential future foundress) castes in naturally-founded colonies of P. metricus. We extended four fragments of putative hexamerin-encoding P. metricus transcripts acquired from a previous study and fully sequenced a gene that encodes Hexamerin 2, one of two proposed hexameric storage proteins of P. metricus. MALDI-TOF/TOF, LC-MSMS, deglycosylation, and detection of phosphorylation assays showed that the two putative hexamerins diverge in peptide sequence and biochemistry. We targeted the hexamerin 2 gene in 5th (last)-instar larvae by feeding RNAi-inducing double-stranded hexamerin 2 RNA directly to larvae in naturally-founded colonies in the field. Larval development and adult traits were not significantly altered in hexamerin 2 knockdowns, but there were suggestive trends toward increased developmental time and less developed ovaries, which are gyne characteristics. By demonstrating how data acquisition from 454/Roche pyrosequencing can be combined with biochemical and proteomics assays and how RNAi can be deployed successfully in field experiments on Polistes, our results pave the way for functional genomic research that can contribute significantly to learning the interactions of environment, development, and the roles they play in paper wasp evolution and behavioral ecology.}, number={11}, journal={PLOS ONE}, author={Hunt, James H. and Mutti, Navdeep S. and Havukainen, Heli and Henshaw, Michael T. and Amdam, Gro V.}, year={2011}, month={Nov} }
 @article{hunt_wolschin_henshaw_newman_toth_amdam_2010, title={Differential Gene Expression and Protein Abundance Evince Ontogenetic Bias toward Castes in a Primitively Eusocial Wasp}, volume={5}, ISSN={["1932-6203"]}, DOI={10.1371/journal.pone.0010674}, abstractNote={Polistes paper wasps are models for understanding conditions that may have characterized the origin of worker and queen castes and, therefore, the origin of paper wasp sociality. Polistes is “primitively eusocial” by virtue of having context-dependent caste determination and no morphological differences between castes. Even so, Polistes colonies have a temporal pattern in which most female larvae reared by the foundress become workers, and most reared by workers become future-reproductive gynes. This pattern is hypothesized to reflect development onto two pathways, which may utilize mechanisms that regulate diapause in other insects. Using expressed sequence tags (ESTs) for Polistes metricus we selected candidate genes differentially expressed in other insects in three categories: 1) diapause vs. non-diapause phenotypes and/or worker vs. queen differentiation, 2) behavioral subcastes of worker honey bees, and 3) no a priori expectation of a role in worker/gyne development. We also used a non-targeted proteomics screen to test for peptide/protein abundance differences that could reflect larval developmental divergence. We found that foundress-reared larvae (putative worker-destined) and worker-reared larvae (putative gyne-destined) differed in quantitative expression of sixteen genes, twelve of which were associated with caste and/or diapause in other insects, and they also differed in abundance of nine peptides/proteins. Some differentially-expressed genes are involved in diapause regulation in other insects, and other differentially-expressed genes and proteins are involved in the insulin signaling pathway, nutrient metabolism, and caste determination in highly social bees. Differential expression of a gene and a peptide encoding hexameric storage proteins is especially noteworthy. Although not conclusive, our results support hypotheses of 1) larval developmental pathway divergence that can lead to caste bias in adults and 2) nutritional differences as the foundation of the pathway divergence. Finally, the differential expression in Polistes larvae of genes and proteins also differentially expressed during queen vs. worker caste development in honey bees may indicate that regulatory mechanisms of caste outcomes share similarities between primitively eusocial and advanced eusocial Hymenoptera.}, number={5}, journal={PLOS ONE}, author={Hunt, James H. and Wolschin, Florian and Henshaw, Michael T. and Newman, Thomas C. and Toth, Amy L. and Amdam, Gro V.}, year={2010}, month={May} }
 @article{hunt_2009, title={Interspecific adoption of orphaned nests by polistes paper wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)}, volume={18}, number={2}, journal={Journal of Hymenoptera Research}, author={Hunt, J. H.}, year={2009}, pages={136–139} }
 @article{carpenter_hunt_strassmann_2009, title={MISCHOCYTTARUS MEXICANUS CUBICOLA: MAJOR EXTENSION OF ITS RANGE TO TEXAS (HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE)}, volume={115}, ISSN={["1947-5136"]}, DOI={10.1664/07-SN-001R.1}, number={1}, journal={ENTOMOLOGICA AMERICANA}, author={Carpenter, James M. and Hunt, James H. and Strassmann, Joan E.}, year={2009}, pages={95–96} }
 @article{toth_bilof_henshaw_hunt_robinson_2009, title={Lipid stores, ovary development, and brain gene expression in Polistes metricus females}, volume={56}, ISSN={["1420-9098"]}, DOI={10.1007/s00040-008-1041-2}, number={1}, journal={INSECTES SOCIAUX}, author={Toth, A. L. and Bilof, K. B. J. and Henshaw, M. T. and Hunt, J. H. and Robinson, G. E.}, year={2009}, month={Feb}, pages={77–84} }
 @misc{hunt_2008, title={The superorganism the beauty, elegance, and strangeness of insect societies}, volume={322}, number={5906}, journal={Science}, author={Hunt, J. H.}, year={2008}, pages={1327–1327} }