Laura Sullivan-Beckers

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

School of Biological Sciences
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68588-0118
phone: (402) 472-0089
email: LSB@unlserve.unl.edu

See complete CV

Guest lecture on my research:

Invertebrate Zoology class at UNL
Slides & Audio

Education

2008 Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, University of Missouri. Columbia, MO
2002 B.S. in Biological Sciences, Northeastern State University. Tahlequah, OK
1999 B.A. in Spanish, University of Tulsa. Tulsa, OK

Research interests

One of the most ubiquitous behaviors in the animal kingdom is communication in the context of reproduction. This important conversation between the sexes provides a captivating illustration of the fundamental principles of evolution. Theory predicts that variation in these elaborate male traits should decrease over evolutionary time. However, multiple lines of research provide evidence for the maintenance of variation in elaborate sexual traits despite strong and persistent selection pressures. One of the ways this variation is maintained is that the selective agents that shape the male trait are themselves variable. Female preferences are thought to represent an important selective force on male mating behaviors, and we know that females vary in their ‘choosiness’ and in their preferences for male traits. I study the evolution of mating signals, with a particular interest in variation in female preferences. Additionally, I am fascinated by the complex influence of the social environment on mating behaviors and the effect this relationship has on the evolution of mating signals. Many of my research projects investigate how individuals of one’s own species shape mating behaviors of both males and females, and how these relationships affect the strength and direction of sexual selection. Most recently, my interests have broadened to include the effects of learning and memory on male signaling and female mate choice decisions.

Dr. Eileen Hebets and I are collaborating on several projects related to signal evolution. We are studying several wolf spider species from the genus Schizocosa. Males in this genus use elaborate multimodal courtship displays to attract females, and females are careful to select a mate. I am describing the vibrational components of these displays, and the information content that these signals convey to receptive females. In at least two species, we have found that the signals are honest indicators of male quality. I am also investigating whether learning and memory influence male courtship and signaling behavior. I am testing whether male spiders use feedback from females to improve the transmission and efficiency of their seismic signals. This is an area of research that has been overlooked in invertebrate species and the results of this work could contribute significantly to our understanding of the role of cognition in mating behaviors and signal evolution.

In my dissertation research at the University of Missouri, I investigated how changes in the social environment influence the relationship between male signal traits and mating success. My study species was a plant-feeding insect, the treehopper Enchenopa binotata ‘Pteleae’ (Hemiptera: Membracidae). The vibrational signals of these treehoppers are potentially under selection from multiple sources including female preferences, male-male competition, signal transmission properties of the plant substrate, as well as vibrationally-signaling predators. Using a combination of large-scale field experiments and controlled laboratory mating trials, I determined that signal variation in this species is predominantly under selection by female mate choice.

Publications

Sullivan-Beckers, L. and R. Cocroft, in review. The importance of female choice, male-male competition, and signal transmission as causes of selection on male mating signals.

Hebets, E.A. and L. Sullivan-Beckers, in review. Learning and Mate Choice. Online Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior.

Holan, S., C. Wikle, L. Sullivan-Beckers, R. Cocroft, in press. Biometrics. Modeling complex phenotypes: generalized linear models using spectrogram predictors of animal communication signals.

Rodríguez, R.L., L.E. Sullivan, and R.B. Cocroft. 2004. Vibrational communication and reproductive isolation in the Enchenopa binotata species complex of treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae). Evolution 58(3), pp. 571-578