Member list

Current members

Lan-Wei Yeh
Ecology and evolution of Taiwanese Carabus ground beetles.
Chung-Hsin Huang
Master topic: Flucuating Asymmetry and Developmental Asymmetry of Cyclommatus mniszechi; PhD topic: Evolution of Mandible Morphology and Fighting Behavior in Stag Beetles
Ying-Yuan Lo
Systematics, Behavior and Evolution of Lynx Spiders.
Leocris Batucan Jr.
New Species and DNA Barcoding of the Mayfly (Ephemeroptera) in Mt. Malindang, Mindanao, Philippines.
Chun-Yu Lin
Parasitoid Wasps of Damselflies; Phylogenetics and Evolution Histories of Treehoppers
Hsu-Yi Lin
Fighting Behavior of Odontolabis siva parryi Stag Beetles
Sheng Lin
Transcriptome Profiling Psolodesmus mandarinus mandarinus Damselfly
Pei-Hsuan Chang
Thermal Adaptation and Habitat Preference of Psolodesmus mandarinus Damselfly
Min-Chen Lin
Disruptive Camauflage of Colors of Pachyrhynchus Weevils.
Masahiko Tanahashi
Ecology and Evolution of Pachyrhynchus Weevils.
Su-Ping Lin
Symbiotic Yeasts of Stag Beetles
Jun-Ying Wang
Conservation of Mortonagrion hirosei Damselflies
Chin-Han Hsiao
Fighting Behavior of Rhaetulus crenatus Stag Beetles
Wei-Zhe Tseng
Systematics and Evolution of Weevils
Cheng-Tse Yung
Maternal Gift of Pachyrhynchus sarcitis Weevils

Past members

Jo-Fan Wang
Territorial behavior, trait evolution.
Yu-Hsun Hsu
Mating strategy, behavioural ecology, molecular ecology, population genetics, molecular phylogenetics, biostatistics.
Yi-Shou Yang
Reproductive Isolation of Psolodesmus mandarinus subspecies.
Wataru Kojima
Evolution of male sexual traits in Taiwanese scarab beetles.
Zhen-Yi Chen
Fighting behavior and reproductive strategy of stag beetles.
Teng-Yu Liu
Fighting behaviour and life history observation of a stag beetle Rhaetulus crenatus crenatus.
Princess Angelie S. Casas
Insect Diversity and Evolution
Lu-Yi Wang
Defense Mechanism of Pachyrhynchus weevils.
Hui-Yun Tseng
Aposematic coloration, island biogeography.
Yu-Jen Yu
Variation and Adaptation of wings.
Yen-Ting Chen
Systematics and evolution of insects.
Yun-Chieh Cheng
Damselfly larval diet, molecular evolution.
Tai-Chia Chiang
The effect of aposematic colors of Pachyrhynchus weevils on avian predators.
Yong-Chao Su
I-Ting Hsiao
Variation of genitalia in Euphaea amphicyana.
Jyun-Huei Huang
The fighting behavior of a stag beetle, Rhaetulus crenatus.
Shi-Ting Wu
Membracis Phyllotropis.
Chiao-Wei Lin
The fighting behavior of a stag beetle, Rhaetulus crenatus.
Wei-Liang Xiao
Variation of wing veins in Euphaea amphicyana.
Hung-Nien Chen
1. The effect of typhoon on survivalship of Matrona cyanoptera. 2. Modes of phenotypic variation in Euphaea amphicyana.
Chu-Yen Cheng
Phylogeography of a Philippine's treehopper, Leptocentrus reponens.
Che-Yu Kuan
Variation of mandibles in stag beetles.
Yat-Hung Lee
Speciation of Euphaea damselflies.
Ming-Yu Chen
Phylogeography and population history of the treehoppers, Centrochares horifficus from the Philippines Archipelago.
Shao-Chang Huang
Visual Communication of Matrona cyanoptera
Jen-Pan Huang
Population Genetics and Phylogeographic Analyses of Formosan Damselfly, Euphaea Formosa (Insecta: Odonata: Euphaeidae) from Taiwan
Wei-Yun Chen
Molecular and Phylogenetic Characterization of Endosymbiotic Bacteria of the Froghopper, Okiscarta uchidae (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cercopidae)

Visiting scholars and students

Jillian del Sol
Behavioral Ecology; Mating System Ecology; Weapon Ecology and Evolution; Evolutionary Biology
Ian Dela Cruz
New Species and DNA Barcoding of the Stonefly (Plecoptera) in Mt. Malindang, Mindanao, Philippines.
Shinya Komata
Ecology & Evolution of Wing Polymorphism in a Mimetic Swallowtail Butterfly, Papilio memnon.
Vanitha Williams
Predatory potential of waterbug, Diplonychus rusticus and dragonfly, Diplacodes trivialis on mosquito larvae.
Marina Vilenica
Dragonfly composition (Insecta, Odonata) in wetland area of Turopolje region, Croatia
Klaas-Douwe 'KD' B. Dijkstra
History, diversity and identification of dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata).
Erin McCullough
" Diversification of weapon form: aerodynamic costs of beetle horns.
Ashley E. King
Intrasexual combat and intersexual antagonistic co-evolution in horned beetles.

Yong-Chao Su

Yong-Chao Su

Title

Postdoc 2012-2014

Species: Argyrodes miniaceus, A. miniaceus are stealing food from their host, Nephila pilipes, cooperatively.

Argyrodes miniaceus, A. miniaceus are stealing food from their host, Nephila pilipes, cooperatively.

Project

Behavioral ecology, sociobiology, population genetics, and molecular phylogenetics.

Abstrct

E-mail:ycsu527@gmail.com

Education

Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, USA

M.S. in Biology, Tunghai University, Taiwan

B.S. in Biology, Tunghai University, Taiwan.

Research summary

My dissertation was about the group-living behavior in kleptoparasitic Argyrodinae (Araneae: Theridiidae), and the species level molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Argyrodinae. I included four research approaches in this dissertation. I showed the first empirical study of cooperative kleptoparasitism in Argyrodinae. The results showed that, at least at the level of foraging, group-living behavior has adaptive function of cooperation. Using a game theory model, the payoff of being cooperator in a group is greater than the payoff of being solitary. Second, I found that kleptoparasites do not aggregate simply because the webs are large and can support multiple kleptoparasites. Social interactions among group members provide additional benefits that favor individuals remaining in groups. In the population genetic studies, I discovered that group members could gain indirect benefit of fitness by cooperating with group members, who are potentially related individuals. This is because in group-living Argyrodes, group members are significantly more closely related than the individuals drawn randomly from the population in a small geographic scale. The phylogenetic analyses showed several independent origins of group-living behavior in different species groups. The evolutionary sequence of foraging strategies of Argyrodinae is from free-living to araneophagy, then to kleptoparasitism. The comparative analyses showed the specialization to large host is correlated with the evolution of group-living behavior. In addition, the processes of specialization thus becoming group-living may have caused diversification within species groups.

The main project for my postdoc position in Dr. Lin’s lab is to develop methods for several phylogeographic projects for treehoppers and damselflies in SE Asia using both Sanger sequencing data and next generation sequencing data.

Publication

Su, Y-C., J-F. Wang, R.J.T. Villanueva, O.M. Nuñeza and C-P. Lin. 2014.Hopping out of Mindanao: Miocene-Pliocene geological processes and cross-island dispersal as major drivers of diversity for Philippine treehoppers. Journal of Biogeography 41(7):1277–1290. PDF.

Su , Y. C., Chang, Y. H, Smith, D. R., Zhu, M. S., Kuntner, M., and Tso, I. M. 2011. Biogeography and speciation patterns of the golden orb spider genus Nephila (Araneae: Nephilidae) in Asia. Zoological Science 28(1): 47-55.

Cobbold, S. M., Su, Y. C. 2010. The host becomes dinner: possible use of Cyclosa as a nuptial gift by Argyrodes in a colonial web. Journal of Arachnology 38:132-134.

Su, Y. C., Chang, Y. H., Lee, S. C. and Tso, I. M. 2007. Phylogeography of the giant wood spider (Nephila pilipes, Araneae) from Asian–Australian regions. Journal of Biogeography 34: 177-191.

Lee, J. W., Jiang, L., Su, Y. C. and Tso, I. M. 2004. Is Central Mountain Ridge a geographic barrier to giant wood spider Nephila pilipes (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) in Taiwan? A population genetic approach. Zoological Studies 43(1): 112-122.

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