We are interested in the operation of natural selection on social insects.  

Although natural selection is an important process, little is known about the operation of natural selection in natural populations of social insects.  In ants, particularly, the evidence is very scanty.  We have been measuring the strength of selection operating at various stages in the life cycle of ants.

Sexual Selection (on Males, mostly)      Viability Selection (on Queen size, mostly)     Colony Level Selection   

References:

Wiernasz, D.C., J. Yencharis, B.J. Cole. 1995.  Size and mating success in males of the western harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis.  The Journal of Insect Behavior 8(4): 523-531.

Abell, A., B.J. Cole, R. Reyes and D.C. Wiernasz. 1999.  Sexual selection on body size and shape in the western harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis.  Evolution 53(2): 535-545.

Cole, B.J. and D.C. Wiernasz. 1999.  The selective advantage of low relatedness: growth in the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis.  Science 285(5429):  91-493.

Wiernasz, D.C., A. Sater, A. Abell, and B.J. Cole.  2001. Male size, sperm transfer, and colony fitness in the western harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis.  Evolution 55:324-329.

Wiernasz, D.C. and B.J. Cole 2003. Queen size mediates queen survival and colony fitness in harvester ants. Evolution 57 (9): 2179-2183. 

Wiernasz, D.C., C. Perroni, B.J. Cole. 2004. Polyandry and fitness in the western harvester ant Pogonomyrmex occidentalis. Molecular Ecology 13: 1601-1606.