th German Zoological Society 105 Annual Meeting Abstract Volume September 21 – 24, 2012 University of Konstanz, Germany Sponsored by: Dear Friends of the Zoological Sciences! Welcome to Konstanz, to the 105 th annual meeting of the German Zoological Society (Deutsche ZoologischeGesellschaft, DZG) – it is a great pleasure and an honor to have you here as our guests! We are delighted to have presentations of the best and most recent research in Zoology from Germany. The emphasis this year is on evolutionary biology and neurobiology, reflecting the research foci the host laboratories from the University of Konstanz, but, as every year, all Fachgruppen of our society are represented – and this promisesto be a lively, diverse and interesting conference. You will recognize the standard schedule of our yearly DZG meetings: invited talks by the Fachgruppen, oral presentations organized by the Fachgruppen, keynote speakers for all to be inspired by, and plenty of time and space to meet and discuss in front of posters. This year we were able to attract a particularly large number of keynote speakers from all over the world. Furthermore, we have added something new to the DZG meeting: timely symposia about genomics, olfaction, and about Daphnia as a model in ecology and evolution. In addition, a symposium entirely organized by the PhD-Students of our International Max Planck Research School “Organismal Biology” complements the program. We hope that you will have a chance to take advantage of the touristic offerings of beautiful Konstanz and the Bodensee. The lake is clean and in most places it is easily accessed for a swim, so don’t forget to bring your swim suits.A record turnout of almost 600 participants who have registered for this year’s DZG meeting is a testament to the attractiveness of Konstanz for both scientific and touristic reasons. Our hope is that this year’s DZG meeting will contribute to a further strengtheningof the scientific standing of Zoology in Germany. We also hope that this conferencewill provide an opportunity in particular for young scientist to showcase their best research not only nationally, but also internationally. We would like to thank the sponsors for their valuable financial contributions, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for travel support, the DZG and in particular Sabine Giesslerfor help in organizing this event. The University of Konstanz provided substantial support in various forms without which this meeting would not have been possible - this is much appreciated. In particular, we would like to thank Mrs. Anne Zitzelsberger from our “events management” for her commitment and skills in organizing this meeting. As local organizers we are glad to have you here, and we are looking forward to four days of excellent science! We hope that you will enjoy your stay in Konstanz and that you will be stimulated by the exciting researchthat you will be able to hear and see at this year’s meeting of the Deutsche ZoologischeGesellschaft. 1. Key Note and Special Guest Talks Friday, September 21, 2012 Welcome address: A 600 / 18:30 Uli Burchardt (major of Konstanz), Ulrich Rüdiger (principal University of Konstanz), Hermann Wagner (chairman DZG) Key Note : Chair - Axel Meyer A 600 / 19:00 Scott Edwards (Harvard University) Molecular Ecology in the 21 st Century: Genomic Foundations of an Integrative Science Author: Scott Edwards 1 Affiliation: 1Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, USA Molecular ecology in the 21 st century is gradually transforming from a neutral-marker science, in which genetic markers were used to track lineages through time and space, into a functional marker science, in which the functions and expression of gene variants are studied in the context of ecology, behavior and field biology. Ironically, the vision of molecular ecology of linking variation in gene function to variation in phenotype and fitness is moving ever closer to goals long held by molecular biology, albeit with an emphasis on non-traditional model species in diverse natural and behavioral settings. As whole genomes, transcriptomes, other ‘omes’ and the computational tools to mine them are accumulated for diverse species, well-curated specimens and genome resources from diverse temporal, geographic, experimental and behavioral states will be key for continued progress. These transformations will be illustrated through recent research showing first how genes are used to track the evolution and spread of a bacterial pathogen, Mycoplasma gallisepticum , infecting songbirds in the US, and then how genomics is detailing the birds’ rapidly evolving resistance to this pathogen. 1 Saturday, September 22, 2012 Key Note : Chair - Giovanni Galizia A 600 / 08:30 Christiane Weirauch (University of California-Riverside) Bee killers and blood suckers – on the evolution of assassin bugs Author: Christiane Weirauch 1 Affiliation: 1Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside With ~6,800 described and many undescribed species, Reduviidae, or assassin bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera), are the largest clade of predatory non- holometabolous insects. Together with their remarkable morphological and behavioral diversity, an emerging phylogenetic framework, and their importance as diseases vectors, this makes Reduviidae an ideal group for studying the evolutionary history of a megadiverse group of predators and blood feeders. This talk outlines a research program embracing species discovery, molecular and morphological phylogenetic aspects (“Tree of Life”), and evolutionary research using Reduviidae and Heteroptera, the true bugs, as a model. Modern approaches to species discovery and lower-level phylogenetics are explored using the charismatic and diverse bee killer assassin bug genus Apiomerus Hahn as an example. At a higher systematic level, current efforts are on revealing relationships between the infraorders of true bugs and on relationships within the least known bug infraorder Dipsocoromorpha, the cryptic “litter bugs”. Recent evolutionary research on assassin bugs in my lab has focused on the evolution of novel predation strategies. An example is “sticky trap predation” that evolved within the largest clade of predatory Reduviidae, the Harpactorini. A more infamous predation strategy is exhibited by the blood-feeding Triatominae, or kissing bugs, the vectors of Chagas disease. Our molecular analyses show Triatominae to be paraphyletic and we conclude that the evolution of blood- feeding may have occurred once or twice independently among predatory assassin bugs. Divergence time estimates indicate that kissing bugs are much younger than previously assumed. Key Note: Chair - Giovanni Galizia A 600 / 09:30 Alison Mercer (University of Otago) Social modulation of learning in honey bees Author: Alison Mercer 1 Affiliation: 1Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand Honey bees are highly social insects and chemical communication is critical for colony survival. Interestingly, chemical signals (pheromones) modulate learning behaviour in honey bees. Aversive learning in young worker bees ( Apis mellifera ), for example, can be suppressed by pheromone released by the honey bee queen 1, and pheromone released by guard bees inhibits appetitive learning in bees recruited for colony defense 2. This talk will focus on recent attempts to explain why the effects of 2 pheromones on learning performance in honey bees are age- and state-dependent. It will outline what is known about mechanisms that support pheromone modulation of learning behaviour in the honey bee and also, discuss the possible adaptive value of social modulation of learning in this insect. One important question is whether a better understanding of pheromone communication can offer novel insights into cellular and molecular mechanisms that underpin learning and memory formation in the honey bee. Supported by a grant from the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund (UOO0910) 1. Vergoz V, Schreurs HA, Mercer AR. (2007) Science 317:384-386 2. Urlacher E, Francés B, Giurfa M, Devaud J-M. (2010) Front Behav Neurosci 4:157 Special Guest Lecture: Chair - Giovanni Galizia A 600 / 11:00 Alistair McGregor (Oxford Brooks University) Evolution of the regulation of cellular morphology in Drosophila Authors: Saad Arif 1, Sophie Murat 2, Maria D. S. Nunes 1, Isabel Almudi 1, James Currie 1, Elio Sucena 3, Eric Lai 4, Christian Schlötterer 2, Alistair P. McGregor 1 Affiliations: 1Oxford Brookes University; 2Vetmeduni Vienna; 3 Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia ; 4Sloan-Kettering Institute A major challenge in evolutionary developmental biology is identifying the genetic changes underlying the evolution of animal morphology. Although great progress has been made in recent years in finding changes underlying differences in a number of traits, the contribution of standing genetic variation in natural populations to the evolution of differences between species remains poorly understood. To address this question we have investigated the genetic basis of leg trichome pattern differences within and between Drosophila species. Drosophila simulans displays a large portion of naked cuticle on the femur of the second leg called the ‘naked valley’. However, in D. melanogaster the naked valley is extremely variable ranging from a small naked patch to approximately an area ten times larger like in D. simulans . It was previously shown that the Hox gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx) is involved in the ‘naked valley’ difference between these species. To determine