Dr Christoph Grueter : Biology and Environmental Science : University of Sussex

In detail...

Post:	Associate Tutor
Location:	Old Ancillary Building
Email:	C.Grueter@sussex.ac.uk
Telephone numbers
Internal:	2777
UK:	(01273) 872777
International:	+44 1273 872777

Biography

2002-2003 MSc in Biology, University of Bern, Switzerland. Supervised by Dr. Barbara Taborsky
2004-2008 PhD in Biology, University of Bern, Switzerland and Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Supervised by Prof. Walter Farina
2008 - Postdoc in the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects with Prof. Francis Ratnieks

Research

Understanding the organisation of complex social tasks in insect societies is a major challenge for evolutionary ecologists. I work with honeybees (Apis mellifera) and ants (e.g. Lasius niger) and try to understand how workers use different types of information to adjust their behaviour according to the needs of the colony. Additionally, I am interested in the organisation of nest-defence in the stingless bee species Tetragonisca angustula.

For more information see our webpage: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/research/researchgroups/lasi/

Publications

Grüter, C. & Taborsky, B. 2004. Mouthbrooding and biparental care: an unexpected combination, but male brood care pays. Anim. Behav., 68: 1283-1289.
Grüter, C. & Taborsky, B. 2005. Sex ratio and the sexual conflict about brood care in a biparental mouthbrooder. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 58: 44-52.
Farina, W.M, Grüter C. & Diaz P.C. 2005. Social learning of floral odours inside the honeybee hive. Proc. R. Soc. B 272, 1923-1928.
Grüter, C., Acosta, L.E. & Farina, W.M. 2006. Propagation of olfactory information within the honeybee hive. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 60, 707-713.
Farina, W.M., Grüter, C., Acosta, L.E. & Mc Cabe, S. 2007. Honeybees learn floral odors while receiving nectar from foragers within the hive. Naturwissenschaften 94, 55-60.
Grüter, C. & Farina. W.M. 2007. Nectar distribution and its relation to food quality in honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies. Insect. Soc. 54, 87-94.
Diaz, P.C., Grüter, C. & Farina, W.M. 2007. Floral scents affect the distribution of hive bees around dancers. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 61, 1589-1597.
Grüter, C., Balbuena, M.S. & Farina, W.M. 2008. Informational conflicts created by the waggle dance. Proc. R. Soc. B 275, 1321-1327.
Grüter, C., Arenas, A.. & Farina, W.M. 2008. Does pollen function as a reward for honeybees in associative learning? Insect. Soc. 55, 425-427.
Grüter, C. 2008. Social learning of food odours in honeybees: mechanisms and implications for collective foraging. PhD-Thesis, University of Bern. Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften, ISBN: 978-3838100609.
Farina, W.M. & Grüter, C. 2009. Trophallaxis - a mechanism of information transfer. In: Food Exploitation by Social Insects: An Ecological, Behavioral, and Theoretical Approach Eds: Jarau, S. and Hrncir, M.
Grüter, C. & Farina, W.M. 2009. The honeybee waggle dance: can we follow the steps? TREE 24, 242-247.
Grüter, C. & Farina, W.M. 2009. Past experiences affect interaction patterns among foragers and hive bees. Ethology, in press.
Grüter, C. & Farina, W.M. 2009. Why do honeybee foragers follow waggle dances? TREE, in press.
Grüter, C., Balbuena, M.S. & Farina, W.M. 2009. Retention of long-term memories in different age-groups of honeybee (Apis mellifera) workers. Insect. Soc., in press.