{"id":130119,"date":"2013-02-15T16:22:08","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T21:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"\/gazette\/?p=130119"},"modified":"2019-03-15T17:24:10","modified_gmt":"2019-03-15T21:24:10","slug":"wonders-of-attraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2013\/02\/wonders-of-attraction\/","title":{"rendered":"Wonders of attraction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
\"\"

The lab of Naomi E. Pierce has a particular interest in the evolution of mutualism.<\/p>

Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tHealth\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tWonders of attraction\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\tAaron Lester\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvard Correspondent\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tPierce explores the creative power of symbiosis\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\t\t

All over the world, bees, butterflies, and even bacteria are engaged in dramatic relationships about which, until recently, scientists knew little. Yet understanding these relationships is key to understanding the world around us, according to Naomi E. Pierce, \u00a0a Harvard biology professor and butterfly specialist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was growing up I thought plants were boring,\u201d Pierce said in a recent talk at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, part of the \u201cEvolution Matters\u201d lecture series. \u201cI had the notion that plants were just there being eaten,\u201d when in fact, their interactions with insects define the world as we know it.<\/p>\n

As the Hessel Professor of Biology in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology<\/a>, Pierce investigates the evolution of symbiosis \u2014 how the relationship between two species affects the evolution of each. She is particularly interested in the evolution of cooperation, or mutualism.<\/p>\n

Take orchids and bees. An orchid attracts bees with nectar, and finds ways to attach pollen to just the right place on the insects as they feed. When the bees later fly to female orchids, pollination is completed. Both parties benefit.<\/p>\n

Or consider the lesser-known case of the Lycaenid butterflies that feed on Australian mistletoe and the herding ants who guard their caterpillars \u201calmost as if they were their own brood,\u201d in exchange for nutritious secretions, said Pierce.<\/p>\n

In these associations, \u201csugar\u201d ants build corals at the base of trees that have mistletoe hanging from their boughs. At night, the ants herd the caterpillars up the tree, where they can feed safely on leaves and mistletoe while the ants milk them for their secretions. At dawn the ants usher the caterpillars back into the safety of the coral at the base of the tree.<\/p>\n

Pierce\u2019s lab is also interested in interactions between ants and their gut bacteria, or microbiome. \u201cWe were looking at bacteria that was specialized to live in these ants,\u201d she said. The symbiotic bacteria likely made it possible for the ants to become herbivores that could thrive in the protein-poor canopy of rain forests, she said.<\/p>\n

Pierce\u2019s focus is not strictly symbiosis; she also explores how mutualistic relationships have nudged evolution this way or that. Working with colleagues, she used DNA information to reconstruct the evolutionary history of interacting partners, then used the histories to determine when the interacting partners evolved, and to what degree the evolution of one group depended upon the evolution of the other.<\/p>\n

Pierce found that in the cases of bees and orchids, and ants and butterflies, one group evolved long before the other, suggesting that one provided a \u201ctemplate\u201d of ecological opportunities for the diversification of its partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese specialized interactions between coevolving organisms are very often asymmetrical,\u201d she said. One evolves over time, then the other. But one could not evolve without its counterpart.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut so what?\u201d asked Gabriel Miller, a postdoctoral fellow who researches ant\/butterfly\/host-plant relationships in the Pierce Lab. \u201cPeople say, \u2018So why are ants interesting and useful to study?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Interspecies relationships are important, he said, because they are a good metaphor for all kinds of relationships, including those between humans and those between humans and the natural world in which they live.<\/p>\n

Pollination services are worth billions of dollars annually in crop production, for example. The importance of these relationships is well illustrated by dramatic crop losses due to the widespread colony collapse disorder (CCD) of pollinating honeybee colonies. Similarly, cooperative interactions between humans and their gut microbes play an important role in health.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can also understand what makes relationships work and what makes them fall apart,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

And fall apart they do. An outstanding question in evolutionary biology is how cooperation can evolve in the face of potential cheating, Pierce said. There are many cases in the evolution of Lycaenid butterflies in which caterpillars go rogue. They mimic the chemical signals of their attendant ants and are taken by the workers into the ant nest, where the caterpillar becomes a \u201cwolf in sheep\u2019s clothing,\u201d feasting on the helpless brood. In almost all cases, Pierce said, parasitic interactions like this evolved in groups where all other members were involved in close, mutually beneficial relationships.<\/p>\n

The implications of this kind of cheating reach far and wide.<\/p>\n

Pierce recently collaborated with Harvard economists Drew Fudenberg<\/a>, Jerry Green<\/a>, and Glen Weyl<\/a> (who is now at the University of Chicago) to use economic models to investigate what conditions can favor the evolution of cooperation in the face of potential cheating.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of many examples where basic evolutionary research can benefit from economic theory,\u201d said Christian Rabeling, a Pierce Lab postdoctoral fellow. The growing field of neuroeconomics is based on biological insights into our behavior, added Rabeling, who specializes in the evolutionary biology of social insects.<\/p>\n

\u201cInnovations that benefit society often come from fresh ideas developed through interdisciplinary work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Pierce has a particular interest in the evolution of mutualism.<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/021213_bee_ks_022_605.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">The lab of Naomi E. Pierce has a particular interest in the evolution of mutualism.<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n"],"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-full-width-text-below centered-image\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/021213_bee_ks_022_605.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">The lab of Naomi E. Pierce has a particular interest in the evolution of mutualism.<\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tHealth\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tWonders of attraction\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tAaron Lester\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Correspondent\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2013-02-15\">\n\t\t\tFebruary 15, 2013\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t5 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tPierce explores the creative power of symbiosis\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p>All over the world, bees, butterflies, and even bacteria are engaged in dramatic relationships about which, until recently, scientists knew little. Yet understanding these relationships is key to understanding the world around us, according to Naomi E. Pierce, \u00a0a Harvard biology professor and butterfly specialist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was growing up I thought plants were boring,\u201d Pierce said in a recent talk at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, part of the \u201cEvolution Matters\u201d lecture series. \u201cI had the notion that plants were just there being eaten,\u201d when in fact, their interactions with insects define the world as we know it.<\/p>\n<p>As the Hessel Professor of Biology in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oeb.harvard.edu\/\">Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology<\/a>, Pierce investigates the evolution of symbiosis \u2014 how the relationship between two species affects the evolution of each. She is particularly interested in the evolution of cooperation, or mutualism.<\/p>\n<p>Take orchids and bees. An orchid attracts bees with nectar, and finds ways to attach pollen to just the right place on the insects as they feed. When the bees later fly to female orchids, pollination is completed. Both parties benefit.<\/p>\n<p>Or consider the lesser-known case of the Lycaenid butterflies that feed on Australian mistletoe and the herding ants who guard their caterpillars \u201calmost as if they were their own brood,\u201d in exchange for nutritious secretions, said Pierce.<\/p>\n<p>In these associations, \u201csugar\u201d ants build corals at the base of trees that have mistletoe hanging from their boughs. At night, the ants herd the caterpillars up the tree, where they can feed safely on leaves and mistletoe while the ants milk them for their secretions. At dawn the ants usher the caterpillars back into the safety of the coral at the base of the tree.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce\u2019s lab is also interested in interactions between ants and their gut bacteria, or microbiome. \u201cWe were looking at bacteria that was specialized to live in these ants,\u201d she said. The symbiotic bacteria likely made it possible for the ants to become herbivores that could thrive in the protein-poor canopy of rain forests, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce\u2019s focus is not strictly symbiosis; she also explores how mutualistic relationships have nudged evolution this way or that. Working with colleagues, she used DNA information to reconstruct the evolutionary history of interacting partners, then used the histories to determine when the interacting partners evolved, and to what degree the evolution of one group depended upon the evolution of the other.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce found that in the cases of bees and orchids, and ants and butterflies, one group evolved long before the other, suggesting that one provided a \u201ctemplate\u201d of ecological opportunities for the diversification of its partner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese specialized interactions between coevolving organisms are very often asymmetrical,\u201d she said. One evolves over time, then the other. But one could not evolve without its counterpart.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut so what?\u201d asked Gabriel Miller, a postdoctoral fellow who researches ant\/butterfly\/host-plant relationships in the Pierce Lab. \u201cPeople say, \u2018So why are ants interesting and useful to study?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Interspecies relationships are important, he said, because they are a good metaphor for all kinds of relationships, including those between humans and those between humans and the natural world in which they live.<\/p>\n<p>Pollination services are worth billions of dollars annually in crop production, for example. The importance of these relationships is well illustrated by dramatic crop losses due to the widespread colony collapse disorder (CCD) of pollinating honeybee colonies. Similarly, cooperative interactions between humans and their gut microbes play an important role in health.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can also understand what makes relationships work and what makes them fall apart,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n<p>And fall apart they do. An outstanding question in evolutionary biology is how cooperation can evolve in the face of potential cheating, Pierce said. There are many cases in the evolution of Lycaenid butterflies in which caterpillars go rogue. They mimic the chemical signals of their attendant ants and are taken by the workers into the ant nest, where the caterpillar becomes a \u201cwolf in sheep\u2019s clothing,\u201d feasting on the helpless brood. In almost all cases, Pierce said, parasitic interactions like this evolved in groups where all other members were involved in close, mutually beneficial relationships.<\/p>\n<p>The implications of this kind of cheating reach far and wide.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce recently collaborated with Harvard economists <a href=\"http:\/\/scholar.harvard.edu\/fudenberg\">Drew Fudenberg<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/scholar.harvard.edu\/green\">Jerry Green<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.glenweyl.com\/cv\">Glen Weyl<\/a> (who is now at the University of Chicago) to use economic models to investigate what conditions can favor the evolution of cooperation in the face of potential cheating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is one of many examples where basic evolutionary research can benefit from economic theory,\u201d said Christian Rabeling, a Pierce Lab postdoctoral fellow. The growing field of neuroeconomics is based on biological insights into our behavior, added Rabeling, who specializes in the evolutionary biology of social insects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInnovations that benefit society often come from fresh ideas developed through interdisciplinary work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>All over the world, bees, butterflies, and even bacteria are engaged in dramatic relationships about which, until recently, scientists knew little. Yet understanding these relationships is key to understanding the world around us, according to Naomi E. Pierce, \u00a0a Harvard biology professor and butterfly specialist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was growing up I thought plants were boring,\u201d Pierce said in a recent talk at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, part of the \u201cEvolution Matters\u201d lecture series. \u201cI had the notion that plants were just there being eaten,\u201d when in fact, their interactions with insects define the world as we know it.<\/p>\n<p>As the Hessel Professor of Biology in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oeb.harvard.edu\/\">Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology<\/a>, Pierce investigates the evolution of symbiosis \u2014 how the relationship between two species affects the evolution of each. She is particularly interested in the evolution of cooperation, or mutualism.<\/p>\n<p>Take orchids and bees. An orchid attracts bees with nectar, and finds ways to attach pollen to just the right place on the insects as they feed. When the bees later fly to female orchids, pollination is completed. Both parties benefit.<\/p>\n<p>Or consider the lesser-known case of the Lycaenid butterflies that feed on Australian mistletoe and the herding ants who guard their caterpillars \u201calmost as if they were their own brood,\u201d in exchange for nutritious secretions, said Pierce.<\/p>\n<p>In these associations, \u201csugar\u201d ants build corals at the base of trees that have mistletoe hanging from their boughs. At night, the ants herd the caterpillars up the tree, where they can feed safely on leaves and mistletoe while the ants milk them for their secretions. At dawn the ants usher the caterpillars back into the safety of the coral at the base of the tree.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce\u2019s lab is also interested in interactions between ants and their gut bacteria, or microbiome. \u201cWe were looking at bacteria that was specialized to live in these ants,\u201d she said. The symbiotic bacteria likely made it possible for the ants to become herbivores that could thrive in the protein-poor canopy of rain forests, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce\u2019s focus is not strictly symbiosis; she also explores how mutualistic relationships have nudged evolution this way or that. Working with colleagues, she used DNA information to reconstruct the evolutionary history of interacting partners, then used the histories to determine when the interacting partners evolved, and to what degree the evolution of one group depended upon the evolution of the other.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce found that in the cases of bees and orchids, and ants and butterflies, one group evolved long before the other, suggesting that one provided a \u201ctemplate\u201d of ecological opportunities for the diversification of its partner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese specialized interactions between coevolving organisms are very often asymmetrical,\u201d she said. One evolves over time, then the other. But one could not evolve without its counterpart.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut so what?\u201d asked Gabriel Miller, a postdoctoral fellow who researches ant\/butterfly\/host-plant relationships in the Pierce Lab. \u201cPeople say, \u2018So why are ants interesting and useful to study?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Interspecies relationships are important, he said, because they are a good metaphor for all kinds of relationships, including those between humans and those between humans and the natural world in which they live.<\/p>\n<p>Pollination services are worth billions of dollars annually in crop production, for example. The importance of these relationships is well illustrated by dramatic crop losses due to the widespread colony collapse disorder (CCD) of pollinating honeybee colonies. Similarly, cooperative interactions between humans and their gut microbes play an important role in health.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can also understand what makes relationships work and what makes them fall apart,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n<p>And fall apart they do. An outstanding question in evolutionary biology is how cooperation can evolve in the face of potential cheating, Pierce said. There are many cases in the evolution of Lycaenid butterflies in which caterpillars go rogue. They mimic the chemical signals of their attendant ants and are taken by the workers into the ant nest, where the caterpillar becomes a \u201cwolf in sheep\u2019s clothing,\u201d feasting on the helpless brood. In almost all cases, Pierce said, parasitic interactions like this evolved in groups where all other members were involved in close, mutually beneficial relationships.<\/p>\n<p>The implications of this kind of cheating reach far and wide.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce recently collaborated with Harvard economists <a href=\"http:\/\/scholar.harvard.edu\/fudenberg\">Drew Fudenberg<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/scholar.harvard.edu\/green\">Jerry Green<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.glenweyl.com\/cv\">Glen Weyl<\/a> (who is now at the University of Chicago) to use economic models to investigate what conditions can favor the evolution of cooperation in the face of potential cheating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is one of many examples where basic evolutionary research can benefit from economic theory,\u201d said Christian Rabeling, a Pierce Lab postdoctoral fellow. The growing field of neuroeconomics is based on biological insights into our behavior, added Rabeling, who specializes in the evolutionary biology of social insects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInnovations that benefit society often come from fresh ideas developed through interdisciplinary work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>All over the world, bees, butterflies, and even bacteria are engaged in dramatic relationships about which, until recently, scientists knew little. Yet understanding these relationships is key to understanding the world around us, according to Naomi E. Pierce, \u00a0a Harvard biology professor and butterfly specialist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was growing up I thought plants were boring,\u201d Pierce said in a recent talk at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, part of the \u201cEvolution Matters\u201d lecture series. \u201cI had the notion that plants were just there being eaten,\u201d when in fact, their interactions with insects define the world as we know it.<\/p>\n<p>As the Hessel Professor of Biology in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oeb.harvard.edu\/\">Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology<\/a>, Pierce investigates the evolution of symbiosis \u2014 how the relationship between two species affects the evolution of each. She is particularly interested in the evolution of cooperation, or mutualism.<\/p>\n<p>Take orchids and bees. An orchid attracts bees with nectar, and finds ways to attach pollen to just the right place on the insects as they feed. When the bees later fly to female orchids, pollination is completed. Both parties benefit.<\/p>\n<p>Or consider the lesser-known case of the Lycaenid butterflies that feed on Australian mistletoe and the herding ants who guard their caterpillars \u201calmost as if they were their own brood,\u201d in exchange for nutritious secretions, said Pierce.<\/p>\n<p>In these associations, \u201csugar\u201d ants build corals at the base of trees that have mistletoe hanging from their boughs. At night, the ants herd the caterpillars up the tree, where they can feed safely on leaves and mistletoe while the ants milk them for their secretions. At dawn the ants usher the caterpillars back into the safety of the coral at the base of the tree.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce\u2019s lab is also interested in interactions between ants and their gut bacteria, or microbiome. \u201cWe were looking at bacteria that was specialized to live in these ants,\u201d she said. The symbiotic bacteria likely made it possible for the ants to become herbivores that could thrive in the protein-poor canopy of rain forests, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce\u2019s focus is not strictly symbiosis; she also explores how mutualistic relationships have nudged evolution this way or that. Working with colleagues, she used DNA information to reconstruct the evolutionary history of interacting partners, then used the histories to determine when the interacting partners evolved, and to what degree the evolution of one group depended upon the evolution of the other.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce found that in the cases of bees and orchids, and ants and butterflies, one group evolved long before the other, suggesting that one provided a \u201ctemplate\u201d of ecological opportunities for the diversification of its partner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese specialized interactions between coevolving organisms are very often asymmetrical,\u201d she said. One evolves over time, then the other. But one could not evolve without its counterpart.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut so what?\u201d asked Gabriel Miller, a postdoctoral fellow who researches ant\/butterfly\/host-plant relationships in the Pierce Lab. \u201cPeople say, \u2018So why are ants interesting and useful to study?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Interspecies relationships are important, he said, because they are a good metaphor for all kinds of relationships, including those between humans and those between humans and the natural world in which they live.<\/p>\n<p>Pollination services are worth billions of dollars annually in crop production, for example. The importance of these relationships is well illustrated by dramatic crop losses due to the widespread colony collapse disorder (CCD) of pollinating honeybee colonies. Similarly, cooperative interactions between humans and their gut microbes play an important role in health.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can also understand what makes relationships work and what makes them fall apart,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n<p>And fall apart they do. An outstanding question in evolutionary biology is how cooperation can evolve in the face of potential cheating, Pierce said. There are many cases in the evolution of Lycaenid butterflies in which caterpillars go rogue. They mimic the chemical signals of their attendant ants and are taken by the workers into the ant nest, where the caterpillar becomes a \u201cwolf in sheep\u2019s clothing,\u201d feasting on the helpless brood. In almost all cases, Pierce said, parasitic interactions like this evolved in groups where all other members were involved in close, mutually beneficial relationships.<\/p>\n<p>The implications of this kind of cheating reach far and wide.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce recently collaborated with Harvard economists <a href=\"http:\/\/scholar.harvard.edu\/fudenberg\">Drew Fudenberg<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/scholar.harvard.edu\/green\">Jerry Green<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.glenweyl.com\/cv\">Glen Weyl<\/a> (who is now at the University of Chicago) to use economic models to investigate what conditions can favor the evolution of cooperation in the face of potential cheating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is one of many examples where basic evolutionary research can benefit from economic theory,\u201d said Christian Rabeling, a Pierce Lab postdoctoral fellow. The growing field of neuroeconomics is based on biological insights into our behavior, added Rabeling, who specializes in the evolutionary biology of social insects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInnovations that benefit society often come from fresh ideas developed through interdisciplinary work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>All over the world, bees, butterflies, and even bacteria are engaged in dramatic relationships about which, until recently, scientists knew little. Yet understanding these relationships is key to understanding the world around us, according to Naomi E. Pierce, \u00a0a Harvard biology professor and butterfly specialist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was growing up I thought plants were boring,\u201d Pierce said in a recent talk at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, part of the \u201cEvolution Matters\u201d lecture series. \u201cI had the notion that plants were just there being eaten,\u201d when in fact, their interactions with insects define the world as we know it.<\/p>\n<p>As the Hessel Professor of Biology in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oeb.harvard.edu\/\">Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology<\/a>, Pierce investigates the evolution of symbiosis \u2014 how the relationship between two species affects the evolution of each. She is particularly interested in the evolution of cooperation, or mutualism.<\/p>\n<p>Take orchids and bees. An orchid attracts bees with nectar, and finds ways to attach pollen to just the right place on the insects as they feed. When the bees later fly to female orchids, pollination is completed. Both parties benefit.<\/p>\n<p>Or consider the lesser-known case of the Lycaenid butterflies that feed on Australian mistletoe and the herding ants who guard their caterpillars \u201calmost as if they were their own brood,\u201d in exchange for nutritious secretions, said Pierce.<\/p>\n<p>In these associations, \u201csugar\u201d ants build corals at the base of trees that have mistletoe hanging from their boughs. At night, the ants herd the caterpillars up the tree, where they can feed safely on leaves and mistletoe while the ants milk them for their secretions. At dawn the ants usher the caterpillars back into the safety of the coral at the base of the tree.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce\u2019s lab is also interested in interactions between ants and their gut bacteria, or microbiome. \u201cWe were looking at bacteria that was specialized to live in these ants,\u201d she said. The symbiotic bacteria likely made it possible for the ants to become herbivores that could thrive in the protein-poor canopy of rain forests, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce\u2019s focus is not strictly symbiosis; she also explores how mutualistic relationships have nudged evolution this way or that. Working with colleagues, she used DNA information to reconstruct the evolutionary history of interacting partners, then used the histories to determine when the interacting partners evolved, and to what degree the evolution of one group depended upon the evolution of the other.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce found that in the cases of bees and orchids, and ants and butterflies, one group evolved long before the other, suggesting that one provided a \u201ctemplate\u201d of ecological opportunities for the diversification of its partner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese specialized interactions between coevolving organisms are very often asymmetrical,\u201d she said. One evolves over time, then the other. But one could not evolve without its counterpart.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut so what?\u201d asked Gabriel Miller, a postdoctoral fellow who researches ant\/butterfly\/host-plant relationships in the Pierce Lab. \u201cPeople say, \u2018So why are ants interesting and useful to study?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Interspecies relationships are important, he said, because they are a good metaphor for all kinds of relationships, including those between humans and those between humans and the natural world in which they live.<\/p>\n<p>Pollination services are worth billions of dollars annually in crop production, for example. The importance of these relationships is well illustrated by dramatic crop losses due to the widespread colony collapse disorder (CCD) of pollinating honeybee colonies. Similarly, cooperative interactions between humans and their gut microbes play an important role in health.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can also understand what makes relationships work and what makes them fall apart,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n<p>And fall apart they do. An outstanding question in evolutionary biology is how cooperation can evolve in the face of potential cheating, Pierce said. There are many cases in the evolution of Lycaenid butterflies in which caterpillars go rogue. They mimic the chemical signals of their attendant ants and are taken by the workers into the ant nest, where the caterpillar becomes a \u201cwolf in sheep\u2019s clothing,\u201d feasting on the helpless brood. In almost all cases, Pierce said, parasitic interactions like this evolved in groups where all other members were involved in close, mutually beneficial relationships.<\/p>\n<p>The implications of this kind of cheating reach far and wide.<\/p>\n<p>Pierce recently collaborated with Harvard economists <a href=\"http:\/\/scholar.harvard.edu\/fudenberg\">Drew Fudenberg<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/scholar.harvard.edu\/green\">Jerry Green<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.glenweyl.com\/cv\">Glen Weyl<\/a> (who is now at the University of Chicago) to use economic models to investigate what conditions can favor the evolution of cooperation in the face of potential cheating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is one of many examples where basic evolutionary research can benefit from economic theory,\u201d said Christian Rabeling, a Pierce Lab postdoctoral fellow. The growing field of neuroeconomics is based on biological insights into our behavior, added Rabeling, who specializes in the evolutionary biology of social insects.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInnovations that benefit society often come from fresh ideas developed through interdisciplinary work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":73230,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2011\/02\/nabokovs-blues\/","url_meta":{"origin":130119,"position":0},"title":"Nabokov’s blues","author":"harvardgazette","date":"February 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Ten years before his novel \u201cLolita,\u201d Vladimir Nabokov published a detailed hypothesis for the origin and evolution of the Polyommatus blues butterflies. A team, led by a Harvard professor, is proving him right.","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/naomi-pierce-and-roger-vila.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/naomi-pierce-and-roger-vila.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/naomi-pierce-and-roger-vila.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52830,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2010\/08\/ill-get-mine-jack\/","url_meta":{"origin":130119,"position":1},"title":"I\u2019ll get mine, Jack","author":"harvardgazette","date":"August 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"A new paper suggests that the mutually beneficial relationships that species create are maintained mostly because of simple self-interest.","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/pierce_naomi_131_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/pierce_naomi_131_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/pierce_naomi_131_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58962,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2005\/10\/wing-color-not-just-for-looks\/","url_meta":{"origin":130119,"position":2},"title":"Wing color not just for looks","author":"harvardgazette","date":"October 27, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Harvard and Russian researchers have documented natural selection's role in the creation of new species through a process called reinforcement, where butterfly wing colors differ enough to avoid confusion with other species at mating time, helping the butterflies avoid creating less-fit hybrid offspring. Though more distantly related species tend to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":321403,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2021\/02\/understanding-how-evolution-shaped-the-insect-visual-system\/","url_meta":{"origin":130119,"position":3},"title":"Unlocking the colors of insect vision","author":"harvardgazette","date":"February 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Harvard researchers develop in vitro method for probing what colors an insect sees.","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Tech","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/science-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Atala hairstreak (Eumaeus atala) hanging delicately under a leaf of its cycad hostplant","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/DSC_6688.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/DSC_6688.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/DSC_6688.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/DSC_6688.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":200726,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2006\/04\/ants-are-surprisingly-ancient-arising-140-168-million-years-ago-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":130119,"position":4},"title":"Ants are surprisingly ancient, arising 140-168 million years ago","author":"gazetteimport","date":"April 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Ants are considerably older than previously believed, having originated 140 million to 168 million years ago, according to new Harvard University research that is the cover story in this weeks issue of the journal Science. But these resilient insects, now found in terrestrial ecosystems the world over, apparently only began\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":420990,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2025\/12\/first-male-gets-heated-up-then-female-and-then-you-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":130119,"position":5},"title":"First, male gets heated up, then female, and then, you know","author":"Elizabeth Zonarich","date":"December 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Study shows infrared radiation from plants serves as invitation to pollinating insects","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Tech","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/science-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nicholas Bellono (from left), a professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Wendy Valencia Montoya, a junior fellow of the Society of Fellows, and Naomi Pierce, the Sidney A. and John H. Hessel Professor of Biology, are seen near a cycad plant in the Biological Laboratory greenhouse. New research from the group, which will be published in the journal Science, revealed how the plant heats up its reproductive organs to attract beetles, which in turn facilitate pollination. Bellono and Pierce served as advisors for Montoya\u2019s doctoral work, which she recently completed. Pierce is also a senior fellow of the Society of Fellows and curator of lepidoptera. Bellono serves as principal investigator of the Bellono Lab. Veasey Conway\/Harvard Staff Photographer","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/112025_Pollination_024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/112025_Pollination_024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/112025_Pollination_024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/112025_Pollination_024.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105622744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130119"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268484,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130119\/revisions\/268484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130119"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=130119"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=130119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}