Research

patrick_lhommeMy research interests encompasses several areas including  behavioral and evolutionary ecology, chemical ecology, systematic and conservation biology.

My primary interest is in the ecology of insect host-parasite interactions. During my master, my research focused on the behavioral ecology of insect parasitoids. During my Phd I investigated the chemical ecology of social parasite bumble bees. I studied the behavioral and chemical strategies evolved by cuckoo bumble bees to overcome the discriminatory abilities of their hosts and to force their offspring acceptance within the host nest. I was also involved in several projects focusing on the evolutionary ecology, systematic and conservation of wild bees. Including also collaboration with the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) to develop the first European Red List of endangered species of wild bees, where I assessed the conservation status of all European species belonging to the tribe Osmiini (251 species).

More recently I studied plant-insect interactions as a postdoc researcher, with a focus on the role of early experience and phenotypic plasticity during host-plant choice in generalist herbivorous insects (Spodoptera littoralis and Drosophila melanogaster). I was particularly interested in the physiological and behavioral mechanisms involved in these interactions, putting an emphasis on the importance of plant volatiles.

I am now back to studying cuckoo bumble bees as a postdoc researcher. I am addressing several questions related to their chemical ecology and systematics:

  • Do variations in host specialization affect the ability of cuckoo bumble bees to control host-workers?
  • Does early experience of host-nest odor, at emergence, affects subsequent host-nest choice in the generalist cuckoo Bombus insularis?
  • Are the patterns of chemical mimicry and chemical weaponery found in European cuckoo bumble bees similar in Northern American cuckoo bumble bees?
  • Are the European and North American populations within both Bombus flavidus and Bombus bohemicus conspecific?