The object of this project is to obtain pilot data allowing us to assess the genetic variance underpinning sociability and estimate its heritability from both direct and indirect channels in order to predict how it will evolve. To do this we must estimate the repeatability of sociability and measure the interaction coefficient, the phenotypic equivalent of indirect genetic effects.
To do this we will observe the gregarious cockroach Blaptica dubia, assessing an individual on four occasions to see how willing it is to interact with other cockroaches and how this may be affected by the body size of the other individual. We will attempt to determine if the degree of sociability in these pairwise trials relates to behaviour in a wider social network.