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Mike Majerus
1954 - 2009

 

Evolutionary Genetics Group - Led by the late Mike Majerus

Mike Majerus' talk, 'The Peppered Moth: The Proof of Darwinian Evolution', given at the ESAB meeting in Uppsala on 23 August 2007 is available from this website as a Powerpoint file or as a pdf file of the script

Mike's 2004 Darwin Lecture, 'The Peppered Moth: Decline of a Darwinian Disciple', delivered to the British Humanist Society on 12 February 2004 is also available as a Word document or as a Powerpoint presentation

Harmonia axyridis in the UK : Anyone finding an example of this ladybird in the UK should submit details to: www.harlequin-survey.org

See also the information linked from http://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/Majerus/ladybirdindex.htm

Outline of the lab

Keywords: Evolutionary genetics, ecological genetics, Insecta, polymorphism, melanism, Peppered moth, male-killers, Wolbachia, sexually transmitted disease, reproductive costs, reproductive strategies, ultra-violet patterns in insects, sexual selection, Lepidoptera, Ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae)

Lines of research

  • The diversity of male-killing symbionts and their ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences
  • The evolutionary causes and consequences of extreme promiscuity in insects
  • The evolutionary consequences of female-biased population sex ratios
  • Tritrophic effects of transgenic crops
    The evolution of habitat specificity in the Coccinellidae
  • Melanic polymorphism in the Lepidoptera
    The spread of the Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) in Britain
2-spot ladybirds are highly polymorphic, very promiscuous and harbour a variety of male killing bacteria and sexually transmitted diseases

Selected recent publications

  • Haddrill. P.R., Majerus, M.E.N., and Mayes, S. (2002) Isolation and characterization of highly polymorphic microsatellite loci in the 2-spot ladybird, Adalia bipunctata. Mol. Ecol. Notes 2: 316-319
  • Schulenberg, J.H.G.v.d., Hurst, G.D.D., Tetzlaff, D., Booth, G. Zakharov, I.A. and Majerus, M.E.N. (2002) History of infection wth different male-killing bacteria in the two-spot ladybird beetle Adalia bipunctata revealed through mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis. Genetics 160: 1075-1086
  • Jiggins, F.M., Randerson, J.P. Hurst, G.D.D., & Majerus, M.E.N. (2002) How can sex ratio distorters reach extreme prevalences?  A natural population in which male-killing Wolbachia have perfect transmission efficiency and are not suppressed. Evolution 56 2290-2295
  • Ferry, N., Raemakers, R.J.M., Majerus, M.E.N., Jouanin, L., Port, G., Gatehouse, J.A. and Gatehouse, A.M.R. (2003) Impact of oilseed rape expressing the insecticidal cyseine proteinase inhibitor oryzacystatin on the beneficial predator Harmonia axyridis (multicoloured Asian ladybeetle).  Molecular ecology 12: 493-504
  • Majerus, M.E.N. and Mundy, N.I. (2003) Mammalian melanism: natural selection in black and white. Trends in Genetics, 19, 585-588
  • Sloggett, J.J. and Majerus, M.E.N. (2003) Adaptations of Coccinella magnifica, a myrmecophilous coccinellid to aggression by wood ants (Formica rufa group). II. Larval behaviour, and ladybird oviposition location European Journal of Entomology 100: 337-344
  • Sloggett, J.J., Webberley, K.M. and Majerus, M.E.N. (2004) Low parasitoid success on a myrmecophilous host is maintained in the absence of ants. Ecological Entomology 29: 123-127
  • Majerus, M.E.N. (2005) The Peppered Moth: Decline of a Darwinian Disciple. In: Insect Evolutionary Ecology (Eds. Fellowes, M.D.E., Holloway, G.J. & Rolff, J.) Pp. 367-391
  • Webberley, K.M., Hurst, G.D.D., Husband, R.W., Schulenburg J.H.G.v.d., Sloggett, J.J., Isham, V., Buzcko, J, & Majerus, M.E.N. (2004) Host reproduction and a sexually transmitted disease: causes and consequences of Coccipolipus hippodamiae distribution on coccinellid beetles. J. Anim. Ecol. 73: 1195-1200
  • Majerus, M.E.N. and Roy, H.E. (2005) Scientific opportunities presented by the arrival of the harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, in Britain. Antenna 29: 196-208
  • Majerus, M.E.N. (2006) The impact of male-killing bacteria on the evolution of aphidophagous coccinellids. Eur. J. Entomol. 103: 1-7
  • Davis, D.S., Stewart, S.L., Manica, A. and Majerus, M.E.N. (2006) Adaptive preferential selection of female coccinellid hosts by the parasitoid wasp Dinocampus coccinellae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Eur. J. Entomol. 103: 41-45
  • Majerus, M.E.N. and Stevens, N.R. (2006) The peppered moth: a problem not to be sneezed at. Biologist 53: 13-16
  • Majerus, M.E.N., Mabbott, P., Rowland, F. and Roy, H.E. (2006) The Harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Col., Coccinellidae) arrives in Britain. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 142: 87-92
  • Roy, H.E., Brown, P. and Majerus, M.E.N. (200) Harmonia axyridis: A successful biocontrol agent or an invasive threat? In: An Ecological and Societal Approach to Biological Control (Eds. J. Eilenberg and H. Hokkanen). Pp. 295-309
  • Tinsley, M.C. and Majerus, M.E.N. (2006) A new male-killing parasitism: Spiroplasma bacteria infect the ladybird beetle Anisosticta novemdecimpunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae). Parasitology 132: 757-765
  • Majerus, M.E.N., Strawson, V. and Roy, H.E. (2006) The potential impacts of the arrival of the harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in Britain. Ecological Entomology 31: 207-215
  • Webberley, K.M., Tinsley, M., Sloggett, J.J., Majerus, M.E.N. and Hurst, G.D.D. (2006) Spatial variation in the incidence of sexually transmitted parasites of the ladybird beetle Adalia bipunctata.  European Journal of Entomology 103: 793-797
  • Majerus, M.E.N., Sloggett, J.J., Godeau, J-F. and Hemptinne, J-L. (2007) Interactions between ants and aphidophagous and coccidophagous ladybirds. Population Ecology 49: 15-27

Selected books

  • Majerus, M.E.N. (1998) Melanism: Evolution in Action. 338pp. Oxford University Press
  • Majerus, M.E.N. (2002) Moths (New Naturalist Series No. 90). 310 pp. HarperCollins
  • Hemptinne, J-L., Magro, A. and Majerus M.E.N. (2005) Les Coccinelles. Paris: Delachaux et Niestlé
  • Majerus, M.E.N., Roy, H.E., Brown, P.M., Ware, R.L. and Shields, C. (2006) Guide to Ladybirds of the British Isles. Field Studies Council Publications
A female parasitoid wasp (Dinocampus coccinellidae) ovipositing into a 7-spot ladybird

Collaborations

  • Prof. I.A. Zakharov, Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Moscow Academy of Sciences
  • Prof. Y. Obara, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan
  • Dr A. Gatehouse, Newcastle
  • Dr. J.R. Sloggett, Jena, Germany
  • Dr G.D.D. Hurst, London
  • Dr J.H.G. von der Schulenberg, Muenster, Germany
  • Dr H. Roy, Cambridge
  • Dr N. Ferry, Newcastle
  • Dr J. Acorn, Edmonton, Canada

Other

The group ran the Cambridge Ladybird Survey, 1984-1994 and now coordinates the Biol. Rec. Centre Coccinellidae Distribution Mapping Scheme.

A peppered moth in its natural resting position

Page last updated : 4 June 2009

Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EH