Benjamin ZELVELDER, Doctorant, INRAE-CBGP
Tuesday 15 September 2026, 13:00, Grand meeting room + live on Youtube
Evolutionary genetics of a polyphagous insect: the impact of insect-symbiont interactions on adaptation and population dynamics.
Tropical forests are home to exceptional biodiversity, which is particularly striking amongst plants and insects. Over the course of evolution, their interactions have played a major role in shaping this diversity, particularly through pollination.
Several studies show that weevils, although known to be insect pests, also play a significant role in so-called ‘brood-based’ pollination in tropical forests. As they search for plants on which to lay their eggs, weevils act as specialised and effective pollinators, without causing any damage to the plants.
The aim of this thesis is to explore how this type of mutualistic relationship may have evolved in one particular group of weevils, the Ochyromerini. Drawing on museum collections and the development of new genetic tools, I have been able to reconstruct their evolutionary history and put forward new hypotheses regarding the origin of pollination by weevils.