Dr David Shuker
Senior Lecturer
Research areas
My group is interested in the evolution and ecology of insect reproductive behaviour. As such we are interested in how natural and sexual selection shapes reproductive decisions and behaviours in insects. We use a variety of approaches, spanning behavioural experiments, fieldwork, to molecular genetics. Current study organisms include parasitic wasps, lygaeid seed bugs, and mealybugs.
PhD supervision
- Ophelia Fritsch
- Ellie Smith
Selected publications
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Are studies of mating systems too inbred? A commentary on Clo et al. (2025)
Shuker, D. M. & Smith, E. B. W., 21 Jul 2025, In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 38, 6, p. 712-715 4 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Facultative parthenogenesis
Smith, E. B. W. & Shuker, D. M., 24 Mar 2025, In: Current Biology. 35, 6, p. R204-R206 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review
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Gametes best discriminate natural and sexual selection: a comment on Janicke 2024
Shuker, D. M. & Kvarnemo, C., 15 Oct 2025, In: Behavioral Ecology. 36, 5, p. 1-2 2 p., araf089.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate
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Open access
Hamilton's rule predicts sibling cannibalism in a wild population of insects
Abbs, M. M., Kennedy, J. R., Drago Rosa, A. & Shuker, D. M., 12 May 2025, In: Animal Behaviour. 224, 123196.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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On the biological basis of beauty
Mendelson, T. C., Renoult, J. P., Rosenthal, G. G. & Shuker, D. M., Aug 2025, In: Biological Reviews. 100, 4, p. 1578-1593 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Sexual selection in wild populations of seed bugs: the role of size in pre-copulatory mate choice by females and males
Fritsch, O. S. & Shuker, D., Nov 2025, In: Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 38, 11, p. 1519–1532 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Is mating failure caused by cryptic male choice in the seed bug Lygaeus simulans?
Balfour, V. L., Armand, M. & Shuker, D. M., Sept 2024, In: Ecology and Evolution. 14, 9, 11 p., e70341.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Post‐copulatory sexual selection in an insect with high levels of mating failure
Balfour, V., Armand, M. & Shuker, D., 16 Oct 2024, In: Ecology and Evolution. 14, 10, 12 p., e70407.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
The role of condition on sexual selection in the seed bug Lygaeus simulans
Balfour, V. L., Corliss, M. K. & Shuker, D. M., 4 Sept 2024, In: Ecology and Evolution. 14, 9, 10 p., e70226.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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It is the endless forms, stupid: a commentary on Svensson
Shuker, D. M., 9 Mar 2023, Evolutionary biology: contemporary and historical reflections upon core theory. Dickins, T. E. & Dickins, B. J. A. (eds.). Cham: Springer Nature, p. 219-223 5 p. (Evolutionary biology: new perspectives on its development; vol. 6).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter