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
- Isi Smy
Selected publications
-
Open access
Environmental stress influences reproductive success in male spider mites
Noël, E., Lefebvre, M. J. M., Lefèvre, S., Shuker, D. M. & Duncan, A. B., 1 Apr 2026, In: Ecological Entomology. 51, 2, p. 414-423 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Male mating behaviour is shaped by previous experience of both conspecific and heterospecific females in the seed bug Lygaeus simulans
Balfour, V. L., Aumont, C., Corliss, M. K. & Shuker, D. M., Jan 2026, In: Ecology and Evolution. 16, 1, p. 1-13 13 p., e72883.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
On the role of mating systems: freeing the study of sexual behaviour from bias
Gourevitch, E. H. Z., Green, T. & Shuker, D. M., 1 Jun 2026, In: Animal Behaviour. 236, p. 1-13 13 p., 123591.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
-
Open access
Testing for cryptic male mate choice in an insect with high mating failure
Balfour, V. L., Abbs, M. M. & Shuker, D. M., 27 Mar 2026, In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 80, p. 1-15 15 p., 44.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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