Within the Collaborative Research Centre 212 we study, how individuals of the sawfly Athalia rosae conform to their ecological and social niche and whether this is adaptive. Therefore, individuals are kept under different environmental conditions and influences on life history traits, physiology, immunity and chemical phenotypes of the individuals are measured.
In addition, adults of this species show pharmacophagy, i.e., they take up plant compounds for other purposes than nutrition. We study, how these compounds are metabolised and what their functions are.