Dr. Ruth Archer

Research interests
I am an evolutionary biologist interested in the evolution of life-histories and in particular, how they are shaped by sexual selection and constrained by nutrition. A major focus of my current work is understanding how nutrition affects fitness traits (and trade-offs between them) in bumble bees.

Scientific projects
Aging - rising mortality, declining function and fertility over age – remains a puzzling phenomenon to evolutionary biologists. How could a seemingly maladaptive trait evolve? The insight that natural selection weakens over age provided an explanation and suggested that aging is inevitable. However, many species escape aging and among species that do age, patterns of age-dependent mortality are so diverse that some live for days and others for centuries. Even within species, how much and how quickly individuals age differs between populations and demographic groups. We do not understand this diversity. In my research I test how sexual selection and sexual conflict affect aging across the sexes.

Diet affects how long we live, how healthy and fertile we are. In fact, diet affects all aspects of biology. I use the Geometric Framework of nutrition (GF) – a powerful dietary mapping technique – to test how nutrition constrains sex-specific life-histories.  I also use this technique to tackle questions of applied importance and I am a Co-I on an EU Agritech grant that uses the GF to optimise diets for farming edible insects. In my current research, I am trying to use nutrition to improve insect pollinator health. This allows me to apply my fundamental background in nutritional ecology to generate data with positive
 

Publications

2024

Archer, C.R., Castledine, M. and Hosken, D.J. (2024) Sexual conflict over sex – an underappreciated consequences of childbirth? Evolution, Medicine and Public health 12:242-247 https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoae027 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Archer, C.R. and Weldon, C.W.W. (2024) Editorial: Diet, Nutrition and Insect Responses to Environmental Change. Frontiers in Insect Science 4: https://doi.org/10.3389/finsc.2024.1415809 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Archer, C.R. and Hosken, D.J. (2024) Resolving the puzzle of same-sex sexual interactions. Nature Reviews Urology 21:195-196 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-023-00833-z   (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Pennell, T., Katsuki, M., Archer, C.R., Sharma, M.D., Okada, K. and Hosken, D.J. (2024) Predation affects the evolution of sex-specific longevity. Biol. Lett. 20:20240451. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2024.0451 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2023

Archer, C.R., Alper, C., Mack, L., Sharma, M.D., Sutter, A., Weedon, M. and Hosken, D.J. (2023) Alcohol reduces choosiness and relaxes mate preferences in female Drosophila simulans. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 143:blad165 https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blad165 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Archer, C.R. and Hosken, D.J. (2023) Introduction to topical collection, “Sexual selection, sexual conflict and aging.” Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiogy 77:20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-023-03295-w (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Gasgoine, S.L., Rolph, S., Sankey, D., Nagalakshmi, N., Picman, A.S.S., Hernandez, C.M., Philpott, M.E.R., Salam, A., Bernard, C., Fenollosa, E., Lee, Y.L., McLean, J., Perera, S.H.A., Spacey, O.G., Kajin, M., Vinto, A.C., Archer, C.R, Burns, J.H., Buss, D.L., Caswell, H., Che-Castaldo, J.P., Childs, D.Z., Capdevila, P., Compagnoni, A., Crone, E., Ezard, T.H.G., Hodgson, D., Knight, T.M., Jones, O.R., Jongejans, E., McDonald, J., Tenhumberg, B., Thomas, C.C., Tyre, A.J., Ramula, S., Stott, I., Tremlay, R.L., Wilson, P.W., Vaupel, J.W. and Salguero-Gomez, R. (2023) A standard protocol to report discrete stage-structured demographic information. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 14:2065-2083. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.14164 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Malod, K.M., Archer, C.R., Nicolson, S.W. and Weldon, C.W.W. (2023) Selection on female reproductive schedules in the marula fruit fly, Ceratitis cosyra (Diptera: Tephritidae) affects dietary optima for female reproductive traits but not lifespan. Frontiers in Insect Science 3:116753. https://doi.org/10.3389/finsc.2023.1166753 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2022

Archer, C. R. and Bunning, H., and Rapkin, J., and Jensen, K., and Moore, T., and House, C. M., and del Castillo, E., and Hunt, J. (2022) Carbohydrate But Not Protein Limitation Induces Ovarian Apoptosis in Speckled Cockroaches.  SSRN.  http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4902996 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Archer, C. R., Paniw, M., Vega-Trejo, R., & Sepil, I. (2022) A sex skew in life-history research: the problem of missing males. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 289(1979).  https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1117 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Carey, M.R., Archer, C.R., Rapkin, J. et al. (2022) Mapping sex differences in the effects of protein and carbohydrates on lifespan and reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster: is measuring nutrient intake essential?. Biogerontology 23:129-144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-022-09953-2 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Malod K., du Rand E.E., Archer C.R., Nicolson S.W. and Weldon C.W. (2022) Oxidative Damage Is Influenced by Diet But Unaffected by Selection for Early Age of Oviposition in the Marula Fly, Ceratitis cosyra (Diptera: Tephritidae). Front. Physiol. 13:794979. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.794979 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2021

Archer, C.R., F?hnle, J., Pretzner, M., ?stüner, C., Weber, N., Sutter, A., Doublet, V. & Wilfert, L. (2021) Complex relationship between amino acids, fitness and food intake in Bombus terrestris. Amino Acids 53:1545-1558. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-021-03075-8 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Compagnoni, A., Levin, S., Childs, D.Z., Harpole, S., Paniw, M., R?mer, G., Burns. J.H., Che-Castaldo, J., Rüger, N., Kunstler, G., Bennett, J.M., Archer, C.R., Jones, O.R., Salguero-Gomez, R & Knight, T. (2021) Herbaceous perennial plants with short generation time have stronger responses to climate anomalies than those with longer generation time. Nature Communications 12:1824. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21977-9 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster) 

Malod, K., Roets, P. D., Bosua, H. Archer, C.R. & Weldon, C. (2021) Selecting on age of female reproduction affects lifespan in both sexes and age-dependent reproductive effort in female (but not male) Ceratitis cosyra. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 75:1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-021-03063-8 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Marceau, T., Archer, C.R., Bulford, L. & Wilfert, L. (2021) Dose-dependent effects of antibiotic intake on Bombus Terrestris (Linnaeus, 1758) dietary intake, survival and parasite infection prevalence. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 182:107580.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2021.107580 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Paniw, M., James, T., Archer, C.R., R?mer, G., Levin, S., Compagnoni, S., Che-Castaldo, J., Bennett, J.M., Mooney, A., Childs, D.Z., Ozgul, A., Jones, O.R., Burns, J.H., Beckerman, A.P., Patwary, A., Sanchez-Gassen, N., Knight, T.M., Salguero-Gomez, R. (2021) The myriad of complex demographic responses of terrestrial mammals to climate change and gaps of knowledge: A global analysis. Journal of Animal Ecology. 90:1398-1407.  https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13467 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2020

Archer, C.R., Store, S., Carey, M., Noda, T. & Hosken, D. (2020) Offspring sex-ratios are stable across the life-course in Drosophila simulans. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 33:1606-1613. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13696 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Archer, C.R. and Hosken, D.J. (2020). Sexual Selection. Chapter 1, in The SAGE Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Eds. Todd Shackleford.

Malod, K., Roets, P. D., Oosthuizen, C., Blount, J.D. Archer, C.R. & Weldon, C. (2020) Selection on age of female reproduction in the marula fruit fly, Ceratitis cosyra, decreases total antioxidant protection and lipid peroxidation. Journal of Insect Physiology 125:104084. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2020.104084 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Malod, K., Archer, C.R., Karsten, M., Cruywagen, R., Howard, A., Nicolson, S.W.N. and Weldon, C. (2020) Exploring the role of host specialisation and oxidative stress in interspecific lifespan variation in subtropical fruit flies. Scientific Reports 10:1-11.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62538-2 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2019

Duffy, E., Archer, C.R., Sharma, M.D., Prus, M., Joag, R.A., Radwan, J., Wedell, N. and Hosken, D.J. (2019) Wolbachia infection can bias estimates of intralocus sexual conflict. Ecology and Evolution 9:328-338. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4744 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Hosken, D.J., Archer, C.R. and Mank, J. (2019) Sexual conflict. Invited Primer, Current Biology 29:R451-455. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.03.052 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Hosken, D.J., Bretman, A., Goodwin, S and Archer, C.R. (2019) Genes and environment in Drosophila sex. In Genes and Behaviour: Beyond Nature Nurture, Wiley & Sons, Ch 6, 111-129.

Hosken, D.J., Archer, C.R., House, C.M. and Wedell, N. (2019) Penis evolution across species: divergence and diversity. Nature Reviews Urology 16:98-106. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-018-0112-z (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Matsumura, K., Hosken, D.J., Archer, C.R. and Miyatake, T. (2019) Artificial selection on walking distance suggests a mobility-sperm competitiveness trade-off. Editor’s Choice. Behavioral Ecology 30:1522-1529. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arz110 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Tourmente, M. Archer, C.R. and Hosken, D.J. (2019) Complex interactions between sperm viability and female fertility. Scientific Reports 9:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51672-1 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2018

Archer, C.R., Recker, M., Duffy, E. and Hosken, D.J. (2018) Intralocus sexual conflict can resolve the male-female, health-survival paradox. Nature Communications 9:5048. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07541-y (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Archer, C.R, Bassellini, U., Lee, K P, Simpson, S., Hunt, J. and Baudisch, A. (2018) Diet has independent effects on the pace and shape of aging in Drosophila melanogaster. Biogerontology 19:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-017-9729-1 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster) 

Bosua, H. K., Nicolson, S. W., Archer, C.R. and Pirk, C.W.W. (2018) Effects of cage volume and bee density on survival and nutrient intake of honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) under laboratory conditions. Apidologie 49:734-746. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13592-018-0595-x (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster) 

Roets, P., Archer, C.R., Bosua, H. and Weldon C. (2018) Life history and demographic traits of the marula fruit fly, Ceratitis cosyra (Walker) (Diptera: Tephritidae): Potential consequences of host specialisation. Physiological Entomology 43:259-267. https://doi.org/10.1111/phen.12255 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster) 

Rapkin, J., Jensen, K., Archer, C.R., House, C. M., Sakaluk, S.K., del Castillo, E. and Hunt, J. (2018) The geometry of nutrient space-based life-history trade-offs: sex-specific effects of macronutrient intake on the trade-off between encapsulation ability and reproductive effort in decorated crickets. The American Naturalist 191:452-474. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2501-425X (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster). 

Sutter, A., Barton, S., Sharma, M.D., Bassellini, U., Hosken, D. and Archer, C.R. (2018) Senescent declines in elite tennis players are similar across the sexes. Behavioral Ecology 29:1357-1358. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ary112 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2017

Archer, C. R., Orr, T. and Hosken, D. J. (2017) Sperm competition and cryptic female choice in bats. Frontiers in Reproductive Science, Bentham E-Books, Ch 7, 119-147.

Archer, C.R., Stephens, R.M., Sharma, M.D. and Hosken, D.J. (2017) The Drosophila simulans Y chromosome interacts with the autosomes to influence male fitness. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 30:1821-1825. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13141 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Malod, K., Archer, C.R., Hunt, J., Nicolson, S. and Weldon C. (2017) Effects of macronutrient intake on the lifespan and fecundity of the Marula fruit fly, Ceratitis cosyra: extreme lifespan in a host specialist. Ecology and Evolution 7:9808-9817. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3543 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Rapkin, J., Archer, C.R., Grant, C.E., Jensen, K., House, C.M., Wilson, A. and Hunt, J. (2017) Little evidence for intralocus sexual conflict over the optimal intake of nutrients for lifespan and reproduction in the black field cricket Teleogryllus commodus. Evolution 71:2159-2177. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.13299 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2016

Archer, C.R. and Hosken, D. J. (2016) Peacock flies. Invited mini-review, Current Biology 26:R1124-R1126. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.06.069 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Archer, C.R. and Hosken, D. J. (2016) Evolution: Escaping the Inevitability of Ageing. Invited commentary, Current Biology 26:R202-R204. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.01.015 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Bunning, H., Bassett, L., Clowser, C., Rapkin, J., Jensen, K., House, C.M., Archer, C.R. and Hunt, J. (2016) Dietary choice for a balanced nutrient intake increases the mean and reduces the variance in the reproductive performance of male and female cockroaches. Ecology and Evolution 6:4711-4730. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2243 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Salguero-Gómez, R., Jones, O.R., Archer, C.R. et al. (2016) COMADRE: a global database of animal demography. Journal of Animal Ecology 85:371-384. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12482 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2015

Archer, C.R., Hempenstall, S., Royle, N., Selman, C., Willis, S., Rapkin, J., Blount, J. and Hunt, J. (2015) Testing the effects of DL-Alpha-Tocopherol supplementation on oxidative damage, total antioxidant protection and the sex-specific responses of reproductive effort and lifespan to dietary manipulation in Australian field crickets (Teleogryllus commodus). Antioxidants 4:768-792. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox4040768 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Archer, C.R. and Hunt, J. (2015) Understanding the link between sexual selection, sexual conflict and aging using crickets as a model. Experimental Gerontology 71:4-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2015.06.017 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Archer, C.R., Duffy, E., Hosken, D.J., Mokkonen, M., Okada, K., Oku, K., Sharma, M.D. and Hunt, J. (2015) Sex specific effects of natural and sexual selection on the evolution of lifespan and aging in Drosophila simulans. Functional Ecology 29:562-569.  https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12369 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Bunning, H., Rapkin, J., Archer, C.R., Jensen, K. and Hunt, J. (2015) Protein and carbohydrate intake influence sperm number and fertility in male cockroaches but not sperm viability. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282:20142144. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.2144 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Okada, K., Archer, C.R., Katsuki, M., Suzaki, Y., Sharma, M.D., House, C. and Hosken, D.J. (2015) Polyandry and fitness in female horned flour beetles (Gnatocerus cornutus). Animal Behaviour 106:11-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.05.008 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Salguero-Gómez, R., Jones, O.R., Archer, C.R., et al. (2015) The COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database: an open online repository for plant demography. Journal of Ecology 103:202-218.  https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12334 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2014

Archer, C.R., K?hler, A. K., Pirk C.W.W., Oosthuizen, V., Apostolides, Z. and Nicolson, S.W. (2014) Antioxidant supplementation can reduce the survival costs of excess amino acid intake in honeybees. Journal of Insect Physiology 71:78-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2014.10.006 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Human, H., Archer, C.R., du Rand, E.E., Pirk C.W.W. and Nicolson, S.W. (2014) Resistance of developing honeybee larvae during chronic exposure to dietary nicotine. Journal of Insect Physiology 69:74-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinsphys.2014.03.012 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

Archer, C.R., Pirk, C.W.W., Wright, G.A. and Nicolson, S.W. (2014) Nutrition affects survival in African honeybees exposed to interacting stressors. Functional Ecology 28:913-923. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24033574 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster) 

Archer, C.R., Carvalheiro, L., Pirk, C.W.W. and Nicolson, S.W. (2014) Economic and ecological implications of geographic bias in pollinator ecology in the light of pollinator declines. Oikos 123:401-407. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.00949.x (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2013

Archer, C.R., Sakaluk, S., Selman, C., Royle N. and Hunt, J. (2013) Oxidative stress and the evolution of sex differences in lifespan and ageing in the decorated cricket Gryllodes sigillatus. Evolution 67:620-634. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01805.x (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2012

Archer, C.R., Zajitschek, F., Sakaluk, S., Royle, N. and Hunt. J. (2012) Sexual selection affects the evolution of lifespan and ageing in the decorated cricket Gryllodes sigillatus. Evolution 66:3088-3100. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01673.x (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)

2009

Archer, C.R., South, S., Selman, C., Royle N. and Hunt, J. (2009) Nutritional geometry provides food for thought. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 64:956-959. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glp069 (externer Link, ?ffnet neues Fenster)