Heather Hines

Associate Professor of Biology and Entomology

208 Mueller Lab
University Park, PA
hmh19@psu.edu
814-863-8830

Research Summary

Applies genomic, transcriptomic, phylogenomic, and bioinformatic approaches to study the evolution and genetics of diverse traits in bees and wasps. This includes study of mimetic color diversification, plant gall induction, novel morphologies, speciation, and social evolution.

Huck Affiliations

Publication Tags

Color Genes Bombus Hymenoptera Bees Butterflies Gene Insects Honey Phenotype Parasites Genomics Genome Bee Social Parasitism Pheomelanin Sampling Pigmentation Melanins Queen Insects Inquilinism Mimicry (Behavior) Secretion Honey Bees Phylogeny

Most Recent Papers

Inverse dispersal patterns in a group of ant parasitoids (Hymenoptera

Austin J. Baker, John M. Heraty, Jason Mottern, Junxia Zhang, Heather M. Hines, Alan R. Lemmon, Emily Moriarty Lemmon, 2020, Systematic Entomology on p. 1-19

Unsupervised machine learning reveals mimicry complexes in bumblebees occur along a perceptual continuum

Briana D. Ezray, Drew C. Wham, Carrie E. Hill, Heather M. Hines, 2019, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Ecology and evolution of cuckoo bumble bees

Patrick Lhomme, Heather M. Hines, 2019, Annals of the Entomological Society of America on p. 122-140

A homeotic shift late in development drives mimetic color variation in a bumble bee

Li Tian, Sarthok Rasique Rahman, Briana D. Ezray, Luca Franzini, James P. Strange, Patrick Lhomme, Heather M. Hines, 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 11857-11865

Reproductive Dominance Strategies in Insect Social Parasites

Patrick Lhomme, Heather M. Hines, 2018, Journal of Chemical Ecology on p. 1-13

The cephalic labial gland secretions of two socially parasitic bumblebees Bombus hyperboreus (Alpinobombus) and Bombus inexspectatus (Thoracobombus) question their inquiline strategy

Nicolas Brasero, Baptiste Martinet, Thomas Lecocq, Patrick Lhomme, Paolo Biella, Irena Valterová, Klára Urbanová, Maurizio Cornalba, Heather Hines, Pierre Rasmont, 2018, Insect Science on p. 75-86

Morphological characterization and staging of bumble bee pupae

Li Tian, Heather M. Hines, 2018, PeerJ

Queens and workers contribute differently to adaptive evolution in bumble bees and honey bees

Brock A. Harpur, Alivia Dey, Jennifer R. Albert, Sani Patel, Heather M. Hines, Martin Hasselmann, Laurence Packer, Amro Zayed, 2017, Genome biology and evolution on p. 2395-2402

Melanic variation underlies aposematic color variation in two hymenopteran mimicry systems

Heather M. Hines, Paige Witkowski, Joseph S. Wilson, Kazumasa Wakamatsu, 2017, PloS one

Complex modular architecture around a simple toolkit of wing pattern genes

Steven M. Van Belleghem, Pasi Rastas, Alexie Papanicolaou, Simon H. Martin, Carlos F. Arias, Megan A. Supple, Joseph J. Hanly, James Mallet, James J. Lewis, Heather M. Hines, Mayte Ruiz, Camilo Salazar, Mauricio Linares, Gilson R.P. Moreira, Chris D. Jiggins, Brian A. Counterman, W. Owen McMillan, Riccardo Papa, 2017, Nature Ecology and Evolution

Most-Cited Papers

Butterfly genome reveals promiscuous exchange of mimicry adaptations among species

Kanchon K. Dasmahapatra, James R. Walters, Adriana D. Briscoe, John W. Davey, Annabel Whibley, Nicola J. Nadeau, Aleksey V. Zimin, Camilo Salazar, Laura C. Ferguson, Simon H. Martin, Camilo Salazar, James J. Lewis, Sebastian Adler, Seung Joon Ahn, Dean A. Baker, Simon W. Baxter, Nicola L. Chamberlain, Chauhan Ritika, Brian A. Counterman, Tamas Dalmay, Lawrence E. Gilbert, Karl Gordon, David G. Heckel, Heather M. Hines, Katharina J. Hoff, Peter W.H. Holland, Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly, Francis M. Jiggins, Robert T. Jones, Durrell D. Kapan, Paul Kersey, Gerardo Lamas, Daniel Lawson, Daniel Mapleson, Luana S. Maroja, Arnaud Martin, Simon Moxon, William J. Palmer, Riccardo Papa, Alexie Papanicolaou, Yann ick Pauchet, David A. Ray, Neil Rosser, Steven L. Salzberg, Megan A. Supple, Alison Surridge, Ayse Tenger-Trolander, Heiko Vogel, Paul A. Wilkinson, Derek Wilson, 2012, Nature on p. 94-98

Wing patterning gene redefines the mimetic history of Heliconius butterflies

Heather M. Hines, Brian A. Counterman, Riccardo Papa, Priscila Albuquerque De Moura, Marcio Z. Cardoso, Mauricio Linares, James Mallet, Robert D. Reed, Chris D. Jiggins, Marcus R. Kronforst, W. Owen McMillan, 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on p. 19666-19671

Complex modular architecture around a simple toolkit of wing pattern genes

Genomic architecture of adaptive color pattern divergence and convergence in Heliconius butterflies

Megan A. Supple, Heather M. Hines, Kanchon K. Dasmahapatra, James J. Lewis, Dahlia M. Nielsen, Christine Lavoie, David A. Ray, Camilo Salazar, W. Owen McMillan, Brian A. Counterman, 2013, Genome research on p. 1248-1257

Transcriptome analysis reveals novel patterning and pigmentation genes underlying Heliconius butterfly wing pattern variation

Heather M. Hines, Riccardo Papa, Mayte Ruiz, Alexie Papanicolaou, Charles Wang, H. F. Nijhout, W. O. McMillan, Robert D. Reed, 2012, BMC genomics

Mimetic colour pattern evolution in the highly polymorphic Bombus trifasciatus (Hymenoptera

Heather M. Hines, Paul H. Williams, 2012, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society on p. 805-826

The phylogenetic position of the bumble bee inquiline Bombus inexspectatus and implications for the evolution of social parasitism

H. M. Hines, S. A. Cameron, 2010, Insectes Sociaux on p. 379-383

Melanic variation underlies aposematic color variation in two hymenopteran mimicry systems

Heather M. Hines, Paige Witkowski, Joseph S. Wilson, Kazumasa Wakamatsu, 2017, PloS one

Malagasy Conostigmus (Hymenoptera

István Mikó, Carolyn Trietsch, Emily L. Sandall, Matthew Jon Yoder, Heather Hines, Andrew Robert Deans, 2016, PeerJ

Queens and workers contribute differently to adaptive evolution in bumble bees and honey bees

Brock A. Harpur, Alivia Dey, Jennifer R. Albert, Sani Patel, Heather M. Hines, Martin Hasselmann, Laurence Packer, Amro Zayed, 2017, Genome biology and evolution on p. 2395-2402

News Articles Featuring Heather Hines

Feb 11, 2020

Climate Change Has Driven Serious Declines in World’s Bumblebees

The number of habitats in North America that bumblebees occupy has fallen by almost 50 percent

Full Article

Feb 06, 2020

Bumblebees Are Going Extinct In A Time of Climate Chaos

Loss of the vital pollinators, due in part to temperature extremes and fluctuations, could have dire consequences for ecosystems and agriculture.

Full Article

May 01, 2019

How The Bumble Bee Got Its Stripes

Researchers have discovered a gene that drives color differences within a species of bumble bees. This discovery helps to explain the highly diverse color patterns among bumble bee species as well as how mimicry — individuals in an area adopting similar color patterns — evolves.

Full Article

May 01, 2019

Researchers Identify ‘Color Switch’ Gene in Black-Tailed Bumblebees

Penn State researcher Heather Hines and colleagues investigated the genetic basis of color in the black-tailed bumblebee, which exhibits two regional color patterns.

Full Article