Simon Tierney
School of Biological Sciences
Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology
I am an Evolutionary Ecologist interested in transitions in animal behaviour. I use molecular tool-kits to understand the interplay between whole organisms, their environment and their genes, with a focus on the evolution of insect social organisation and photic niche shifts. My PhD investigated allodapine bees that can switch between solitary and social lifestyles, and I then undertook a series of postdocs exploring neotropical halictine bees that are similarly social, but unusual in their habit of obligate nocturnal foraging. This latter research program developed a parallel interest in vision and my current postdoctoral research involves projects that use high-throughput sequencing to explore the regressive evolution of eye genes in subterranean water beetles; in addition to projects on differential gene expression between queen vs. worker castes and social parasites vs. their hosts (allodapine bees). I have considerable field experience in Australia, the Americas, Africa and Asia.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Behaviour, Ecology, Natural History, Vision, Molecular Evolution, Systematics, Biogeography.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Radio
ABC, Radio National, 28 January 2015.
RN Afternoons, live interview with Michael Mackenzie – “Blind beetles”
News Articles
Science Magazine, ScienceNow – news from Science, 26 July 2011
ScienceShot: A buzz in the dark
ABC, Science Online - Ask an Expert, 18 March 2015
How does evolution explain animals losing vision? Doug Futuyma & Simon Tierney
The Conversation, Science + Technology, 5 February 2015
What blind beetles can teach us about evolution - Simon Tierney (invited contribution)
Entomology Today, Entomological Society of America, 30 January 2015.
Blind Cave Beetles Lack Eyes but Still Have Sight Genes
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2015 - ongoing Lecturer B University of Adelaide 2013 - ongoing Postdoctoral Fellow University of Adelaide 2005 - 2011 Postdoctoral Fellow Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute -
Language Competencies
Language Competency English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review Spanish; Castilian Can read, write, speak and understand spoken -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2000 - 2005 Flinders University Australia PhD 1994 - 1994 Flinders University Australia Honours 1991 - 1993 Flinders University Australia BA
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Journals
Year Citation 2025 Tierney, S. M., Jaumann, S., Hightower, O., & Smith, A. R. (2025). Brain development in a facultatively social allodapine bee aligns with caste, but not group living. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 13, 11 pages.
2025 Bossert, S., & Tierney, S. M. (2025). Origin of obligate dim-light foraging in nomiine sweat bees (Halictidae: Nomiinae), with the description of a new species of Mellitidia. Arthropod Plant Interactions, 19(4), 18 pages.
2025 Tierney, S. M., Jeffries, T. C., & Koch, H. (2025). Microbial Evolution in Allodapine Bees: Perspectives From Trophallactic, Socially Plastic Pollinators. Evolutionary Applications, 18(7), 18 pages.
2024 Bernauer, O. M., Branstetter, M. G., Cook, J. M., & Tierney, S. M. (2024). Functional trait mismatch between native and introduced bee pollinators servicing a global fruit crop. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 24(1), 18 pages.
Scopus12023 Chapman, N. C., Colin, T., Cook, J., da Silva, C. R. B., Gloag, R., Hogendoorn, K., . . . Mikheyev, A. S. (2023). The final frontier: ecological and evolutionary dynamics of a global parasite invasion.. Biology Letters, 19(5), 7 pages.
Scopus24 WoS2 Europe PMC152023 Tierney, S. M., Bernauer, O. M., King, L., Spooner-Hart, R., & Cook, J. M. (2023). Bee pollination services and the burden of biogeography. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 290(2000), 12 pages.
Scopus5 Europe PMC42022 Shokri Bousjein, N., Tierney, S. M., Gardner, M. G., & Schwarz, M. P. (2022). Does effective population size affect rates of molecular evolution: Mitochondrial data for host/parasite species pairs in bees suggests not. Ecology and Evolution, 12(2), 13 pages.
Scopus1 Europe PMC12022 Bernauer, O. M., Cook, J. M., & Tierney, S. M. (2022). Division of foraging behaviour: Assessments of pollinator traits when visiting a model plant species. Animal Behaviour, 188, 169-179.
Scopus7 WoS32022 Langille, B. L., Tierney, S. M., Bertozzi, T., Beasley-Hall, P. G., Bradford, T. M., Fagan-Jeffries, E. P., . . . Cooper, S. J. B. (2022). Parallel decay of vision genes in subterranean water beetles. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 173, 1-9.
Scopus17 WoS4 Europe PMC102022 Bernauer, O. M., Tierney, S. M., & Cook, J. M. (2022). Efficiency and effectiveness of native bees and honey bees as pollinators of apples in New South Wales orchards. Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment, 337, 11 pages.
Scopus32 WoS82022 Beasley-Hall, P. G., Bertozzi, T., Bradford, T. M., Foster, C. S. P., Jones, K., Tierney, S. M., . . . Cooper, S. J. B. (2022). Differential transcriptomic responses to heat stress in surface and subterranean diving beetles. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1-11.
Scopus10 WoS3 Europe PMC52021 Stringer, D., Bertozzi, T., Meusemann, K., Delean, J., Guzik, M., Tierney, S., . . . Austin, A. (2021). Development and evaluation of a custom bait design based on 469 single-copy protein-coding genes for exon capture of isopods (Philosciidae: Haloniscus). PLoS One, 16(9), 1-24.
Scopus2 WoS12021 Bernauer, O. M., Cook, J. M., & Tierney, S. M. (2021). Nesting biology and social organisation of the allodapine bee Exoneura angophorae (Hymenoptera: Apidae): montane environmental constraints yield biased sex allocation yet phenology is unhindered. Insectes Sociaux, 68(4), 337-349.
Scopus9 WoS42021 Freelance, C. B., Tierney, S. M., Rodriguez, J., Stuart-Fox, D. M., Wong, B. B. M., & Elgar, M. A. (2021). The eyes have it: Dim-light activity is associated with the morphology of eyes but not antennae across insect orders. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 134(2), 303-315.
Scopus13 WoS32021 Beasley-Hall, P. G., Bertozzi, T., Bradford, T. M., Foster, C. S. P., Jones, K., Tierney, S. M., . . . Cooper, S. J. B. (2021). Stressed out underground?: Transcriptomics illuminates the genome-wide response to heat stress in surface and subterranean diving beetles.
2020 Langille, B. L., Hyde, J., Saint, K. M., Bradford, T. M., Stringer, D. N., Tierney, S. M., . . . Cooper, S. J. B. (2020). Evidence for speciation underground in diving beetles (Dytiscidae) from a subterranean archipelago. Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution, 75(1), 166-175.
Scopus25 WoS12 Europe PMC72019 Freelance, C. B., Majoe, M., Tierney, S. M., & Elgar, M. A. (2019). Antennal asymmetry is not associated with social behaviour in Australian Hymenoptera. Austral Entomology, 58(3), 589-594.
Scopus7 WoS42019 Langille, B. L., Tierney, S. M., Austin, A. D., Humphreys, W. F., & Cooper, S. J. B. (2019). How blind are they? Phototactic responses in stygobiont diving beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) from calcrete aquifers of Western Australia. Austral Entomology, 58(2), 425-431.
Scopus12 WoS82018 Klopfstein, S., Van Der Schyff, G., Tierney, S., & Austin, A. (2018). Wolbachia infections in Australian ichneumonid parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae): Evidence for adherence to the global equilibrium hypothesis. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 123(3), 518-534.
Scopus7 WoS52018 Dew, R. M., Tierney, S. M., & Schwarz, M. P. (2018). Lack of ovarian skew in an allodapine bee and the evolution of casteless social behaviour. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 30(1), 51-69.
Scopus7 WoS42018 Beasley-Hall, P., Tierney, S., Weinstein, P., & Austin, A. (2018). A revised phylogeny of macropathine cave crickets (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae) uncovers a paraphyletic Australian fauna. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 126, 153-161.
Scopus13 WoS6 Europe PMC62018 Tierney, S. M., Langille, B., Humphreys, W. F., Austin, A. D., & Cooper, S. J. (2018). Massive parallel regression: a précis of genetic mechanisms for vision loss in diving beetles. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 58(3), 465-479.
Scopus15 WoS11 Europe PMC82017 Tierney, S., Friedrich, M., Humphreys, W., Jones, T., Warrant, E., & Wcislo, W. (2017). Consequences of evolutionary transitions in changing photic environments. Austral Entomology, 56(1), 23-46.
Scopus59 WoS432017 Dew, R., Tierney, S., Gardner, M., & Schwarz, M. (2017). Casteless behaviour in social groups of the bee Exoneurella eremophila. Apidologie, 49(2), 1-11.
Scopus4 WoS22016 Dew, R., Tierney, S., & Schwarz, M. (2016). Social evolution and casteless societies: needs for new terminology and a new evolutionary focus. Insectes Sociaux, 63(1), 5-14.
Scopus26 WoS202015 Rehan, S., Tierney, S., & Wcislo, W. (2015). Evidence for social nesting in Neotropical ceratinine bees. Insectes Sociaux, 62(4), 465-469.
Scopus16 WoS152015 Tierney, S., Cooper, S., Saint, K., Bertozzi, T., Hyde, J., Humphreys, W., & Austin, A. (2015). Opsin transcripts of predatory diving beetles: a comparison of surface and subterranean photic niches. Royal Society Open Science, 2(1), 140386-1-140386-12.
Scopus37 WoS29 Europe PMC242013 Smith, J., Chenoweth, L., Tierney, S., & Schwarz, M. (2013). Repeated origins of social parasitism in allodapine bees indicate that the weak form of Emery's rule is widespread, yet sympatric speciation remains highly problematic. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 109(2), 320-331.
Scopus26 WoS25 Europe PMC42013 Tierney, S. M., Fischer, C. N., Rehan, S. M., Kapheim, K. M., & Wcislo, W. T. (2013). Frequency of social nesting in the sweat bee Megalopta genalis (Halictidae) does not vary across a rainfall gradient, despite disparity in brood production and body size. Insectes Sociaux, 60(2), 163-172.
Scopus12 WoS112012 Dew, R., Rehan, S., Tierney, S., Chenoweth, L., & Schwarz, M. (2012). A single origin of large colony size in allodapine bees suggests a threshold event among 50 million years of evolutionary tinkering. Insectes Sociaux, 59(2), 207-214.
Scopus15 WoS142012 Tierney, S., Sanjur, O., Grajales, G., Santos, L., Bermingham, E., & Wcislo, W. (2012). Photic niche invasions: phylogenetic history of the dim-light foraging augochlorine bees (Halictidae). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1729), 794-803.
Scopus28 WoS21 Europe PMC102011 Schwarz, M., Tierney, S., Rehan, S., Chenoweth, L., & Cooper, S. (2011). The evolution of eusociality in allodapine bees: Workers began by waiting. Biology Letters, 7(2), 277-280.
Scopus51 WoS45 Europe PMC192010 Santos, L., Tierney, S., & Wcislo, W. (2010). Nest descriptions of Megalopta aegis (Vachal) and M. guimaraesi Santos & Silveira (Hymenoptera, Halictidae) from the Brazilian Cerrado = Descrição dos ninhos de Megalopta aegis (Vachal) e M. guimaraesi Santos & Silveira (Hymenoptera, Halictidae) do Cerrado. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, 54(2), 332-334.
Scopus9 WoS82009 Wcislo, W., & Tierney, S. (2009). Behavioural environments and niche construction: the evolution of dim-light foraging in bees. Biological Reviews, 84(1), 19-37.
Scopus75 WoS56 Europe PMC292009 Tierney, S., & Schwarz, M. (2009). Reproductive hierarchies in the African allodapine bee Allodapula dichroa (Apidae; Xylocopinae) and ancestral forms of sociality. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 97(3), 520-530.
Scopus13 WoS12 Europe PMC32008 Tierney, S., Gonzales-Ojeda, T., & Wcislo, W. (2008). Biology of a nocturnal bee, Megalopta atra (Hymenoptera: Halictidae; Augochlorini), from the Panamanian highlands. Journal of Natural History, 42(27-28), 1841-1847.
Scopus18 WoS112008 Tierney, S., Gonzales-Ojeda, T., & Wcislo, W. (2008). Nesting biology and social behavior of Xenochlora bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae: Augochlorini) from Perú. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 81(1), 61-72.
Scopus25 WoS192008 Chenoweth, L., Fuller, S., Tierney, S., Park, Y., & Schwarz, M. (2008). Hasinamelissa: a new genus of allodapine bee from Madagascar revealed by larval morphology and DNA sequence data. Systematic Entomology, 33(4), 700-710.
Scopus13 WoS132008 Tierney, S., Smith, J., Chenoweth, L., & Schwarz, M. (2008). Phylogenetics of allodapine bees: a review of social evolution, parasitism and biogeography. Apidologie, 39(1), 3-15.
Scopus29 WoS242007 Chenoweth, L., Tierney, S., Smith, J., Cooper, S., & Schwarz, M. (2007). Social complexity in bees is not sufficient to explain lack of reversions to solitary living over long time scales. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 7(246), WWW 1-WWW 9.
Scopus29 WoS29 Europe PMC142007 Smith, J. A., Tierney, S. M., Park, Y. C., Fuller, S., & Schwarz, M. P. (2007). Origins of social parasitism: The importance of divergence ages in phylogenetic studies. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 43(3), 1131-1137.
Scopus29 WoS26 Europe PMC112006 Schwarz, M., Fuller, S., Tierney, S., & Cooper, S. (2006). Molecular phylogenetics of the exoneurine allodapine bees reveal an ancient and puzzling dispersal from Africa to Australia. Systematic Biology, 55(1), 31-45.
Scopus65 WoS62 Europe PMC372006 Aenmey, T. K., Tierney, S. M., Pillay, N., & Schwarz, M. P. (2006). Nesting biology of an African allodapine bee braunsapis vitrea: Female biased sex allocation in the absence of worker-like behavioural castes. Ethology Ecology and Evolution, 18(3), 205-220.
Scopus11 WoS102005 Fuller, S., Schwarz, M., & Tierney, S. (2005). Phylogenetics of the allodapine bee genus Braunsapis: Historical biogeography and long-range dispersal over water. Journal of Biogeography, 32(12), 2135-2144.
Scopus71 WoS682005 Schwarz, M. P., Tierney, S. M., Zammit, J., Schwarz, P. M., & Fuller, S. (2005). Brood provisioning and colony composition of a Malagasy species of Halterapis: Implications for social evolution in the allodapine bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Xylocopinae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 98(1), 126-133.
Scopus23 WoS25 Europe PMC92004 Schwartz, M., Tierney, S., Cooper, S., & Bull, N. (2004). Molecular phylogenetics of the allodapine bee genus Braunsapis: A-T bias and heterogeneous substitution parameters. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 32(1), 110-122.
Scopus43 WoS44 Europe PMC262003 Tierney, S. M., & Schwarz, M. P. (2003). Taxonomic description of allodapine bees from the Zanzibar archipelago, genus Macrogalea (Hymenoptera: Apidae). African Entomology, 11(2), 199-203.
Scopus1 WoS12002 Tierney, S. M., Schwarz, M. P., Neville, T., & Schwarz, P. M. (2002). Sociality in the phylogenetically basal allodapine bee genus Macrogalea (Apidae: Xylocopinae): Implications for social evolution in the tribe Allodapini. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 76(2), 211-224.
Scopus30 WoS30 Europe PMC92000 Tierney, S. M., Cronin, A. L., Loussert, N., & Schwarz, M. P. (2000). The biology of Brevineura froggatti and phylogenetic conservatism in Australian allodapine bees (Apidae, Allodapini). Insectes Sociaux, 47(1), 96-97.
Scopus27 WoS261998 Neville, T., Schwarz, M. P., & Tierney, S. M. (1998). Biology of a weakly social bee, Exoneura (Exoneurella) setosa (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and implications for social evolution in Australian allodapine bees. Australian Journal of Zoology, 46(3), 221-234.
Scopus17 WoS151997 Tierney, S. M., Schwarz, M. P., & Adams, M. (1997). Social behaviour in an Australian allodapine bee Exoneura (Brevineura) xanthoclypeata (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Australian Journal of Zoology, 45(4), 385-398.
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Book Chapters
Year Citation 2020 Schwarz, M. P., & Tierney, S. M. (2020). Allodapine Bees. In C. K. Starr (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Social Insects (pp. 1-5). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
DOI2009 Wcislo, W., & Tierney, S. (2009). The evolution of communal behavior in bees and wasps: an alternative to eusociality. In J. Gadau, & J. Fewell (Eds.), Organization of insect societies: from genomes to sociocomplexity (pp. 148-169). USA: Harvard University Press. 2006 Schwarz, M. P., Tierney, S. M., & Chapman, T. W. (2006). Phylogenetic analyses of life history traits in allodapine bees and social evolution.. In V. E. Kipyatkov (Ed.), Life Cycles of Social Insects: Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution. (pp. 147-155). St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg University Press. 1997 Neville, T., Schwarz, M. P., & Tierney, S. M. (1997). Life cycle and sociality in an Australian allodapine bee Exoneura (Exoneurella) setosa.. In V. E. Kipyatkov (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Colloquia on Social Insects: Volume 3-4 (pp. 239-246). 1997 Schwarz, M. P., Bull, N. J., Tierney, S. M., Cronin, A. L., & Reyes, S. G. (1997). Social evolution in Hymenoptera - insights from Australian allodapine bees.. In V. E. Kipyatkov (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Colloquia on Social Insects: Volume 3-4. (pp. 11-18). St. Petersburg: Russian Language Section, International Union for the Study of Social Insects; Socium, St. Petersburg. -
Conference Items
Year Citation 2018 Tierney, S. M., Langille, B., Humphreys, W. F., Austin, A. D., & Cooper, S. J. B. (2018). Massive parallel regression: genetic mechanisms for eye loss amongst subterranean diving beetles. Poster session presented at the meeting of INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY. CA, San Francisco: OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC. -
Curated or Produced Public Exhibition or Events
Year Citation 2015 Tierney, S. (2015). International Pint of Science Festival 2015 - Adelaide (No. Of Pieces: Two evening events) [Exhibition]. http://pintofscience.com.au/events/adelaide/. 2014 Tierney, S. M. (2014). The Bees Knees: The importance of pollinators and their recent decline (No. Of Pieces: Seminar) [Exhibition]. Science in the Pub Adelaide. -
Internet Publications
Year Citation 2015 Tierney, S. M. (2015). What blind beetles can teach us about evolution. The Conversation.
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Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2015 - 2020 Co-Supervisor Regressive Evolution of Vision and Speciation in the Subterranean Diving Beetles from Western Australia Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Barbara Langille 2014 - 2019 Co-Supervisor The systematics and biogeographic history of Australian arid zone oniscidean isopods (Philosciidae) Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Danielle Nicole Stringer
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External Profiles
