Extreme Sociality: Supercolonies of the Invasive Argentine Ant

Social insects dominate many terrestrial ecosystems by forming sophisticated and cooperative colonies. One species, the invasive Argentine ant, has taken this sociality to an extreme – forming massive "supercolonies" across hundreds, or sometimes thousands, of kilometers. Recent studies using synthetic ant pheromones, genomics, behavioral experiments, and old-fashioned field-work have reveal some of the inner workings of these massive societies, and provided explanations for their origin.

Speaker: Neil Tsutsui, UC Berkeley

Room 100