Abstract

Insects are able to perform complex behaviours like elaborated courtship rituals in flies and advanced division of work in ant societies. Males and females often behave differently. This is because of differences in neuronal connectivity within their brains, which is also true for fruit flies. How are these differences established during development? Erika will discuss her approach to try and answer this question at a molecular level.

In ant colonies no single ant, not even the queen, organizes the society or decides what work each worker should do. Danielle will show you how she could reveal some of the organizing principles in these societies by tracking the behaviour of individual ants. She will also show that contrary to the general dogma of collective decisions, sometimes there is no communication and it is the most hard-working individuals that impose their decision on the colony.