EU-TMR Research Network on Social
Evolution
 |
Research on Behavioural
Ecology
of Social
Insects
in Würzburg,
Germany
|
Research at the Department of Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology at
the University of Würzburg centres around
the investigation of social insect behaviour, from the neurological and
physiological level up to the the level of the colony and the population.
Involvement in the TMR-network, in close collaboration with the Universit
y
of Erlangen, focuses on the behaviour and sociogenetic organisation
of a variety of ant species, with particular emphasis on species in the
genus Leptothorax and on ponerine ants.
Part of a Leptothorax rugatulus
colony, showing a number of queens.
The department employs sophisticated techniques in the detailed analysis
of behaviour, especially communication, as well as using microsatellite
and mitochondrial DNA methods to address genetic aspects of social structure.
The Department of Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology is one of the
world's largest university departments devoted entirely to the study of
social insects, with 7 permanent faculty members, 4 postdoctoral fellows,
around 18 PhD students and 5 technical staff. Apart from the EU TMR program,
the department is funded by the Deutsche Forschungs-Gemeinschaft. The
Wurzburg-Erlangen
group organised and hosted the second network-workshop in October 1997.
Persons at Würzburg connected
with research relevant to the TMR network:
Professor Bert
Hölldobler
-
Dr Roger Lowe (EU-TMR postdoc)
-
Dr Jürgen Liebig (Postdoc)
-
Klaus Schilder (PhD student)
-
Brigitte Trunzer (PhD student)
-
Olav Rüppell (PhD student)
-
Vincent Dietemann (PhD student)
-
Kerstin Kolmer (PhD student)
-
Adrienne Gerber (technician)
Persons at Erlangen connected with
research relevant to the TMR network:
Professor Jürgen
Heinze
-
Jutta Tentschert (PhD student)
-
Björn Oberstadt (PhD student)
-
Sylvia Cremer (PhD student)
-
Michaela Strätz (PhD student)
-
Anna Hartmann (PhD student)
-
Christoph Strehl (Diploma student)
-
Carsten Schröder (Diploma student)
Current projects of the
Würzburg-Erlangen
group, relevant to the TMR network:
-
Pleometrosis and dominance hierarchies in the ponerine ant Pachychondyla
villosa (Brigitte Trunzer, PhD project)
-
Leptothorax gredleri behaviour and chemical communication, particularly
Dufours gland substancces (Björn Oberstadt, PhD project)
-
Sex ratios in Leptothorax nylanderi (Michaela Strätz, PhD project;
Christoph Strehl, Diploma project)
-
Sociogenetic aspects of polygyny in Leptothorax muscorum (Roger
Lowe)
A laboratory nest housing a
small
colony of Leptothorax
muscorum.
-
Dominance hierarchies and rank recognition in the ponerine ant Harpegnathus
saltator (Jürgen Liebig)
-
Evolutionary origins of parasitic behaviour within the Aculeata (Roger
Lowe, in collaboration with Firenze)
-
Thelytoky in the nearctic ponerine ant Platytheria punctata (Klaus
Schilder, PhD project)
-
Chemical substances used in the formation of hierarchies and rank recognition
(Jutta Tentschert, PhD project)
-
Evolution of life histories and reproductive tactics in ants (Jürgen
Heinze)
-
Evolution of queen control in ponerines, myrmeciines and nothomyrmeciines
(Vincent Dietemann, PhD project)
A queen of Myrmecia forficata
soliciting a trophic egg from a worker
-
Reproductive conflict in Pachychondyla villosa (Kerstin Kolmer,
PhD project)
-
Queen size dimorphism in the nearctic myrmicine Leptothorax rugatulus
(Olav Rüppell, PhD project)
-
Male reproductive tactics in ants (Sylvia Cremer, PhD project)
-
Quantification of the precision of behaviour estimates derived from different
sampling techniques (Roger Lowe)
-
Competition in Leptothorax ants (Carsten Schröder, Diploma
Project)
-
Reproductive skew and sex ratios in Leptothorax acervorum (Anna
Hartmann, PhD project)
Written by Roger Lowe
Web design by Kath Lowe
last updated: 27/1/99
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