- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
DAVIS--Neil Tsutsui, associate professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, UC Berkeley, will focus on Argentine ants when he speaks on "Integrating Chemical Ecology and Genetics to Illuminate the Behavior of an Invasive Social Insect," at his seminar on Wednesday, Jan. 8, hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
The seminar, the first of the winter quarter, is from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs. Host is Brian Johnson, assistant professor and coordinator of the winter quarter seminars. Plans call for video-recording the seminar for later posting on UCTV.
“Some of the most damaging invasive species are social insects, and the Argentine ant ranks as one of the most widespread and abundant,” Tsutsui says in his abstract. “As is true for social insects generally, many of the key behaviors and biological processes that underlie the success of Argentine ants are regulated by sophisticated chemical signaling.”
“In recent years, my lab group has been investigating the identity, production, and perception of these chemical signals using tools from chemical ecology, genomics, and functional genetics. Our research has produced insights into how these ants coordinate their behavior, reproduction, and foraging, and suggests potential new methods for their control."
On his website, Tsutsui says: “The research in our lab focuses on ants and bees--how they communicate, why they behave the ways they do, their ecology, and their evolution. We work in both the field and the lab, using a variety of different approaches.”
Tsutsui joined the UC Berkeley faculty in July 2007. He earlier was an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC San Diego. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology, specializing in marine science, from Boston University in 1995, and his doctorate in biology from UC San Diego in 2000.
Winter Seminars:
List of winter quarter speakers