Theme 1: Chemical Ecology and Functional Morphology of Social Insects

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Johan Billen

Research interests include

• functional morphology of pheromone-producing exocrine glands in social insects (ants, bees, wasps and termites, using light and electron microscopy)

• study of the chemical communication in insect societies and the way in which they organise themselves

• GC/MS analysis of pheromones involved in social behaviour in insect societies

List of ongoing research projects

Publication list

Theme 2: Social Evolution

Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Tom Wenseleers

My research interests include

• social evolution and the evolution of conflict and cooperation in insect societies and interspecific mutualisms (e.g. ants & aphids)

• sociogenomics (collaboration with Peter Verleyen, Liliane Schoofs and Dirk de Graaf)

• sociomicrobiology (using Pseudomonas and yeast as key model systems, collaboration with Jan Michiels, Kevin Verstrepen and Luc de Meester)

• honeybee diseases (a project on deformed wing virus is ongoing) (collaboration with Peter Verleyen, Dirk de Graaf and Beeologics)

• human cooperation, sociobiology & cultural evolution (collaboration with Andreas de Block and Siegfried Dewitte)

• swarm intelligence and swarm robotics (collaboration with Marco Dorigo and Tom Holvoet, among others)

Among the techniques we use are video-assisted behavioural observation, theoretical modelling (game theory, population genetic and inclusive fitness models, individual-based models), microsatellite genotyping and microarray analysis (in collaboration with the MicroArray Facilty). As model systems we use honeybees, stingless bees, Vespine wasps, ants and aphids (and most recently also social spiders, Pseudomonas, yeast and robot swarms).

For more information check out Tom Wenseleers' homepage.

List of ongoing research projects

Publication list