Animal Behaviour

Animal behaviour research focuses on, behavioral integration and organization in the social insects.The organization and evolution of hierarchical biological systems. Self-organization and emergent group-level behavior. Artificial-life and the application of decentralized computer simulations.

• Nest-weaving ants of Australia: a unique system to study the evolution of social organization. A combination of behavioral, biogeographic, ecological and molecular phylogenetic approaches to examine the evolution of one of the most complex behaviors demonstrated by social insects, the construction of arboreal nests from the silk produced by their own larvae. Dr Simon Robson

• Evolutionary genetics of the immune system in ants. Studies of the relationship between disease resistance, genomic evolution and host and parasite ecology. Dr Simon Robson

• Biochemical methods of age determination in insects. This project involves assessing and refining the utility of two biochemical markers, lipofuscins and pteridines, as indicators of age in free-living individual insects. Dr Simon Robson

• Socioecology of the primitively eusocial wasp genus Ropalidia. Ongoing studies of the reproductive biology, ecology and social systems of this locally abundant and important group of wasps. Dr Simon Robson

• Socioecology of the world's only intertidal ant, Polyrhachis sokolova. Dr Simon Robson

• Queen number and queen dimorphism in arboreal ants (Polyrhachis robsoni) Dr Simon Robson

• Computer simulations and social insect foraging dynamics. These studies involve both behavioral and simulation approaches to examine the dynamics of the complex-group-foraging patterns demonstrated by a variety of social insects, including subterranean termites and mass recruiting ants. The manner in which complex group behavior emerges from the interactions of numerous yet simple individuals has implications for a variety of diverse systems, such as the organization of traffic flow, the maintenance of homeostasis and the development of robotics. Dr Simon Robson