Alex Moss

Ph.D Student
Greene & Swallow labs

When: Nov. 13, 2023 at 10:00am
Where: SI 4127

"The Rise of the Greedy Ant, Tetramorium immigrans (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)"

Invasive species represent an evolutionary quandary: how are introduced organisms able to outcompete native species when in theory they ought to be more poorly adapted to local conditions?  One possibility is that the ecosystem has been altered by human activity, and that what appears to be success in a novel environment is actually their exploitation of a newly-created niche similar to their home range.  My thesis investigates one particularly successful invasive species, the pavement at Tetramorium immigrans, and how its “greedy” recruitment strategy and abiotic preferences have combined to make it an ideal tenant of the expanding urban environment.

Everyone is welcome to attend.