Hello Sylvia Cremer who is a Marie Curie fellow is Koos Boomsma's Lab in Copenhagen will be visiting me this week. She will give a talk on her work. The title and abstract is below. The work contains both genetical and ecological (parasitology) data so should be of wide interest. Sylvia's background can be seen here http://www.bi.ku.dk/staff/staff-vip-details.asp?ID=94

The talk is at 12.15 in Pt302. On the afternoon of the 15th we will have a Barbecue in the Animal House (Zoo) from 4pm onwards. This is also for Marianne Elias who is leaving Oulu at the end of June and myself who is leaving Oulu at the end of July (though I will definitely come back for visits).

Hope to see you at the talk and at the Barbecue.

Kiitos

David

Origin of the invasive garden ant, Lasius neglectus

Lasius neglectus is the newest discovered pest ant species, and is only known to exist the last 15 years. Due to its cold resistance, it is the only pest ant in Northern Europe and has successfully established at least 50 populations in this short period.

Because no native populations of this species are known so far, we try to determine its geographic and phylogenetic origin. Traditional methods for taxonomy are difficult to apply since Lasius neglectus is morphologically extremely similar to other Lasius species (leading to its name). We therefore combine morphological and phylogenetic methods with a chemotaxonomic approach.

Not only the species origin, but also the origin of "invasive characters" is poorly understood in L. neglectus and other invasive ants, which all share a major transition in social organisation: a complete loss of territorial aggression (unicoloniality). We try to approach this problem by studying the genetic population structure and chemical communication of L. neglectus and its closest, non-invasive relative, L. turcicus.

Finally, it is discussed how the capacity to avoid disease infection and transmission could contribute to the high success of this new invasive species.

********************************************************************************************************************************************************************* David Hughes Department of Biology University of Oulu 90014 Oulu Finland Ph: + 358 8 5531791 *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

********************************************************************************************************************************************************************* David Hughes Department of Biology University of Oulu 90014 Oulu Finland Ph: + 358 8 5531791 *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************