I've only just started reading Empire of Ants by Susanne Foitzik and Olaf Fritsche and I'm already awash with fascination.

Things I've learned:

- An ant queen can live up to 30 years!
- Worker ants of some species can live up to eight years (in laboratory conditions)
- The queen mates once (or several times) on her "nuptial flight" and collects all the sperm she will require to fertilise eggs for the rest of her life
- A queen may produce up to 150 million offspring in her lifetime!
- Ants do not see daylight until the latter stage of their life; they progress through roles starting in the nursery and ending with foraging / hunting
- It's estimated that only one out of every 10,000 young queens is successful in founding a new nest

#ants#myrmecology #entomology

If you're willing to poke around underground, you might find some truly weird ants. Like these Syscia madrensis, whose blind, wormlike bodies are ideal for hunting in tight spaces. Arizona.
#Ants#Insects#Dorylinae#Syscia

2-year Postdoc Position: Evolution and Organization of Ant Olfactory Systems

– in Carlotta Martelli's lab at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany.

https://mrtlllab.uni-mainz.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/PostDoc-Position-Neuro-Ants-150125.pdf

"The ideal candidate should have a strong background in bioinformatics, ideally with practical or theoretical experience in single-cell transcriptomics or comparative genomics. A keen interest in neurobiology is essential. Additional skills in evolutionary biology, insect handling, and programming (preferably in Python) would be advantageous, but are not mandatory."

Position still open!

#ants#PhDJobs#postdocJob #neuroscience #entomology #olfaction #bioinformatics