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ViewAttendees 16

Program Symposium

Entomology for All: Diverse Speakers Showcasing Chemoreception in Diverse Insects

7: Social Sniffers: Decoding of olfaction in ants and fireflies

Thursday, November 19, 2020
11:45 AM - 12:05 PM EST
Livestream
Insect social interactions like aggregation, mating, and colony communication are largely driven by chemical signals and cues, and the reliable detection of such semiochemicals is mediated by the specific activation of olfactory receptors in the antennae and other chemosensory tissues. In the Indian jumping ant, Harpegnathos saltator, we share our current work to understand how molecular evolution has shaped odorant receptor (OR) function in a primitively eusocial ant. Additionally, we present our efforts to identify and characterize ORs from diurnal fireflies that are believed to use sex pheromones as the adults do not produce the well-known flash patterns of nocturnal relatives. Both projects examine how the rapid evolutionary processes found in insect OR families can lead to functional diversification that enables specific and effective communication between conspecifics.