Global Advances in Ant Phylogenomics

Organizer(s)

• 

  John Longino

  Biology
  University of Utah
  Salt Lake City, Utah

Ants are dominant drivers of ecological and evolutionary processes. With the advent of new phylogenomic methods we are rapidly building a detailed ant phylogeny, from the deepest roots to the shallowest branch tips. Here we report new findings based on phylogenomic data, aiming for a global phylogeny of ants.

Presentations:

• 1:00 PM - 1:05 PM EST

  Introductory remarks
• 1:05 PM - 1:20 PM EST

  Diversity and endemism of Malagasy ants through a phylogenomic lens
  

  Presenting Author: Bonnie B. Blaimer – Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

  Co-Author: Gabriela P. Camacho – California Academy of Sciences

  Co-Author: Ana Carolina Loss – National Institute of Atlantic Forest

  Co-Author: Brian Fisher – California Academy of Sciences
• 1:20 PM - 1:35 PM EST

  Phylogenetic diversity and endemism in Malagasy acrobat ants
  

  Presenting Author: Gabriela P. Camacho – California Academy of Sciences

  Co-Author: Ana Carolina Loss – National Institute of Atlantic Forest

  Co-Author: Brian Fisher – California Academy of Sciences

  Co-Author: Bonnie B. Blaimer – Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
• 1:35 PM - 1:50 PM EST

  Why are some phylogenetic relationships easy and others hard to resolve? A phylogenomic case study in ants
  

  Presenting Author: Marek L. Borowiec – University of Idaho

  Co-Author: Andrea Lucky – University of Florida

  Co-Author: Manuela De Oliveira Ramalho – Cornell University

  Co-Author: Yuanmeng Miles Zhang – University of Edinburgh

  Co-Author: Corrie S. Moreau – Cornell University
• 1:50 PM - 1:55 PM EST

  Break
• 1:55 PM - 2:10 PM EST

  Exploring the evolutionary history of an ancient supergene in Formica ants
  

  Presenting Author: Jessica Purcell – UC Riverside
• 2:10 PM - 2:25 PM EST

  Phylogenetics and the evolution of social parasitism in ants
  

  Presenting Author: Christian Rabeling
• 2:25 PM - 2:40 PM EST

  The chronicles of Nylanderia: Globetrotter phylogenomics and integrative species delimitation
  

  Presenting Author: Andrea Lucky – University of Florida

  Co-Author: Jason Lee Williams – University of Florida

  Co-Author: Yuanmeng Miles Zhang – University of Edinburgh

  Co-Author: John S. LaPolla – Towson University

  Co-Author: Brandon Mai – Entomology & Nematology Department, University of Florida

  Co-Author: Ted R. Schultz – Smithsonian Institution
• 2:40 PM - 2:45 PM EST

  Break
• 2:45 PM - 3:00 PM EST

  A phylogenomic approach to understanding the symbiosis between Acropyga ants and xenococcine mealybugs
  

  Presenting Author: John S. LaPolla

  Co-Author: Sean Brady – National Museum of Natural History

  Co-Author: Dietrich Gotzek – National Museum of Natural History

  Co-Author: Scott Schneider – USDA Agricultural Research Service
• 3:00 PM - 3:15 PM EST

  Middle America ant biogeography revealed: Highlights of Project ADMAC
  

  Presenting Author: John T. Longino – University of Utah

  Co-Author: Michael G. Branstetter, Ph.D. – USDA-ARS Pollinating Insects Research Unit
• 3:15 PM - 3:30 PM EST

  Unraveling the phylogeny and biogeography of Dorymyrmex, a New World amphitropical disjunct
  

  Presenting Author: Jill Oberski – University of California Davis
• 3:30 PM - 3:35 PM EST

  Break
• 3:35 PM - 3:50 PM EST

  The evolutionary history of the ant genus Discothyrea Roger, with special focus on the Malagasy fauna
  

  Presenting Author: Flavia Esteves

  Co-Author: Brian Fisher – California Academy of Sciences
• 3:50 PM - 4:05 PM EST

  Evolution of turtle ants
  

  Presenting Author: Benjamin D. Blanchard – N/A

  Co-Author: Corrie S. Moreau – Cornell University

  Co-Author: Shauna Price – Loyola University Chicago

  Co-Author: Scott Powell – Montana State University

  Co-Author: Bonnie B. Blaimer – Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
• 4:05 PM - 4:10 PM EST

  Closing remarks