Research by the Lablettes extends from 3 core areas;
1. We're figuring out how!
2. We're figuring out more about these native pollinators!
3.
The Insect Behaviour and Ecology lab, affectionately called the Latty Lab (after our glorious leader Tanya Latty), specialises in saving the world with insects (and slimes, molluscs, arachnids - basically anything we think is interesting and cool). Collective behaviour and swarm intelligence - think ants, bees and slimes solving incredibly complex tasks with their tiny brains. Ecology and behaviou
24/12/2020
Nature detectives in the backyard: 3 science activities for curious kids this summer Summer holidays are a great way to explore local nature. You can grow some slime moulds, become a pollinator analyst, or make caterpillars and find out who is hanging out in your backyard.
01/12/2020
Today Caitlyn rounded out our representatives at the ESA conference with her talk "Testing the impact of Phantom Alternatives on floral choice by Bumblebees, Bombus impatiens". As the majority of talks were prerecorded it meant we could capture inception style moments of Caitlyn watching her own talk. It also meant she was able to ask herself questions and praise the quality of the presentation and the speaker.
Congratulations to all our speakers, and to everyone at the conference so far, the talks have been interesting, engaging, and informative.
30/11/2020
Congratulations to our honours students Keeley Dart and Costa Theodore completing their final presentations for their honours. It's been a testing year and they've managed to create great works regardless AND presented great talks handling the questions like pros. These students are ready for the big leagues!
Well done to both of you and to celebrate here is a great picture from Costa's talk showing the d***y head of a larvae close up!
30/11/2020
We've got some great representation at the Ecological Society of Australia conference, two great talks today and a third tomorrow and the quality has been high.
Well done to our speakers, but also all the presenters who have given great engaging talks despite the challenges of this year and the saturation of zoom talks for us all!
Today
Yolanda Hanusch: Crops, weeds, and exotic insectary plants: beyond introduced bee benefits?
Manuel Lequerica: Diversity and abundance of urban hoverflies is associated with local–rather than landscape– scale attributes
Tomorrow
Caitlyn Forster: Testing the impact of Phantom Alternatives on floral choice by Bumblebees, Bombus impatiens
27/10/2020
In a time of fake news it's fitting that we came across a paper on how inaccurate language in the media can negatively influence the understanding of the science being reported. This paper is creatively written with some interesting statements regarding the utility of metaphors in science communication.
As this paper was specifically about parasite-host relationships, we started looking at our own research to see where such language is having potentially negative impacts. The discussion about attributing personality to animals is always a contentious one, which reminded us of some pretty *interesting* papers on ants being young, lazy, and fat.... a dangerous misinterpretation of the role of repletes and extra workers utilised in particular situations.
Are there any misleading terms used in your research? Or is there some media reported science you have believed to be true but perhaps question it deep down as it sounds a little too good to be true, or a little sensationalised?
When fiction becomes fact: exaggerating host manipulation by parasites | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences In an era where some find fake news around every corner, the use of sensationalism has inevitably found its way into the scientific literature. This is especially the case for host manipulation by ...
12/10/2020
As agreed upon by our lab members, this is perhaps the most beautiful cockroach that we've seen. It also seems these cockroaches (of the Melyroidea group) wanted to be ants when it comes to their social behaviour.
This weeks discussion paper elaborated on an enigmatic species of cockroach that demonstrates a eusocial life strategy. That is, much like ants, they have a queen, works, live in a large nest, and work together to tend the young. This is the first known example of a cockroach to do this, though I'm sure some renters in "interesting" suburbs may claim different with their local infestations!
Read more below, and a news article follows
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-020-01694-x
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2256067-cockroach-species-found-to-live-like-ants-with-workers-and-a-queen/
Neotropical Melyroidea group cockroaches reveal various degrees of (eu)sociality Eusociality in its various degrees represents an animal social system characterised by cooperative brood care, differentiation into castes and generational overlap. The fossil record indicates that eusociality is likely to have originated in hymenopterans and blattodeans during the Cretaceous. In th...
08/09/2020
Yay! Well done everyone who entered, some truly amazing videos, and big congratulations to Francisco!
Congratulations Francisco for winning the visualise your thesis competition! A really nice video on how far native bees will fly for love 💕
19/08/2020
Are you looking for some late night/early morning bug action? Check out the North Carolina Museum of Natural History's BugFest! The pros of a pandemic, so much has gone virtual and free making science and knowledge more accessible than before! Check it out and then check out which invertebrates are hanging out in your backyard!
BugFest: A Virtual Infestation! | Programs and Events Calendar This year BugFest will go online … a Virtual Infestation! Join us as we interact with entomologists from North Carolina and around the world to learn about the fascinating world of bugs. We will have SIX days of buggy adventures as we celebrate our theme arthropod … THE FLY!
Next up is a wonderful piece on the not so well known Australian pollinators, the hoverfly! Seems the don't mind the inner-city life, nor do they mind the winters! Another great piece from our lab member Manuel. Don't forget to vote if you have a usyd email address.
First up, a beautiful entry from Francisco Garcia Bulle Bueno! Francisco has been finding out more and more about the adorable native Australian bee, Tetragonula carbonaria, also known as the sugar bag bee. Check out some of his research in 60 seconds!
19/08/2020
Visualise your thesis is on again! This is an international competition that challenges graduate researchers to summarise their research in an engaging, 60-second visual multimedia presentation. This year we have two students from our lab with, frankly incredible entries! If you have a usyd email address you can vote for your favourite, we'll be sharing the videos from our students but check out the others in the competition, the calibre is high!
Visualise Your Thesis Competition Entries Read the full record details for Collection: Visualise Your Thesis Competition Entries