Schedule for the NAS – IUSSI meeting (Thursday – Sunday, 7-10 October, 2004)

Thursday – travel day; check in at Camp Tontozona, dinner and refreshments

Friday – talks during the day, followed by business meeting; evening poster session

Saturday – talks during the day; evening mixer

Sunday – travel day; breakfast, followed by departure for the airport or field trip

Transportation from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport to Camp Tontozona, and return trip to the airport

Camp Tontozona is an approximately 2-2.5 hour drive from the Phoenix airport. To help us plan transportation, it would be extremely helpful if you could arrive at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport by 4:00 P.M. on Thursday 7 October. Following the meeting, we plan to have vans leave for the airport immediately after breakfast on Sunday 10 October; vans would arrive at the airport by about 11:00-11:30 A.M. Please keep these times in mind when booking your flight. We will be able to accommodate those that cannot travel within these time frames, but we would greatly appreciate your assistance in trying to stay within these time frames. Please email Bob Johnson (atraj@imap1.asu.edu) your arrival and departure times at Sky Harbor Airport so that we can coordinate transportation.

THURSDAY EVENING, 7 October

Transportation from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport; arrival & check-in at Camp Tontozona.

7:00-8:30 DINNER (in Dining Hall) followed by open time and mixer (late meals will be provided if needed) – after dinner mixer in Tall Pines Lodge

FRIDAY, 8 October

6:30-8:00 – BREAKFAST (Dining Hall)

NOTE THAT ALL TALKS WILL BE GIVEN IN THE DINING HALL

INTRODUCTORY PROGRAM (abstracts for talks & posters)

Morning moderator - Robert Johnson

8:00 Introductory remarks

8:10 Keynote address: Boomsma, Jacobus J. (University of Copenhagen)

Symbiont conflict in Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants

8:40 Open discussion

Future research directions for social insects

SESSION 1. REPRODUCTION AND STRUCTURE OF SOCIAL INSECT COLONIES

Friday, 9:15 am to 12:00 pm

9:15 Fefferman, Nina H. (Tufts University)

A modeling approach to swarming in honey bees (Apis mellifera)

9:30 Visscher, P. Kirk (University of California, Riverside)

How do bees in a honey bee swarm know when their group decision among nest sites is completed?

9:45 DeHeer, Christopher J. (North Carolina State University)

Relatedness and population structure of tandem pairs during mating flights of the termites Reticulitermes flavipes and R. virginicus

10:00 BREAK

10:30 Howard, Kenneth (University of Wisconsin)

Relationship of fat content, propagule numbers, and nest density to queen size in the queen size-dimorphic ant Leptothorax longispinosus

10:45 Pratt, Stephen (Princeton University)

A tradeoff between speed and accuracy of collective nest site choice by ants

11:00 Gunnels, Charles W., IV (University of Florida)

Can the ecological constraints model inform us about nesting tactics in a primitively eusocial wasp, Mischocyttarus mexicanus?

11:15 Nonacs, Peter (University of California, Los Angeles)

Reproductive skew, assured fitness returns and the evolution of cooperation in Hymenoptera

11:30 Heller, Nicole E. (Stanford University)

Colony structure of the unicolonial, invasive Argentine ant

11:45 Vargo, Ed (North Carolina State University)

The breeding system and population genetic structure of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes grassei in southern France

12:00-1:30 LUNCH (Dining Hall)

SESSION 2. SEX RATIO AND WORKER-QUEEN CONFLICT

Afternoon moderator – Jennifer Fewell

Friday, 1:30 pm to 2:15 pm

1:30 Burns, Ian (University of Minnesota)

Reproductive conflict in Bombus impatiens colonies

1:45 Lubertazzi, David (University of Connecticut)

Population level sex ratio expression in Aphaenogaster rudis (Formicidae): observed variation and its implications

2:00 Liebert, Aviva E. (Tufts University)

Triploid females and diploid males in the model wasp genus Polistes

SESSION 3. DIVISION OF LABOR

Friday, 2:15 pm to 3:15 pm

2:15 Hurd, Christine R. (University of Wisconsin)

Division of labor in Vespula germanica wasps: a generalist strategy

2:30 Jeanson, Raphael (Arizona State University)

Emergence of task specializaton in halictine bees

2:45 Beshers, Samuel N. (University of Illinois)

Undertaking and colony design in Atta colombica

3:00 Toth, Amy L. (University of Illinois)

Division of labor and nutrition: a comparative genomics perspective

3:15 BREAK

SESSION 4. CASTE AND CASTE DETERMINATION

Friday, 3:45 to 5:00 pm

3:45 Helms Cahan, Sara (University of Vermont)

Reproductive isolation between hybridogenetic and non-hybridogenetic forms of the harvester ant Pogonomyrmex rugosus

4:00 Julian, Glennis E. (University of Texas, Austin)

Why be a hybrid? Behavioral differences in hybrid and non-hybrid Pogonomyrmex rugosus

4:15 Anderson, Kirk (Arizona State University)

Genetic caste determination in Pogonomyrmex harvester ants

4:30 Hunt, James, H. (University of Missouri-St. Louis)

A new paradigm of caste in social wasps

4:45 Amdam, Gro V. (University of California, Davis)

The regulatory anatomy of social castes

5:15 BUSINESS MEETING

6:30-7:30 DINNER (Dining Hall)

POSTER SESSION

Friday, 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm (Tall Pines Lodge)

1. Bucy, Ave M. (University of Colorado)

Thermoregulatory trade-offs resulting from vegetation removal by the western harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex occidentalis)

2. Cassill, Deby (University of South Florida)

Cooperative breeding in the fire ant: A test of reproductive skew

3. Elekonich, Michelle M. & Stephen P. Roberts (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

Hsp70 expression and induction varies with behavior and tissue type in the honey bee

4. Gilboa, Smadar & Peter Nonacs (University of California, Los Angeles)

Multifaceted parental investment and its effects on population-level sex allocation ratios in ants

5. Goode, Katarzyna, Zachary Huber & Marla Spivak (University of Minnesota)

Is there a relationship between honey bee hygienic behavior and foraging ontogeny and preference?

6. Grayson, Dina L., Alexander Keyel, Jennifer H. Fewell & Jon F. Harrison (Arizona State University)

Metabolism and foraging behavior in European and African honey bees

7. Haight, Kevin L. & Walter R. Tschinkel (Florida State University)

Defensiveness of fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, workers increases during colony rafting

8. Harris, Leslie, Elizabeth Walsh & Claire Fuller (University of Texas, El Paso)

Generating genetic markers and defining population structure of a Caribbean termite (Nasutitermes acajutlae) using AFLP

9. Enzmann, Brittany (University of California, Los Angeles)

Colony founding strategies of Pogonomyrmex salinus

10. King, Joshua R. (Florida State University)

Abundance, diversity, and biomass of ants in Florida’s upland ecosystems

11. Liebig, Jürgen, Thibaud Monnin & Stefano Turillazzi (Universität Würzburg, Germany)

Direct assessment of queen fertility and lack of worker suppression in the paper wasp Polistes dominulus

12. Mattila, Heather R., Gard W. Otis & Brian H. Smith (University of Guelph)

Colony nutritional status and its influence on the learning ability of worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)

13. Edward G. LeBrun (University of California San Diego)

Biogeography and ecological impacts of ant decapitating flies (Diptera:Phoridae) in the Madrean Archipelago

14. Ratchford, Jaime, S., Nathan J. Sanders, Sarah Wittman, Aaron Ellison, Erik Jules & Nick Gotelli (Humboldt State University)

Dominant species and the abiotic environment shape ant species density and community structure in Darlingtonia fens and adjacent forests

15. Roesel, Christopher, Rachelle Adams, Tappey Jones (University of Texas, Austin)

Behavioral reactions to trans-2-butyl-5-heptylpyrrolidine in Solenopsidini ants

16. Siegel, Adam J., Julia Hui, Rebecca N. Johnson & Philip T. Starks (Tufts University)

Mobile insulator units: honey bee workers as living insulation

17. Solomon, Scott, E. & Ulrich G. Mueller (University of Texas, Austin)

Color polymorphism in a leafcutter ant

18. Gorelick, Root, Susan M. Bertram, Peter R. Killeen & Jennifer H. Fewell (Arizona State University)

Normalized mutual entropy in biology: quantifying division of labor

19. Switz, Ghislaine, Annagiri Sumana, Anne Berry & Philip T. Starks (Tufts University)

Chemical cues and philopatry in the primitively eusocial paper wasp, Polistes dominulus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

20. Vasquez, Gissela & Jules Silverman (North Carolina State University)

Factors influencing queen adoption in the Argentine ant Linepithema humile

21. Zelikova, Tamara (University of Colorado, Boulder)

Ant seed dispersal in tropical dry forest of Costa Rica

22. Waller, Deborah (Old Dominion University)

Response of Reticulitermes termites and their symbiotic protozoans to volatile plant oils

23. Smith, Adam R., William T. Wcislo & Sean O’Donnell (University of Washington)

Assured fitness returns and social flexibility in the sweat bee Megalopta genalis

24. Gurley, Kiersten, L., Adam J. Siegel, Brittany Kravets, Nina H. Fefferman, Aviva E. Liebert & Philip T. Starks (Tufts University)

Heat shielding in honeybees: the effect of this localized behavior on internal hive temperatures

25. Linksvayer, Timothy A. (Indiana University)

Direct and indirect genetic effects on gyne, worker, and male mass in the ant Temnothorax curvispinosus

26. Rabeling, Christian (University of Texas, Austin)

Diversity and nest density of non-leafcutting, fungus growing ants (Formicidae, Myrmicinae, Attini) in an Amazonian Terra Firme rainforest and a nearby agroforestry area

27. Mikheyev, Alexander S. (University of Texas, Austin)

The global population genetic structure of the little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata

28. Benjamin H. Rossi, Benjamin H. (University of California, Los Angeles)

Effect of body size on sexual coercion and interactions in the leafcutter bee

29. Botch, Paul (Southeast Missouri State University)

The effects of calcium on food preference of the termite Reticulitermes

flavipis

30. Tibbetts, Elizabeth (University of Arizona)

A socially-enforced visual signal of quality in the paper wasp Polistes dominulus

31. Leticia Sanchez (University of Colorado, Boulder)

Examining the effect of exotic species cover on ant diversity

SATURDAY, 9 October

6:30-8:00 BREAKFAST (Dining Hall)

SESSION 5. ENDOCRINE CONTROL, HORMONES, DEVELOPMENT & PHYSIOLOGY

Morning moderator – Mike Breed

Saturday, 8:00 am to 9:00 am

8:00 Abouheif, Ehab (McGill University)

The evolutionary and developmental genetic basis of wing polyphenism in ants

8:15 Brent, Colin (North Carolina State University)

Endocrine changes in maturing termite queens

8:30 Schneider, Stan S. (University of North Carolina)

The vibration signal and juvenile hormone titers in worker honey bees, Apis mellifera

8:45 Vance, Jason T. (University of Nevada Las Vegas,)

Flight of the honey bee: an aerodynamic analysis of hovering in variable density atmospheres

SESSION 6. CHEMICAL & BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY

Saturday, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

9:00 Judd, Timothy M. (Southeast Missouri State University)

Distribution of micronutrients in colonies of the termite Reticulitermes flavipis

9:15 McGlynn, Terrence (University of San Diego)

The ecological stoichiometry of a tropical ant community

9:30 Thom, Corinna (University of Arizona)

Honey bee waggle dancers produce volatile chemicals

9:45 Starks, Philip T. (Tufts University)

Localized fever in a super-organism: infection-induced temperature up-regulation in colonies of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

10:00 BREAK

10:30 Klein, Barrett (University of Texas, Austin)

Hitchhiking: dynamics of leaf-riding in tropical leaf-cutter ants

10:45 Schmidt, Justin, O. (Southwestern Biological Institute, Tucson)

Horned lizards and Pogonomyrmex harvester ants: the enigmatic relationship between the world’s most toxic ants and fat lizards (and how the relationship might transcend historical sympatry)

11:00 Caldera, Eric J. (University of Texas, Austin)

Reduced kin recognition in the success of a widespread African ant, Lepisiota incisa

11:15 Seal, Jon, N. (Florida State University)

Do fungus-gardening ants know what makes their garden grow?

11:30 Fuller, Claire (Murray State University)

Desiccation and starvation resistance of Nasutitermes acajutlae when parasitized by an acanthocephalan (thorny-headed worm)

11:45 O’Donnell, Sean (University of Washington)

Brain parasites in eusocial paper wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Polybia aequatorialis)

12:00 Tschinkel, Walter, R. (Florida State University)

The organization of foraging in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta

12:15-1:45 LUNCH (Dining Hall)

SESSION 7. LIFE HISTORY AND EVOLUTION

Afternoon moderator – Joan Herbers

Saturday, 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm

1:45 Johnson, Christine A. (Ohio State University)

Coevolution between social parasites and hosts: evidence for the red queen?

2:00 Adams, Rachelle M.M. (University of Texas, Austin)

Unraveling the origin of social parasitism in Megalomyrmex ants

2:15 Jeanne, Robert L. (University of Wisconsin)

Michener’s paradox revisited

2:30 Smith, Chris R. (Florida State University)

Sex and the colony: a tale of how the Florida harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius, invests in sex

2:45 Himler, Anna (University of Texas, Austin)

Asexuality in the fungus-growing ant, Mycocepurus smithii

3:00 BREAK

3:30 Crosland, Michael W.J. (University of Florida)

Arolia in termites (Isoptera): systematic comparison and functional significance

3:45 Prager, Sean (Brock University)

Solitary sociality: social behavior in an allegedly “solitary” bee

4:00 Toth, Eva (Virginia Institute of Marine Science)

Similarities and differences between social insect and social shrimp societies

4:15 Schmidt, Chris A. (University of Arizona)

Molecular phylogenetics and phylogeography of ponerine ants

SESSION 8. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY

Saturday, 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm

4:30 Biani, Natalia (University of Texas, Austin)

Role of extra-floral nectar composition on community structure of visiting ants to Passiflora vines

4:45 Stuart, Robin J. (University of Florida)

Ant predation and biological control of the root weevil, Diaprepes abbreviatus, in Florida citrus: field manipulations

5:00 FREE TIME

6:00-7:30 DINNER (Dining Hall) FOLLOWED BY MIXER (Tall Pines Lodge)

SUNDAY, 10 October

6:30-8:00 BREAKFAST (Dining Hall)

8:30 DEPART FOR AIRPORT OR field-trip to the White Mountains.