the ant life

Trap-jaw ants on Florida's sand ridges

Florida’s inland ridges are a series of sand ridges and bars located throughout Central Florida. Some of these ridges formed over 1 million years ago. The ridges resemble sand islands featuring a unique flora and fauna. Among their endemic inhabitants is the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus relictus It occurs on only two of these sand ridges (Lake Wales Ridge and Brooksville Ridge) and might be a relict species that has been isolated for about 1 million years or longer.

I study Odontomachus relictus to test if populations on each ridge have diverged given the amount of time they might have been isolated and subsequent consequences for conservation regimes. My work shows genetic divergence on the species level between ridges and strong isolation by distance patterns within ridges.

Other projects

BORNEO

On intraspecific variation along elevational gradients in Borneo
TELL ME MORE

ETHIOPIA

On a species with genetically diverse super colonies
TELL ME MORE

CITIZEN SCIENCE

On working with teachers to create classroom content
TELL ME MORE

JUMPING ANTS

On a trap-jaw ant species that jumps forward using its legs
TELL ME MORE