CV Lattes
ResearcherID
ORCID
Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP) (Institutional affiliation for the last research proposal) Birthplace: Brazil
bachelor in Biology, master at Zoology in Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (1998) and ph.d. at Zoology from Universidade de São Paulo (2003). Has experience in Zoology, focusing on Animal Behavior, acting on the following subjects: animal behavior, Hymenoptera, Polistes, Vespidae and social insects. (Source: Lattes Curriculum)
| Articles published in Pesquisa FAPESP Magazine about the researcher: |
| El lenguaje químico de los insectos |
| Una intrusa entre las abejas |
| Stranger in the nest |
| Una intrusa entre las abejas |
| News published in Agência FAPESP Newsletter about the researcher |
| TITULO |
| Articles published in other media outlets (0 total): |
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| VEICULO: TITULO (DATA) |
| VEICULO: TITULO (DATA) |
The evolution of sociality in ants, bees and wasps is a prime example of a major transition in evolution, where individuals went to live in societies characterised by the presence of an advanced reproductive division of labour. In primitively eusocial species, the allocation to reproductive and nonreproductive roles in the colony is highly plastic, while in more advanced eusocial species,…
Social insects exemplify a major transition in evolution and show how cooperative organisms can reach higher levels of social organization. We want to gain a deeper understanding of the molecular regulation that drives the behavioural transitions in wasps. This project will integrate proximate mechanisms to the evolution of wasp sociality, by studying the ancestral origins of pre-social b…
Many ant species use a form of recruitment called 'tandem running', whereby an informed individual guides an uninformed nestmate to a resource. Tandem running is currently the only known example of 'teaching' in non-mammals and represents a promising behaviour to study the benefits of social information at both individual and colony level. This project proposes to use tandem running in an…
The evolution of sociality in insects is an example of a so-called "major transition in evolution", whereby previously solitary breeding insects went on to live in social groups characterized by the presence of an advanced reproductive division of labour. . This basic model, known as the "Ovarian Ground Plan Hypothesis" (OGPH), was later modified into the "Reproductive Ground Plan Hypothe…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are ecologically dominant insects that use chemical cues and signals for recognition and communication. Despite their elaborated recognition system, several organisms called myrmecophiles, including agricultural pests, have relationships with ants ranging from beneficial interactions such as mutualism to exploitation and parasitism. These relationships are c…
Eusociality is the main characteristc of social insects and it is one of the most remarkable transitions of evolution. Chemical communication acts as one of the most important channel that coordinates the dialogue among animals who live in societies. Division of reproductive labor segregates the individuals who live in colonies in two main groups, there are females who lay eggs (queens) a…
The use of pesticides in Agriculture is one of the causes for the bees disappearing crisis around the world. Most studies about the effect of these toxic products in the biology of bees, the main pollinator group, have focused in Apis mellifera as a model. These studies reveal that pesticides affect larval development, cause high mortality and interfere in these bees learning and memory. …
Social insects are excellent models of biological systems in which interactions performed by individuals have an outcome of dynamic patterns of connections. Dominance hierarchy is one of the social systems better understood in several groups of animals and exerts the function of social structure regulator on group activities. Eussocial wasps of the subfamily Polistinae present totipotent …
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
Host-parasite interactions represent a widespread coevolutionary example in nature, with parasitism consisting of a selective force towards exploiting a host. Parasites induce mild to dramatic changes over their hosts, which in turn results in affecting the host's fitness. The behavioral and physiological effects of parasitic manipulation are well-studied. However, much less is known abou…
Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) can provide information about castes, age, reproductive status, and colony membership of social insects. In ants, CHCs seem to be useful to understand several social traits. These patterns can shed some light on social behavior and speciation in some groups of ants. Attina ants provide a good model of these evolutionary processes. In addition, the coevolution…
Social insects form colonies in which each individual perfoms different tasks, resulting in a self-organized system. In most of eusocial bees and wasps the division of labor among members of the colony occurs through age polyethism, in which younger workers perform tasks inside the nest and when getting older start activities out of the nest, mainly foraging. This complex organization nee…
(Only some records are available in English at this moment)
| 2 / 2 | Ongoing research grants |
| 16 / 13 | Completed research grants |
| 2 / 2 | Ongoing scholarships in Brazil |
| 18 / 14 | Completed scholarships in Brazil |
| 5 / 5 | Completed scholarships abroad |
| 43 / 36 | All research grants and scholarships |
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