The Ants of Arizona – and more!

Ants are everywhere, and they have a disproportionately high effect on ecosystems given that they comprise less than 2% of all insect species, but around 25% of all insect biomass. The approximately 15,000 described species of ants display a vast array of natural histories, as do the 340 ant species that occur in Arizona, more than any other state. Common names for Arizona ants include leaf-cutters ants, honey pot ants, slave-making ants, and trap-jaw ants. The talk will discuss biodiversity of ants in Arizona and elsewhere, along with an overview of their interesting natural histories. Ants also display numerous amazing feats that include complex social structure, advanced communication, navigation, and animal husbandry such as “ranching” of aphids and other insects. Ants also hold promise for areas of basic research related to humans that include disease and medicine, longevity, solving problems of decentralization, and understanding complex adaptations such as the evolution of eyes and brains.

Doors open at 6:30pm. The presentation starts at 7:00pm.

*The event is FREE, but space is limited, and registration is required. For those unable to attend in person, the talk will be live-streamed on our YouTube Channel.

Dr. Robert Johnson received his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Illinois – with his Master’s Degree research on birds. He then worked at the Museum of Northern Arizona before continuing to Arizona State University for his Ph.D., which was on the evolution and ecology of learning and memory in ants. He has since worked on ecology and taxonomy of desert ants in the southwestern U.S., northwestern Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. His focal areas are biodiversity, biogeography, founding strategies of ant queens, and describing new species. He has a faculty appointment in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University.

Host or Publisher Natural History Institute