F.W. Olin Science Center, Room 1243 In the HMC Bee Lab, we study how colonies of social insects, such as bees and ants, coordinate group behaviors. In particular, communication between group members often shapes the activity of the group as a whole. For example, honey bees use a specialized \u201cdance language\u201d to communicate with their nestmates about the location of food sources, which allows the colony to forage efficiently even as resources change. Turtle ant (Cephalotes<\/em>) colonies coordinate group defense of multiple nests, based on the value and defensibility of each nest. Using a combination of field experiments with honey bees, laboratory experiments with ants, mathematical models and computer simulations, we explore how different types of communication systems are suited to different types of environments and social structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See the HMC Bee Lab blog<\/a> for more information on ongoing research projects<\/a>, including field experiments on honey bee foraging, mapping the floral landscape using drones and computer vision, and a combination of lab experiments and simulations of the transportation networks of arboreal ants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adams, Benjamin J., Evan M. Gora, Matina C. Donaldson-Matasci<\/strong>, Elva J. H. Robinson, and Scott Powell. 2023. \u201cCompetition and Habitat Availability Interact to Structure Arboreal Ant Communities across Scales of Ecological Organization.\u201d Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences<\/em> 290 (2007): 20231290. Competition and habitat availability interact to structure arboreal ant communities across scales of ecological organization<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donaldson-Matasci, Matina C<\/strong>., Scott Powell, and Anna Dornhaus. 2022. \u201cDistributing Defenses: How Resource Defendability Shapes the Optimal Response to Risk.\u201d The American Naturalist<\/em> 199 (5): 636\u201352. Distributing Defenses: How Resource Defendability Shapes the Optimal Response to Risk<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chang, Joanna*, Scott Powell, Elva J. H. Robinson, and Matina C. Donaldson-Matasci<\/strong>. 2021. \u201cNest Choice in Arboreal Ants Is an Emergent Consequence of Network Creation under Spatial Constraints.\u201d Swarm Intelligence<\/em> 15 (1): 7\u201330. Nest choice in arboreal ants is an emergent consequence of network creation under spatial constraints<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lecheval, Valentin, Hannah Larson*, Dominic D. R. Burns, Samuel Ellis, Scott Powell, Matina C. Donaldson-Matasci<\/strong>, and Elva J. H. Robinson. 2021. \u201cFrom Foraging Trails to Transport Networks: How the Quality-Distance Trade-off Shapes Network Structure.\u201d Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences<\/em> 288 (1949): 20210430. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rspb.2021.0430<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Powell, S, MC Donaldson-Matasci<\/strong>, A Woodrow-Tomizuka** and A Dornhaus. 2017. Context-dependent defenses in turtle ants: resource defensibility and threat level induce dynamic shifts in soldier deployment<\/a>. Functional Ecology<\/em> 31 (12): 2287-2298. doi: 10.1111\/1365-2435.12926<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rivera, MD*, MC Donaldson-Matasci<\/strong>, and A Dornhaus (2015). Quitting time: When do honey bee foragers decide to stop foraging on natural resources?<\/a> Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution<\/i> 3: 1\u20139. doi:10.3389\/fevo.2015.00050<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donaldson-Matasci MC<\/strong> and A Dornhaus (2014). Dance communication affects consistency but not breadth of resource use in pollen-foraging honey bees<\/a>. PLoS ONE<\/em> 9 (10): e107527. doi:10.1371\/journal.pone.0107527<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donaldson-Matasci MC<\/strong>, CT Bergstrom, and M Lachmann (2013). When unreliable cues are good enough<\/a>. American Naturalist <\/em>182 (3): 313-327. doi:10.1086\/671161. [Honorable Mention, ASN Student Paper Award]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Donaldson-Matasci MC<\/strong>, G DeGrandi-Hoffman, and A Dornhaus (2013). Bigger is better: honey bee colonies as distributed information-gathering systems<\/a>. Animal Behaviour<\/em> 85 (3): 585-592. doi:10.1016\/j.anbehav.2012.12.020 [Nature Research Highlight]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Donaldson-Matasci MC<\/strong> and A Dornhaus. (2012) How habitat affects the benefits of communication in collectively foraging honey bees<\/a>. Behav Ecol & Sociobiol <\/em>66 (4): 583-592. doi:10.1007\/s00265-011-1306-z (PDF<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donaldson-Matasci MC<\/strong>, CT Bergstrom, and M Lachmann. (2010) The fitness value of information<\/a>. Oikos<\/em> 119 (2): 219-230. doi:10.1111\/j.1600-0706.2009.17781.x (PDF<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donaldson-Matasci MC<\/strong>, M Lachmann, and CT Bergstrom. (2008) Phenotypic diversity as an adaptation to environmental uncertainty<\/a>. Evol Ecol Research<\/em> 10 (4): 493-515. (PDF<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n * Undergraduate author ** High school student author<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Associate Professor of Biology F.W. Olin Science Center, Room 12431250 N. Dartmouth Ave.Claremont, CA 91711909.607.1572mdonaldsonmatasci@hmc.edu Education and Professional Experience Teaching Research Interests […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1548,"parent":8,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-709","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1997,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/709\/revisions\/1997"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
1250 N. Dartmouth Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711
909.607.1572<\/a>
mdonaldsonmatasci@hmc.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nEducation and Professional Experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Teaching<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Research Interests<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Selected Publications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n