Tuesday, February 11th
In-Person Meeting
Virtual Zoom Option
7:30 PM EST
Can termites inform us on general group conflict?
Liz Clifton
University of New Hampshire
My PhD began as a Masters project testing models of human warfare in tropical termites. I evaluated Lanchester’s Laws, which focus on group size and group fighting ability to determine the winner of a battle, by creating conflict between termite groups of various sizes and abilities. From that work, I expanded my studies to include an assessment of the evolution of defense in termites, from the architecture of their nests to the physical forms of “weapons” in termite soldiers. In this talk, I will share my fascination with termite “warfare” and how it may relate to the larger ideas of phenological and behavioral evolution.
