Insect Research Group, University College London
We were delighted to host a group meeting with Sjoert on November 2022. Sjoert co-founded “The Wasp Foundation” (www.wespenstichting.nl) with the objectives of improving wasp image (promoting #wasplove) and to develop techniques to relocate wasp nests! He told us all about his brilliant work in Netherlands, the methodology he uses, and he presented a sustainable…
MSci student David Blahout on his undergraduate research placement and current MSci research project with the Sumner Lab
Wasps matter – in your backyard, your farm, your local wild space Everyone appreciates the ‘good things’ bees, ants, hoverflies and even butterflies do for ecosystems on this planet. But for taxa that we don’t know much about, they can go unnoticed or worse – hated. Wasps are one such unloved organism, mainly because of their sting.…
We went to sample some Vespa crabro workers at the end of the summer. MSci student Iona had previously located the active nest within a public park. PhD student Owen and Lewis joined the fieldtrip one Friday afternoon in North London. Postdoc Emeline brought tubes and protective gear, while Hornet expert John arrived with an…
Ed: We were delighted to host A-level student Elo Wilkinson-Rowe in our lab for two weeks in the summer of 2018. She threw herself into being a research scientist with great gusto, and seems to have enjoyed herself. Read her Blog below. If you are interested in the In2Science scheme (as a student or a…
This summer I was fortunate enough to be able to join the Sumner lab for a field season out in Trinidad. My role was as a research assistant as part of a four-person team working on two projects looking at species of tropical social wasps. This first was examining
Check out their webpages to find out what they are doing! PhD student Sandra Moreno; Masters by Research students Ryan Brock and Sam Morris; Volunteer Thomas Courty
Queen or worker? Flexibility between roles relies on just a few genes Two insect species from Latin America, the dinosaur ant and the red paper wasp, have been used to uncover the molecular mechanisms underpinning queen and worker roles in social insects. The research by an international team of scientists brings us closer to understanding…
Autumn 2015: Welcome to four new group members! Check out their webpages to find out what they are doing! PhD student Sandra Moreno; Masters by Research students Ryan Brock and Sam Morris; Volunteer Thomas Courty