Clarita Iona Mendes
PhD Student
Curriculum Vitae
| July 2024 | PhD. Student. Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany Title: The evolution and organization of non-canonical olfactory systems in ants and other insects Supervisors: Dr. Carlotta Martelli, Prof. Dr. Susanne Foitzik |
| 2020 - 2024 | Master of Science in Biological Sciences (specialization in Neurobiology) Universität zu Kӧln, Germany Thesis Title: “Effect of temperature on the wide field motion-sensitive neurons in the central brain of Bombus terrestris” Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Keram Pfeiffer |
| 2016 - 2019 | Bachelor of Science in Zoology and Biochemistry St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India |
Research Interests
During my Bachelor’s and Master’s studies, I developed a strong passion for animal behavior and neurobiology. I am particularly motivated to connect these fields, with a focus on eusocial insects. My goal is to explore how neural mechanisms influence the behavior of individual ants and how these behaviors impact the dynamics within entire colonies.
PhD Project
For my PhD project, I aim to investigate how sensory perception in individual Temnothorax longispinosus worker ants influence the division of labor within a colony. The canonical olfactory model of one olfactory receptor-one olfactory receptor neuron-one glomerulus does not explain the mechanism of the large repertoire of olfactory receptors and antennal lobe patterning observed in ants. This necessitates a better understanding of the organizational logic of the olfactory system, especially in eusocial insects.
To address this, I will investigate the non-canonical organization of the olfactory system, by comparing the number of glomeruli in the antennal lobes of individual worker ants both within and across colonies. By conducting full-colony tracking for behavior quantification, I will correlate the division of labor among worker sister ants with the anatomical variations observed in their antennal lobes. Furthermore, I will quantify inter-individual antennal lobe variation in a selection of model insect species. This approach will aid in mapping the evolution of olfactory organization systems in invertebrates.