Zimai Li

Zimai Li is currently a PhD student who studies the social behaviour and distribution of risk in ant societies.

Together as one: Insights from clonal ants

The colonies of the clonal raider ant, a unique species, are composed of individuals that are genetically identical to each other. I use individual behavioural tracking as the method to tackle questions on collective behaviour. In this talk, I plan to introduce concepts on ant colonies, division of labour, collective intelligence, my research system and methods, and give some examples that pop up in my research on how collective decisions are made and response to risks are coordinated in the ant colonies. I will also briefly introduce the art projects that emerged from my research and share how research on ants inspired me and others on our perspectives on societies.