We study central features of insect societies, such as reproductive division of labor, hierarchy formation, individual plasticity, chemical communication, and olfaction, with the goal of identifying general principles. A new focus of our lab is how olfactory receptors discriminate between odor molecules. We use behavioral experiments, molecular and neurophysiological approaches, and chemical analyses to reveal mechanisms and evolutionary patterns that shape the organization of ant and termite colonies. Given the interdisciplinary and integrative nature of the lab's research approach, we collaborate with teams in different countries in the fields of chemistry, genomics, neurophysiology, protein modeling, and computational and developmental biology.