News
INFORMATION WE CONSIDER INTERESTINGCongratulations to Luciana Elizalde on her new research grant
We congratulate Luciana Elizalde who received funding from Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica of Argentina for her research project “Evaluation and management of ecosystem services provided by ants in agriculture: balance between services and...
LIHo in COMPORTA, Uruguay, and an award for Andrés Devegili!
From 6-8 of November, in the Faculty of Information and Communication, Montevideo, Uruguay, the II Meeting of Behavioral Biology of the Southern Cone was held. Marina Alma, Andrés Devegili and Alejandro Farji-Brener demonstrated what LIHo is doing in Patagonia. Their...
LEICA Contest: First place and award for the best photo
Congratulations to Andrés Devegili, who obtained the first place for his picture in a contest organized by Leica Bio-Optic SRL. A total of 50 pictures coming from different parts of Argentina participated in the contest, and Andrés’ shot (Nº27, dog´s nose curculionid)...
Honorable mention for the video “Alien Thistles the 8th passenger”
We congratulate Daniela Ortiz, Marina Alma and Andrés Devegili (young members of LIHo) on their honorable mention for their video “Alien thistles the 8th passenger” which participated in Entomological Society of America’s 2019 YouTube Your Entomology Contest. This...
VI Argentine Congress of Biodiversity Conservation in La Rioja
In October, Daniela Ortiz and Gabriela Pirk attended the VI Argentine Congress of Biodiversity Conservation in La Rioja and presented results of their research in the Patagonian steppe on the dispersion of exotic seeds by ants and the effects of ant nests on...
Visit of Agustín Lovrich and his encounter with Patagonian ants
During January 2019 we were lucky that Agustín Lovrich, a biology student from the UBA, came to do an internship in two of the projects we are carrying out: "Ecosystem services provided by ants: implications for the restoration of degraded areas and...
VI Argentine Congress of Biodiversity Conservation in La Rioja
In October, Daniela Ortiz and Gabriela Pirk attended the VI Argentine Congress of Biodiversity Conservation in La Rioja and presented results of their research in the Patagonian steppe on the dispersion of exotic seeds by ants and the effects of ant nests on decomposition of organic matter.
Last projects
Ecosystem services provided by ants and their implications for biological control and ecological restoration
The provision and continuity of several ecosystem services are currently threatened by land use, agriculture practices, deforestation, habitat fragmentation, climate change and biological invasions among other factors. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify and...
Direct and indirect effects of ants on plants
Leaf-cutting ants can affect plants negatively directly through defoliation, but positively and indirectly increasing the soil nutrient level. We study these effects separately and together, to determine the relative importance of leaf-cutting ants on...
Evaluation of repellents, attractants and organic insecticides to manage leaf cutting ants
We study the behavior of cutting ants exposed certain plant compounds, which may be repellents or attractants. We also seek to identify trail pheromones that guide ants along foraging paths. The objective is to develop tools that can be used in...