Baptiste Nézel
Research interest:
I am mainly interested in the ant universe. I have always been impressed by the complexity of the behaviour and ecology of those eusocial insects. From their biology to the tight interactions they entertain with species from all the different reigns (plants, fungi and animals), they represent endless source of biological models from which a lot remains to be understood.
Current Project: EMINENT - Consequences of an EMerging parasite on an INvasive aNT species in Europe
My current project focuses on the interaction between Laboulbenia formicarum, an ectoparasite fungus, and its host, the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus. Recent studies have shown that the fungal infection level in the French populations of ants is increasing extremely rapidly (Tragust et al. 2015 ).
Based on existing prevalence information on the distribution of this parasitic interaction in the surrounding area of Lyon, France (Gippet et al., 2021 ), I will try to understand the effects of Lab. formicarum on Lasius neglectus, from the direct fitness impact to the changes in ant behaviour due to infection. In addition, I would like to check whether there are modifications at the community level and see if there are differences in ant species richness and evenness around L. neglectus’ nests. Later, I would like to see whether a spillover is possible from the invasive species to the native ones.
Previous work:
I did my Master thesis on the population genetic of the black garden Lasius niger, at the University of Bern, with Dr. Alexis Beaurepaire. There I aimed to evaluate whether it was possible to distinguish these ant’s populations on a continental scale, using neutral DNA markers.