Anna Dornhaus' main interest is understanding the evolution of
organization in groups. This includes how collective behaviors emerge
from the actions and interactions of individuals, but also the
ecological conditions that promote the evolution of particular
collective strategies. She studies as model systems social insect
colonies (bumble bees, honey bees and ants) in the laboratory and in the
field and uses mathematical and individual-based modeling approaches.
Recent work has included the role of communication in the allocation of
foragers to food sources and the relevance of this for mutualistic
interactions (e.g., in pollination or in ant-plant mutualisms); the
evolution of different recruitment systems in different species of bees
and how ecology shapes these recruitment systems; speed-accuracy trade
offs in decision-making and learning and how they affect signal
evolution; and whether different group sizes necessitate different
organizational strategies.