A ridge in Tunisia at golden hourOdontomachus tyrannicus, a trap-jaw ant, on a leafLinepithema humile, the Argentine antA Leptogenys ant photographed head-onDolichoderus kinabaluensis on a leafPolyrhachis cyaniventris, a metallic blue ant, on a leafDiacamma generali workerCataglyphis nodus workers carrying broodCalyptomyrmex loweryi workerAphaenogaster dromedaria workerFormica rufibarbis workerAenictus currax, an army ant of the currax complexPolyrhachis semiaurata, a spiny antIridomyrmex purpureus, the southern meat antRhytidoponera metallica, the green-head antRhytidoponera croesus workerMeranoplus hirsutus, a shield antLeptomyrmex rufithorax, a spider antMyrmecia brevinoda, the giant bulldog antCamponotus habereri workerA Camponotus of the subgenus MyrmentomaTetraponera allaborans on a twigCataulacus granulatus, an armoured arboreal antDolichoderus sibiricus workerCephalotes clypeatus, a turtle ant, on bark
Tunisia
Odontomachus tyrannicusPapua New Guinea · Philipp Hoenle, CC0Linepithema humileArgentine AntSouth Africa · Philipp Hoenle, CC0Leptogenys sp.Razorjaw AntsPapua New Guinea · Philipp Hoenle, CC0Dolichoderus kinabaluensisMalaysia · Philipp Hoenle, CC0Polyrhachis cyaniventrisPhilippines · Jonghyun Park, CC BYDiacamma generaliPhilippines · Jonghyun Park, CC BYCataglyphis nodusNodal Desert AntGreece · Philipp Hoenle, CC0Calyptomyrmex loweryiMalaysia · Philipp Hoenle, CC0Aphaenogaster dromedariaPapua New Guinea · Philipp Hoenle, CC0Formica rufibarbisRed-barbed AntGermany · Philipp Hoenle, CC0Aenictus currax complexCurrax-group Raider AntsPapua New Guinea · Philipp Hoenle, CC0Polyrhachis semiaurataAustralia · Jonghyun Park, CC BYIridomyrmex purpureusSouthern Meat AntAustralia · Jonghyun Park, CC BYRhytidoponera metallicaGreen-head AntAustralia · Jonghyun Park, CC BYRhytidoponera croesusAustralia · Jonghyun Park, CC BYMeranoplus hirsutusAustralia · Jonghyun Park, CC BYLeptomyrmex rufithoraxAustralia · Jonghyun Park, CC BYMyrmecia brevinodaGiant Bulldog AntAustralia · Jonghyun Park, CC BYCamponotus habereriTaiwan · Jonghyun Park, CC BYCamponotus (Myrmentoma)Cleft-lip Carpenter AntsTaiwan · Jonghyun Park, CC BYTetraponera allaboransTaiwan · Jonghyun Park, CC BYCataulacus granulatusThailand · Jonghyun Park, CC BYDolichoderus sibiricusSouth Korea · Jonghyun Park, CC BYCephalotes clypeatusBolivia · Sebastian Doak, CC BY

Evolutionary biology · Myrmecology

Mattia
Menchetti

I am an evolutionary biologist interested in the historical and contemporary processes that shape where ant species live, both native and introduced.

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I study why species are found where they are. The answer sits on two very different timescales, and separating them is most of my work.

I mainly focus on ants. Geological features and climates, both past and present, set the limits of where they live, and those limits still show in their genetics. Human trade and expansion have been moving them past those barriers, and continue to.

I am a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow in Bonnie Blaimer's lab at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. My project, AntTRAILS, looks for the genomic signature of human history in Mediterranean Pheidole ants.

More about me →

Lines of research

In detail →
  1. 01

    Biodiversity discovery

    How many ant species there actually are, and what it takes to tell them apart.

  2. 02

    Ant invasions and human history

    Ants travel with people. Telling apart the recent arrivals from the ancient ones.

  3. Alongside the ants
  4. 03

    Butterfly phylogeographyside line

    What the ice ages did to Western Palearctic butterflies, and how much of it is still visible in their genomes.

  5. 04

    Invasive birdsside line

    Where non-native parrots and mynas have got to, what they do once there, and how to take one back out.