Why unrelated individuals should cooperate remains a significant puzzle in evolutionary biology. We study the evolution of cooperation and conflict in the desert seed-harvester ant Veromessor pergandei, which has the distinction of being the only ant species known to display three alternative social strategies during colony founding: queens can either found colonies alone, form long-lasting cooperative associations, or cooperate temporarily, with tolerance giving way to lethal aggression after the first workers emerge.

In our past work, we have found that groups are largest and most long-lasting in the most extreme desert environments, and is accompanied by a syndrome of morphological, behavioral, life-history and physiological characteristics. 

We are currently investigating the biogeographic history and genomic basis of social divergence, and testing the hypothesis that a social “supergene”, which underlies social polymorphisms in other species, is also involved in producing alternative strategies in V. pergandei.