Liberal Arts and Sciences
Yan Lab
Led by Hua Yan · Biology
What we study
The Yan Lab investigates how social roles like workers, queens, and gamergates have evolved in the ant Harpegnathos saltator. They compare behavior and biology of different castes through laboratory experiments with ant colonies.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Other insects
- Coding helps
- Projects
- 5
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Harpegnathos saltator | Worker
Studies how worker ants of Harpegnathos saltator differ from queens and gamergates in behavior and biology.
Harpegnathos saltator | Colony
Studies the social organization of Harpegnathos saltator ant colonies, comparing behavior and biology across social roles.
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Harpegnathos saltator | Gamergate
Studies how gamergates, worker ants that can reproduce, differ from other colony members in the ant Harpegnathos saltator, as part of the lab's work on social roles.
Harpegnathos saltator | Queen
Studies how queens of the ant Harpegnathos saltator differ from workers and gamergates in behavior and biology.
Identifying Ligands of Olfactory Receptors in Pest Ants and Beetles
The lab looks for chemicals that turn on or block smell receptors of three ant species and one beetle to develop targeted pest control. The student made fruit‑fly lines that overexpress pest odorant receptors and recorded neuronal responses to about 40 odorants to find activators or inhibitors.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 531
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Transcriptional interferences ensure one olfactory receptor per ant neuron
2025 · Nature
- Caste- and environment-associated differential expression of olfactory receptors in pest ants
2025 · Scientific Reports
Analyzes how different ant species use smell to detect pests.
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- Insect olfactory neurons: receptors, development, and function
2024 · Current Opinion in Insect Science
Reviews how insect noses work and change over time.
- Rabex-5 E3 and Rab5 GEF domains differ in their regulation of Ras, Notch, and PI3K signaling in Drosophila wing development
2024 · PLoS ONE
Shows how a protein controls growth in fruit fly wings.
- Orco-dependent survival of odorant receptor neurons in ants
2024 · Science Advances
Finds why some ant smell sensors die when damaged.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Hua Yan hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.