The study of social insects has a long and rich history, and is associated with some of the classic papers in behaviour and evolution. From Darwin's dilemma regarding the evolution of sterile castes, to resolving key mechanisms that underpin their bewildering self-organization, to managing their economic impact in agriculture and as pests, social insects remain a pillar of biological research in the post-genomic era.
The Australasian Section of IUSSI aims to bring the Australian and New Zealand based social insect community together into a single forum on a regular basis keeping in-line with meetings of other IUSSI sections.

After 17 years of dedicated and excellent service, Tatiana Czeschlik (Heidelberg, Germany) retired as Chief Editor of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, the first journal devoted exclusively to the publication of original research in these now-preeminent disciplines in behavioral biology. Tatiana is succeeded by Theo C. M. Bakker (University of Bonn, Germany) and James F. A. Traniello (Boston University, USA). Theo Bakker specializes on the behavioral ecology of fishes and will handle manuscripts dealing with vertebrates, while James Traniello, who studies the behavioral ecology of social insects, will be responsible for submissions using invertebrate models. Since its inception, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology has been a primary venue for the publication of social insect research.
The Editors-in-Chief invite the submission of manuscripts which present results of significant research on core topics in the disciplines, and encourage innovative articles integrating cutting-edge conceptual and empirical approaches in genomics and neuroecology to provide novel insights into behavioral adaptation.
Come for the science, stay for the reef and rainforest.
The Australian Section will be hosting the next international congress of IUSSI. The President is Ben Oldroyd, and the organizing committee currently comprises Madeleine Beekman (Conference Treasurer), Simon Robson and Judith Reinhard. The committee will be expanded closer to the event.
The Congress will be held in the magnificent Cairns Convention Centre, and there will be a brilliant selection of post conference tours, etc.
There will be discounts for student delegates, and students are strongly encouraged to participate and to present.
Please mark the dates in your calendar.
We have registered the domain name www.IUSSI2014.com. We'll go live as soon as we can.
The 5th meeting of the European Sections of the IUSSI will be held in Montecatini Terme (Tuscany, Italy) from 26 to 30 August 2012 organized by the Italian Section of the IUSSI and by the Accademia Nazionale Italiana di Entomologia.
Montecatini Terme is an Italian district of 21,000 inhabitants within the province of Pistoia in Tuscany. The most important centre in Valdinievole. The town is located at the eastern end of Piana di Lucca and has a strong vocation for tourism.
The meeting will be held at the Hotel Tuscany Inn, a modern structure at a walking distance from the centre of the city. The conference centre has 3 rooms with adjustable walls that allow the organization of events from 10 to a maximum of 380 people.
The Managing Board of the Italian Section proposes 8 sessions, which cover a great variety of arguments. The 8th session focuses on "Basic research on Honeybees and applicative outputs" also to fulfil the requests of great part of the members of the Italian Section who actually work on honeybees' biology.
You can find out more by downloading this pdf.