Dr. Sofia Bouchebti, PI

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I am a biologist with a deep fascination for social insects. My research has primarily focused on the nutritional behavior of these insects, with three main areas of investigation: 1) individual and collective strategies involved in the exploitation of food resources; 2) decision-making processes related to the types of nutrients consumed or collected; and 3) the behavioral, cognitive, and physiological effects of the consumed nutrients.

During my PhD, conducted at Toulouse III University (France) and São Paulo State University (Brazil), I studied the foraging behavior of the leaf-cutting ant Atta laevigata. By combining field and laboratory experiments, I described a general pattern of the foraging strategy used by these ants.

In my earlier postdoctoral research, first at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) and later at King Juan Carlos University (Spain), I used the nutritional geometric framework approach to explore how macronutrients influence physiological and behavioral traits in social insects (honey bees and cockroaches). In my most recent postdoctoral research at Tel Aviv University (Israel), I studied how nutrients are allocated, utilized, and exchanged among colony members and across generations, using various insect models such as the Oriental hornet, bumblebee, and American cockroach.

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