Matina Donaldson-Matasci
@matinadonaldson.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Biology at Harvey Mudd College. Studies ants & bees in the lab, the field, and the alternate reality of mathematics.
Admiring "Portrait of a Human" by the amazing @artologica.net hanging in our living room. @matinadonaldson.bsky.social and I absolutely love it.
On Sunday, my student Diya will be graduating from @hmc.edu -- an exciting, though slightly scary, event! In her last HMC Bee Lab blog post, she writes about a much more painful rite of passage practiced by the Sateré-Mawé people of Brazil with #BulletAnts: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/05/comi...
Coming of Age with Ants: The Sateré-Mawé Tradition of Wearing Bullet Ant Gloves
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
You've probably stumbled across an #ant nest before, but maybe you never stopped to look: what are they doing there, right around the nest entrance? Su writes about what harvester ants do, and how we can tell, in her latest student blog post: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/04/here... @hmc.edu
Determing Behavior in Harvester Ant Colonies
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
If you closely at what seems like a weed, you may notice a beautiful #Fibonacci spiral of flowers. In the latest blog post from my Ecology Lab's #NaturalHistory series, Aabhas writes about the Common Fiddleneck and its striking form. hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/04/fidd... @hmc.edu
Fiddling with Fiddlenecks: Pondering upon Existential Questions in Evolution
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
Detecting ants is a key part of tracking them, but it's not all that matters. You also need to keep track of who's who -- easier said than done! In this HMC Bee Lab blog post, Livia writes about tracking metrics that take ID into account hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/04/how-... #ComputerVision @hmc.edu
What happens when a resource disappears? Wood ant networks reorganize, often recovering well. But if a key resource is lost, the network is reshaped into a less efficient, less robust configuration. It may not recover, even if the resource becomes available again. www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
When a key resource disappears: What wood ant networks can teach us
At first glance, the world of ants may seem far removed from our everyday lives. Yet, on closer inspection, they often face surprisingly similar challenges. They live in complex societies where the fu...
eurekalert.org
Are you easily distracted by plants? (Yeah, me too.) Go on a virtual #NaturalHistory trip to pHake Lake, our field station's artificial pond, with Ecology Lab student Callie. Enjoy the journey ... and don't focus too much on the destination! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/04/phak... @hmc.edu
Today's edition of my Ecology Lab's #NaturalHistory blog series: Karl, a somewhat reluctant naturalist, faces his fear of "knife flies" head on by choosing to study #pollinators in his final project hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/04/how-... @hmc.edu
Mustard: is it an invasive weed, or a tasty condiment? Why not both? Read more in the latest post of my Ecology Lab students' #NaturalHistory blog series! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/must... @hmc.edu
Mustard Seeds to Seedy Mustard
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
Next up in my Ecology Lab students' #NaturalHistory blog series: Lilo writes about the peace that comes from observing bees and butterflies on a black sage plant. Bonus: some great pics with Adobe's new iPhone camera app Project Indigo! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/lost... @hmc.edu
Lost in the Bushes: Examining the Black Sage and its Pollinators
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
If an ant has no nose, how does it smell? Find out in Pranay's latest student blog post: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/ther... @hmc.edu
There's a Whole World You've Never Heard of, Right Under Your Nose
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
Imagine being the size of an ant, and entering an ant nest. Without special defenses or camouflage, you'd probably die immediately. Yet, some beetles do this all the time! Read more in Phoebe's latest undergrad research blog post: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/find... #myrmecophile @hmc.edu
How does vision shape our understanding of the world? Research student Bonnie writes about the architecture of the brain & how it inspires #ComputerVision: allowing computers to not only identify & categorize objects, but also interact with the world. hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/what... @hmc.edu
What Vision Reveals About Intelligence
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
Here's the second post in my students' #NaturalHistory blog series! Anna writes about "Ecology Underfoot" -- the surprising plant diversity to be found in a tiny patch of seemingly bare ground: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/03/ecol... @hmc.edu
Ecology Underfoot
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
If you've ever walked through a California native shrubland, you might have noticed how good you smell afterwards. Sagescrub is incredibly aromatic -- but does it make good tea? Read Taylor's latest student blog post to find out! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2026/02/smel...
What's *your* Ant Navigation style? When you're lost, do you make like an Argentine ant and follow the crowd, or like a desert ant and look for landmarks? Read more about the different ways ants find their way in Paul's latest student blog post: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/12/ant-... @hmc.edu
Ant Maps?
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
I always appreciate the first-year students' comments & drawings on the final exam, but *this* one especially 😍 🐜!
From the surface, ant nests don't look like much. But underground, there's *a lot* going on! Learn about the complex structure & construction of ant nests, and what we have to learn from it all, in Pranay's new blog post: "Antchitecture"! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/12/antc... @hmc.edu
Antchitecture: The Building of Harvester Ant Nests
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
California harvester #ants have a powerful sting -- so powerful that Indigenous people of the region ingested hundreds of them to induce visions. Read more in Ananya's latest blog post: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/12/trip... (Don't try this at home!!) @hmc.edu
Tripping on Ants
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
What makes humans "special"? Well, it isn't farming... ants have been doing it a lot longer than we have! Read more about fungus farming ants in Diya's latest student blog post: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/11/hold... @hmc.edu
Hold Your Horses: Ants farm too?
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
Students in my lab have been observing interactions b/w native and invasive ants in our local field station. First-year student Su writes about the different species they've encountered in the process, including our fave, the California harvester ant! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-... @hmc.edu
The Ants of Harvey Mudd: Which Ones are You Seeing?
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
We've seen our turtle ants, after being bitten, stung and thrown by twig ants, just walk away all nonchalant. What makes them so hard core? Read about our latest exploratory project in Lexie's new blog post: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/11/knig... @hmc.edu
Want to learn about ant weaponry & wrestling moves? New undergrad student Phoebe interviewed collaborator Dr. Scott Powell to find out how the enemy species she's studying in the lab interact in the field. Read her blog post here: hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/10/neve... #ants #wrestling @hmc.edu
Never Gonna Give You Up: Twig Ant Mandibles
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
Hey #ABS2025 are you excited to see some Ant Wrestling?? My undergrad Marissa Douglas made this fun trailer for her thesis presentation: youtu.be/MtBHG3XNVxY?... I'll be talking about it this afternoon at 4pm in Social Aggression.
Thesis Trailer for interspecific competition of Cephalotes varians and Pseudomyrmex gracilis
YouTube video by Marissa Douglas
youtu.be
Wanna read more about ant wrestling -- and learn how we make science replicable? First-year undergrad Hanna writes about her experience working in the lab this semester & what she learned about the importance of a detailed protocol w/ lots of examples hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/05/wres... @hmc.edu
Wrestling Ants, The Sequel! Why We Cannot Randomly Score Insect Aggression
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
Protecting habitat is perhaps THE most important conservation strategy. But a proposed change to the Endangered Species Act would stop doing so, allowing people & companies to destroy habitat that endangered species need to survive. Join us in stopping this change ➡️ xerces.org/protect-the-esa
"Have you ever watched a WWE wrestling match and wished you could see it at a fraction of the size? Ever wanted to see miniature body slams, tiny submission holds and even small aerial moves?" If so, read on in the latest student blog post by Lexie! hmcbee.blogspot.com/2025/05/wres... @hmc.edu #ants
Wrestling Ants: How We Score Insect Aggression Like WWE Moves
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com
Work on the resilience of wood ant transport networks led by SandorPiross shows network dynamics that are highly effective in stable environments have limited capacity to cope with targeted disruption 2/2 @uoyopenres.bsky.social @matinadonaldson.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Strong and weak environmental perturbations cause contrasting restructure of ant transportation networks | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Dynamic transportation networks are embedded in all levels of biological organization. Ever-growing anthropogenic disturbances and an increasingly variable climate highlight the importance of understa...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Meet the lab ants, part II! In this blog post, Chloé introduces our three species (turtle ants, two kinds of twig ants) & the personality differences she's observed. Like me, she prefers turtle ants, but her reasons are different... hmcbee.blogspot.com/2024/12/flor... #ants @harveymudd.bsky.social
Floridian Ants: The true test of my patience
A blog about social insect behavior, especially ants & honeybees, including field ecology, computer vision, and mathematical and simulation models.
hmcbee.blogspot.com