All animals possess a dynamic social network of other organisms,
encompassing kin and mates, competitors and collaborators, predators,
prey, and pathogens. Many of these relationships are controlled by
chemical signals, which provide an expansive and versatile language of
communication. I will present my groups studies on the genetic and
neural basis of olfactory-mediated social behaviors in Drosophila, and
how and why these may have evolved.