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Time: 20.02.2026, 18:30
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Place: Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Room 103B
Participation:
Description:
Pyrrohocoris apterus, known as firebugs, tram drivers or wingless blacksmiths, after copulation join their reproductive organs into pairs called tandems, in which they remain from several hours up to — in rare cases — seven days. During that time the pair moves together, acquires food, and likely interacts with other individuals.
During the meeting I will talk about the research I conducted on pairs of blacksmiths, trying to determine a very basic but so far undescribed scientific question - what determines which insect is at the front of the tandem? Does one of them steer the movement? Is there cooperation between them? I will focus on analyzing behavior recordings using DeepLabCut, a convolutional neural network that has become a standard for behavior analysis in modern neurobiology. I will also talk about other programs used for behavioral research, such as Bonsai and SimBA. At the end I will present my interpretation of the study results in an evolutionary context and the next steps I would like to take in studying blacksmiths.
I invite you to the world of behavioral research on non-traditional model organisms!
About the speaker:
Jagoda Nawrocka - third-year Biology student within MISMaP, interested in behavioral research and non-traditional model organisms in neurobiology. Vice president of the Student Scientific Society of Neurobiology. She runs classes and organizes workshops within Nencki Open Lab, and was the main organizer of two editions of the School of Ideas in Neuroscience Seminar.
Co-author of the article:
"Brains are expensive, but cognition is often cheap" (Kondrakiewicz & Nawrocka, 2025)
