Welcome to the Bishop Traits Lab!

We are an ecology and evolution research laboratory based in the School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Wales, UK. 

Our core mission is to describe and explain the distribution and coexistence of Life on Earth. We think this is fascinating, but also crucial to tackling many of the ecological problems that our planet is facing. 

Most of our work focuses on measuring the physiological, morphological, and behavioural traits of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). A "trait-based" approach to ecology allows us to pin down how species tolerate their environments and each other. Ants, on the other hand, are hyper-abundant, social insects that live in nearly every terrestrial habitat on Earth - they are easy to catch and inspiring to study!

Check out the People, Research, Publications, and News pages to find out more.