myrmecology

Myrmecology (mur-mi-ko-loj-e; from Greek: μύρμεξ, myrmex, "ant"; and λόγος, logos, "knowledge") is the scientific study of ants, a branch of entomology. Some early myrmecologists considered ant society as the ideal form of society and sought to find solutions to human problems by studying them. Ants continue to be a model of choice for the study of questions on the evolution of social systems because of their complex and varied forms of eusociality. Their diversity and prominence in ecosystems has also made them important components in the study of biodiversity and conservation.

History

The word myrmecology was coined by William Morton Wheeler (1865–1937) although human interest in the life of ants goes back further with numerous ancient folk references. The earliest scientific thinking based on observation of ant life was that of Auguste Forel (1848–1931), a Swiss psychologist who was initially interested in ideas of instinct, learning and society. In 1874 he wrote a book on the ants of Switzerland, Les fourmis de la Suisse and he named his home as La Fourmilière (the ant colony). Forel's early studies included attempts to mix species of ants in a colony. He noted polydomy and monodomy in ants and compared them with the structure of nations.^[1]

Wheeler looked at ants in a new light, in terms of the social organization and in 1910 he delivered a lecture at Woods Hole on the “The Ant-Colony as an Organism,” which pioneered the idea of superorganisms. Wheeler considered trophallaxis or the sharing of food within the colony as the core of ant society. This was studied using a dye in the food and observing how it spread in the colony.^[1]

Some like Horace Donisthorpe worked on the systematics of ants. This tradition continued in many parts of the world until advances in other aspects of biology were made. The advent of genetics, ideas in ethology and its evolution led to new thought. This line of enquiry was pioneered by E. O. Wilson who founded the field termed as sociobiology.^[1]

List of notable myrmecologists

Note: Names are listed alphabetically.

• Donat Agosti
• E. André (1838–1911)
• Cesari Baroni Urbani
• Murray S. Blum (1929— ), Chemical ecologist, and an expert on pheromones.
• Barry Bolton, English ant taxonomist.
• Thomas Borgmeier
• William L. Brown, Jr.
• J. Clark
• Giovanni Cobelli (1849–1937), Italian entomologist. Director of the Rovereto museum.
• A. C. Cole, Jr.
• Cedric Collingwood
• W. C. Crawley
• William Steel Creighton
• Mark A. Deyrup
• Horace Donisthorpe (1870–1951), British myrmecologist. Named several new species.
• Carlos Emery
• Auguste Forel (1848–1931), Swiss myrmecologist, studied brain structure of humans and ants.
• Emil A. Goeldi
• Deborah Gordon (1955— ), Studies ant colony behavior and ecology.
• William H. Gotwald, Jr.
• William Gould (~1715–?), described by Horace Donisthorpe as "the father of British myrmecology".
• Robert E. Gregg
• Bert Hölldobler (1936— ), Pulitzer Prize winning German myrmecologist.
• Thomas C. Jerdon (1811–1872)
• Laurent Keller (1961— )
• Walter W. Kempf ( - 1976)
• N. Kusnezov
• John E. Lattke
• John T. Longino
• Sir John Lubbock (the 1st Lord and Baron Avebury) (1834–1913), wrote on hymenoptera sense organs.
• William Mann
• Gustav Mayr, Austrian entomologist and professor in Pest and Vienna. He specialised in Hymenoptera.
• C. Menozzi
• Derek Wragge Morley (1920–1969), research included genetics, social behaviour of animals, and the behaviour of agricultural pests.
• Fergus O'Rourke (1923— )
• Felix Santschi
• Justin O. Schmidt, studies the chemical and behavioral defenses of ants, wasps, and arachnids.
• T. C. Schneirla
• S. O. Shattuck
• Frederick Smith (1805–1879), worked in the zoology department of the British Museum from 1849, specialising in the Hymenoptera.
• Marion R. Smith
• Roy R. Snelling (1934-2008), credited with many important finds of rare or new ant species.
• R. W. Taylor
• Walter Tschinkel
• James C. Trager
• Philip S. Ward
• E. Wasmann
• Neal A. Weber
• John Obadiah Westwood (1805–1893), English entomologist and archaeologist also noted for his artistic talents.
• William Morton Wheeler (1865–1937), curator of invertebrate zoology in the American Museum of Natural History. Described many new species.
• E. O. Wilson (1929— ), Pulitzer Prize winning American myrmecologist. Revolutionized the field of sociobiology.

Related terms

Myrmecochorous (adj.) dispersed by ants.

Myrmecophagous (adj.) feeding on ants.

Myrmecophile (n.) an organism that habitually shares an ant nest . myrmecophilous (adj.), myrmecophily (n.)

See also

• List of ants of Great Britain
• BWARS
• Formicarium, also known as ant farm
• Stigmergy, a biological mechanism attributed to the coordination of ants and other social insects
• Myrmecological news, an independent, international, non-profit, scientific journal devoted to ant research
• International Union for the Study of Social Insects

Notes

External links

Look up myrmecology in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Documentary about myrmecology