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James K. Wetterer
James K. Wetterer Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University 5353 Parkside Drive, Jupiter, FL 33458 Phone: (561) 799-8648; FAX: (561) 799-8602; e-mail: [email protected] EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, Seattle, WA, 9/83 - 8/88 Ph.D., Zoology: Ecology and Evolution; Advisor: Gordon H. Orians. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, East Lansing, MI, 9/81 - 9/83 M.S., Zoology: Ecology; Advisors: Earl E. Werner and Donald J. Hall. CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, NY, 9/76 - 5/79 A.B., Biology: Ecology and Systematics. UNIVERSITÉ DE PARIS III, France, 1/78 - 5/78 Semester abroad: courses in theater, literature, and history of art. WORK EXPERIENCE FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY, Wilkes Honors College 8/04 - present: Professor 7/98 - 7/04: Associate Professor Teaching: Biodiversity, Principles of Ecology, Behavioral Ecology, Human Ecology, Environmental Studies, Tropical Ecology, Field Biology, Life Science, and Scientific Writing 9/03 - 1/04 & 5/04 - 8/04: Fulbright Scholar; Ants of Trinidad and Tobago COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, Department of Earth and Environmental Science 7/96 - 6/98: Assistant Professor Teaching: Community Ecology, Behavioral Ecology, and Tropical Ecology WHEATON COLLEGE, Department of Biology 8/94 - 6/96: Visiting Assistant Professor Teaching: General Ecology and Introductory Biology HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Museum of Comparative Zoology 8/91- 6/94: Post-doctoral Fellow; Behavior, ecology, and evolution of fungus-growing ants Advisors: Edward O. Wilson, Naomi Pierce, and Richard Lewontin 9/95 - 1/96: Teaching: Ethology PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 7/89 - 7/91: Research Associate; Ecology and evolution of leaf-cutting ants Advisor: Stephen Hubbell 1/91 - 5/91: Teaching: Tropical Ecology, Introduction to the Scientific Method VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, Department of Psychology 9/88 - 7/89: Post-doctoral Fellow; Visual psychophysics of fish and horseshoe crabs Advisor: Maureen K. -
James K. Wetterer
James K. Wetterer Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University 5353 Parkside Drive, Jupiter, FL 33458 Phone: (561) 799-8648; FAX: (561) 799-8602; e-mail: [email protected] EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, Seattle, WA, 9/83 - 8/88 Ph.D., Zoology: Ecology and Evolution; Advisor: Gordon H. Orians. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, East Lansing, MI, 9/81 - 9/83 M.S., Zoology: Ecology; Advisors: Earl E. Werner and Donald J. Hall. CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, NY, 9/76 - 5/79 A.B., Biology: Ecology and Systematics. UNIVERSITÉ DE PARIS III, France, 1/78 - 5/78 Semester abroad: courses in theater, literature, and history of art. WORK EXPERIENCE FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY, Wilkes Honors College 8/04 - present: Professor 7/98 - 7/04: Associate Professor Teaching: Principles of Ecology, Behavioral Ecology, Human Ecology, Environmental Studies, Tropical Ecology, Biodiversity, Life Science, and Scientific Writing 9/03 - 1/04 & 5/04 - 8/04: Fulbright Scholar; Ants of Trinidad and Tobago COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, Department of Earth and Environmental Science 7/96 - 6/98: Assistant Professor Teaching: Community Ecology, Behavioral Ecology, and Tropical Ecology WHEATON COLLEGE, Department of Biology 8/94 - 6/96: Visiting Assistant Professor Teaching: General Ecology and Introductory Biology HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Museum of Comparative Zoology 8/91- 6/94: Post-doctoral Fellow; Behavior, ecology, and evolution of fungus-growing ants Advisors: Edward O. Wilson, Naomi Pierce, and Richard Lewontin 9/95 - 1/96: Teaching: Ethology PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 7/89 - 7/91: Research Associate; Ecology and evolution of leaf-cutting ants Advisor: Stephen Hubbell 1/91 - 5/91: Teaching: Tropical Ecology, Introduction to the Scientific Method VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, Department of Psychology 9/88 - 7/89: Post-doctoral Fellow; Visual psychophysics of fish and horseshoe crabs Advisor: Maureen K. -
Ant–Fungus Species Combinations Engineer Physiological Activity Of
© 2014. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | The Journal of Experimental Biology (2014) 217, 2540-2547 doi:10.1242/jeb.098483 RESEARCH ARTICLE Ant–fungus species combinations engineer physiological activity of fungus gardens J. N. Seal1,2,*, M. Schiøtt3 and U. G. Mueller2 ABSTRACT such complexity, the fungus-gardening insects have evolved obligate Fungus-gardening insects are among the most complex organisms macro-symbioses with specific clades of fungi, and use fungal because of their extensive co-evolutionary histories with obligate symbionts essentially as an external digestive organ that allows the fungal symbionts and other microbes. Some fungus-gardening insect insect to thrive on otherwise non-digestible substrates, such as lineages share fungal symbionts with other members of their lineage structural carbohydrates of plants (e.g. cellulose) (Aanen et al., and thus exhibit diffuse co-evolutionary relationships, while others 2002; Aylward et al., 2012a; Aylward et al., 2012b; Bacci et al., exhibit little or no symbiont sharing, resulting in host–fungus fidelity. 1995; Farrell et al., 2001; De Fine Licht and Biedermann, 2012; The mechanisms that maintain this symbiont fidelity are currently Martin, 1987a; Mueller et al., 2005). One of the most striking unknown. Prior work suggested that derived leaf-cutting ants in the attributes of these symbioses is the degree of physiological genus Atta interact synergistically with leaf-cutter fungi (Attamyces) integration: the insect host functions as a distributor of fungal by exhibiting higher fungal growth rates and enzymatic activities than enzymes, which digest plant fibers external to the insect’s body when growing a fungus from the sister-clade to Attamyces (so-called (Aanen and Eggleton, 2005; Aylward et al., 2012b; De Fine Licht ‘Trachymyces’), grown primarily by the non-leaf cutting and Biedermann, 2012; De Fine Licht et al., 2013; Martin, 1987b; Trachymyrmex ants that form, correspondingly, the sister-clade to Schiøtt et al., 2010). -
The Coexistence
Myrmecological News 13 37-55 2009, Online Earlier Natural history and phylogeny of the fungus-farming ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini) Natasha J. MEHDIABADI & Ted R. SCHULTZ Abstract Ants of the tribe Attini comprise a monophyletic group of approximately 230 described and many more undescribed species that obligately depend on the cultivation of fungus for food. In return, the ants nourish, protect, and disperse their fungal cultivars. Although all members of this tribe cultivate fungi, attine ants are surprisingly heterogeneous with regard to symbiont associations and agricultural system, colony size and social structure, nesting behavior, and mating system. This variation is a key reason that the Attini have become a model system for understanding the evolution of complex symbioses. Here, we review the natural-history traits of fungus-growing ants in the context of a recently published phylo- geny, collating patterns of evolution and symbiotic coadaptation in a variety of colony and fungus-gardening traits in a number of major lineages. We discuss the implications of these patterns and suggest future research directions. Key words: Hymenoptera, Formicidae, fungus-growing ants, leafcutter ants, colony life, natural history, evolution, mating, agriculture, review. Myrmecol. News 13: 37-55 (online xxx 2008) ISSN 1994-4136 (print), ISSN 1997-3500 (online) Received 12 June 2009; revision received 24 September 2009; accepted 28 September 2009 Dr. Natasha J. Mehdiabadi* (contact author) & Dr. Ted R. Schultz* (contact author), Department of Entomology and Laboratories of Analytical Biology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, NHB, CE518, MRC 188, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA. E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] * Both authors contributed equally to the work. -
Hymenoptera: Formicidae
NATAL NEST DISTRIBUTION AND PLEOMETROSIS IN THE DESERT LEAF-CUTTER ANT A CROMYRMEX I/ERSICOLOR (PERGANDE) (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) BY STEVEN W. RISSING,* ROBERT A. JOHNSON,* AND GREGORY B. POLLOCK** While most ant colonies are started by single queens, colony foundation by groups of queens, pleometrosis, also occurs (Wilson 1971, H6lldobler and Wilson 1977). Several extensively studied, highly pleometrotic species are notably similar with respect to important aspects of colony ontogeny and population dynamics. Myrmecocystus mimicus, Solenopsis invicta and l/'eromessor per- gandei queens found colonies mutualistically without respect to relatedness (Bartz and H6lldobler 1982, Tschinkel and Howard 1983, Pollock and Rissing 1985, Rissing and Pollock 1986). Further, while adult colonies of these species are highly territorial (Htill- dobler 1976a, 1981; Wilson et al. 1971; Went et al. 1972, Wheeler and Rissing 1975), natal colonies are clumped with brood raiding and subsequent worker defection from brood-raided colonies occur- ring (references cited above for M. mimicus and S. invicta, for F. pergandei: Rissing and Pollock, in press). Given such frequently deleterious natal colony interactions, adaptive value of b.abitat selection by founding queens resulting in clumping of natal nests is unclear. Natal nests of M. mimicus are generally clumped in areas devoid of adult nests (Bartz and H6lldobler 1982), yet still occur near such nests (B. H611dobler, pers. comm.), and queens of S. invicta show some preference for microtopographic features (Tschinkel and Howard 1983). Here we present data relating habitat selection and clumping of natal nests of the highly pleometrotic leaf- cutter ant Acromyrmex versicolor (Pergande) directly to survival of founding queens. -
Hybridization in Ants
Rockefeller University Digital Commons @ RU Student Theses and Dissertations 2020 Hybridization in Ants Ian Butler Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.rockefeller.edu/ student_theses_and_dissertations Part of the Life Sciences Commons HYBRIDIZATION IN ANTS A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of The Rockefeller University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Ian Butler June 2020 © Copyright by Ian Butler 2020 HYBRIDIZATION IN ANTS Ian Butler, Ph.D. The Rockefeller University 2020 Interspecific hybridization is a relatively common occurrence within all animal groups. Two main factors make hybridization act differently in ants than in other species: eusociality and haplodiploidy. These factors serve to reduce the costs of interspecific hybridization in ants while simultaneously allowing them to take advantage of certain benefits. Eusociality may mitigate the effects of hybridization by allowing hybrids to be shunted into the worker caste, potentially reducing the effects of hybrid sterility. In haplodiploid species, males do not have a father. They instead develop from unfertilized eggs as haploid clones of their mother. This means that interspecifically mated queens do not completely sacrifice reproductive potential even if all hybrids are sterile because they can still produce fertile males. These factors in turn suggest that hybridization should be more common among the social Hymenoptera than other animal groups. Nevertheless, current data suggest that ants hybridize at rates similar to other animal groups, although these data are limited. Furthermore, there is a large amount of overlap between cases of interspecific hybridization and cases of genetic caste determination. A majority of the cases in ants where caste is determined primarily by genotype are associated with hybridization. -
Foraging Ecology of the Desert Leaf-Cutting Ant, Acromyrmex Versicolor, in Arizona (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256979550 Foraging ecology of the desert leaf-cutting ant, Acromyrmex versicolor, in Arizona (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Article in Sociobiology · January 2001 CITATIONS READS 13 590 3 authors, including: James K. Wetterer Florida Atlantic University 184 PUBLICATIONS 3,058 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Ant stuff View project Systematics and Evolution of the Tapinoma ants (Formicidae: Dolichoderinae) from the Neotropical region View project All content following this page was uploaded by James K. Wetterer on 17 May 2014. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. 1 Foraging Ecology of the Desert Leaf-Cutting Ant, Acromyrmex versicolor, in Arizona (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) by James K. Wetterer1,2, Anna G. Himler1, & Matt M. Yospin1 ABSTRACT The desert would seem to be an inhospitable place for leaf-cutting ants (Acromyrmex spp. and Atta spp.), both because the leaves of desert perennials are notably well-defended, both chemically and physically, and because leaf-cutters grow a fungus that requires constant high humidity. We investigated strategies that leaf-cutters use to survive in arid environments by examining foraging activity, resource use, forager size, load size, and nesting ecology of the desert leaf-cutting ant, Acromyrmex versicolor, at 12 colonies from 6 sites in Arizona during June, August, and November 1997, and March 1998. The ants showed striking seasonal changes in materials harvested, apparently in response to changes in the availability of preferred resources. Acromyrmex versicolor foragers (n = 800) most commonly collected dry vegetation (54.3% of all loads), but also harvested ephem- eral resources, such as dry flowers (18.6%), fresh young leaves (18.5%), fruits and seeds (4.0%), and fresh flowers (3.5%), when seasonally available. -
The Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology SOCIAL INSECTS AS SOLITARY VEHICLES A Dissertation in Ecology by Emilia Solá Gracia 2017 Emilia Solá Gracia Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2017 ii The dissertation of Emilia Solá Gracia was reviewed and approved* by the following: David P. Hughes Assistant Professor of Entomology and Biology Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Nina Jenkins Senior Research Associate Victoria Braithwaite Professor of Fisheries and Biology Ephraim Hanks Assistant Professor Jason Kaye Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry Professor in Charge *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT Parasite-host interactions affect more than the two main characters. Organisms living in tight-knit communities depend on each other in order to survive. Individuals harboring a parasite can affect the delicate balance within these communities. While on the other hand the community could also have a strong effect on a parasite’s life cycle. I explore the effects infected individuals have on the within-nest dynamics of ant colonies. Additionally, I investigate the effects of infectious and non-infectious cadaver exposure have on worker behavior, as well as determine the effects workers have on the fungus protruding from the infectious cadavers. Using both a coevolved fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis sensus lato, and a generalist fungus, Beauveria bassiana, I found infected workers do not strongly affect the within nest dynamics of Camponotus castaneus, the natural host of O. unilateralis s. l. Furthermore C. castaneus and C. pennsylvanicus manage infectious and non-infectious cadavers differently. -
Foundress Queen Mortality and Early Colony Growth of the Leafcutter Ant, Atta Texana (Formicidae, Hymenoptera)
Insect. Soc. (2015) 62:357–363 DOI 10.1007/s00040-015-0413-7 Insectes Sociaux RESEARCH ARTICLE Foundress queen mortality and early colony growth of the leafcutter ant, Atta texana (Formicidae, Hymenoptera) 1 1 2 1 H. E. Marti • A. L. Carlson • B. V. Brown • U. G. Mueller Received: 26 September 2014 / Revised: 17 April 2015 / Accepted: 21 April 2015 / Published online: 8 May 2015 Ó International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI) 2015 Abstract Nest-founding queens of social insects typically Keywords Incipient colony Á Disease Á Parasite Á experience high mortality rates. Mortality is particularly Fusarium oxysporum Á Aspergillus flavus Á severe in leafcutter ants of the fungus-growing ant genus Megaselia scalaris Atta that face the challenge of cultivating a delicate fungus garden in addition to raising brood. We quantified foundress queen survivorship of Atta texana that were collected in Introduction northwest Texas and maintained in single-queen laboratory nests, and we tracked the rate of colony growth during the The nest-founding stage is a particularly critical stage in the first precarious months of the colony lifecycle. Ninety days life history of social insects (Oster and Wilson 1978). Nest- post-mating flight, only 16.3 % of 141 of the original founding queens typically experience low survivorship, queens had survived, and colony growth rates varied which creates a selective bottleneck where a very small markedly across the surviving colonies. Worker production proportion of surviving queens contribute to the next gen- was weakly correlated with fungus garden growth over the eration (Brian 1965; Wilson 1971; Cole 2009). -
On Suicidal Punishment Among Acromyrmex Versicolor Cofoundresses
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid e-Archivo On suicidal punishment among Acromyrmex versicolor cofoundresses: the disadvantage in personal advantage Gregory B. Pollock 6230 Nth 33rd Ave. #133 Phoenix, AZ 85017 Antonio Cabrales Department d'Economia Universitat Pompeu Fabra Ramon Trias Fargas 25-27 Barcelona E-08005 SPAIN Steven W. Rissing Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology College of Biological Sciences The Ohio State University Columbus, OH 43210 Pollock, Cabrales, Rissing: the disadvantage in personal advantage, 1 Summary. Cofounding queens (“cofoundresses”) of the obligate desert fungus garden ant Acromyrmex versicolor exhibit a forager specialist who subsumes all foraging risk prior to first worker eclosion (Rissing et al. 1989); laboratory observation suggests a "coordination" mechanism (sensu Aumann 1974; Rosenthal 1979; cf Pollock 1994b, 1996) assigning task-specific risk without contention among (unrelated) cofoundresses (Rissing et al. 1989, 1996). In an experiment designed to mimic a "cheater" who refuses foraging assignment when her lot, cofoundresses delayed/failed to replace their forager, usually leading to demise of their garden (Rissing et al. 1996). Such behavior is suicidal, as the essential fungus garden cannot be replaced. Failing to replace a cheater is here an extreme punishment where the punisher harms herself to harm the cheater (after Radner 1980). We simulate cofoundress allocation of foraging risk with haploid, asexual genotypes which either replace a cheater (at some point, the personally best response) or not (suicidal punishment), under both foundress viscosity (likely for A. versicolor) and random assortment. Simulation “fair contests,” with populations initially a 50:50 mix of potential replacers and punishers, exposed to mutant cheaters across evolutionary time, reveal (latent) suicidal punishment superior (under viscosity) to replacing a cheater. -
Multiple Paternity, Relatedness and Genetic Diversity in Acromyrmex Leaf-Cutter Ants
Multiple paternity, relatedness and genetic diversity in Acromyrmex leaf-cutter ants Jacobus J. Boomsma, Else J. Fjerdingstad{ and Jane Frydenberg Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Aarhus, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark ([email protected]) Multiple queen-mating occurs in many social insects, but high degrees of multiple paternity have only been found in honeybees and some yellowjacket wasps. Here we report the ¢rst case of an ant species where multiple mating reduces relatedness among female o¡spring to values signi¢cantly lower than 0.5. Genetic analysis of a Panamanian population of the leaf-cutter ant Acromyrmex octospinosus showed that queens mate with at least 4^10 males. The detected (minimum) genetically e¡ective paternity of nestmate females was 3.9 and estimates of mean relatedness among nestmate females were ca. 0.33. This implies that multiple queen-mating in Acromyrmex octospinosus reduces relatedness to 44% of the value in full-sib colonies (0.75), realizing 84% of the maximum reduction (to 0.25) that would be obtained with an in¢nite number of matings. Queens of Panamanian Acromyrmex octospinosus mate with more males than sympatric queens of Atta colombica, which is contrary to the positive relationship between queen-mating frequency and colony size found across more distantly related ant species. Possible selective forces that maintain high queen-mating frequencies in leaf-cutter ants are discussed. Keywords: Acromyrmex; leaf-cutter ants; multiple mating; paternity; relatedness; social evolution been documented for leaf-cutter ants: ca. three fathers per 1. INTRODUCTION colony in Acromyrmex versicolor (Reichardt & Wheeler The evolution and maintenance of multiple queen-mating 1996), 1^5 fathers per colony in Atta colombica (Fjerding- in the eusocial Hymenoptera (ants, some bees and some stad et al. -
Synonymic List of Neotropical Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
BIOTA COLOMBIANA Special Issue: List of Neotropical Ants Número monográfico: Lista de las hormigas neotropicales Fernando Fernández Sebastián Sendoya Volumen 5 - Número 1 (monográfico), Junio de 2004 Instituto de Ciencias Naturales Biota Colombiana 5 (1) 3 -105, 2004 Synonymic list of Neotropical ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Fernando Fernández1 and Sebastián Sendoya2 1Profesor Asociado, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, AA 7495, Bogotá D.C, Colombia. [email protected] 2 Programa de Becas ABC, Sistema de Información en Biodiversidad y Proyecto Atlas de la Biodiversidad de Colombia, Instituto Alexander von Humboldt. [email protected] Key words: Formicidae, Ants, Taxa list, Neotropical Region, Synopsis Introduction Ant Phylogeny Ants are conspicuous and dominant all over the All ants belong to the family Formicidae, in the superfamily globe. Their diversity and abundance both peak in the tro- Vespoidea, within the order Hymenoptera. The most widely pical regions of the world and gradually decline towards accepted phylogentic schemes for the superfamily temperate latitudes. Nonetheless, certain species such as Vespoidea place the ants as a sister group to Vespidae + Formica can be locally abundant in some temperate Scoliidae (Brother & Carpenter 1993; Brothers 1999). countries. In the tropical and subtropical regions numerous Numerous studies have demonstrated the monophyletic species have been described, but many more remain to be nature of ants (Bolton 1994, 2003; Fernández 2003). Among discovered. Multiple studies have shown that ants represent the most widely accepted characters used to define ants as a high percentage of the biomass and individual count in a group are the presence of a metapleural gland in females canopy forests.