Dr. Alexander L. Wild Curator of Entomology Department of Integrative Biology The University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas 78701 (512)232-1896 [email protected] Alex Wild (b. 1973) is an evolutionary biologist and science photographer. His research as Curator of The University of Texas insect collection concerns the evolutionary genesis of insect diversity, especially ants, while his visual explorations of natural history appear in numerous magazines, textbooks, websites, and museum exhibits. Alex also runs photography workshops, and teaches upper-division entomology courses at The University of Texas at Austin. Academic and Professional Appointments 2015- Curator of Entomology, The University of Texas at Austin. Currently manage a 2-million present specimen research collection. Responsibilities include setting the collection’s research and organization agenda, handling specimen curation and loans, writing grants, conducting research on the Texan arthropod fauna, leading an outreach program, and overseeing about 20 student workers, volunteers, and community volunteers. 2005- Owner, Alex Wild Photography. Operating a small business organizing science photography present workshops, undertaking commissioned imaging projects, and providing natural history image prints and licenses. 2011- Contracted writer, Scientific American Blog Network. Wrote about science photography on 2015 the Compound Eye blog: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/compound-eye/ 2011- Research Scholar, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 2012 Conducted diverse independent projects on the systematics of insects, especially ants and parasitoid wasps. 2008 – Research Associate, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 2011 Conducted postdoctoral research on the braconid wasp genus Heterospilus in the laboratory of Dr. James Whitfield. Responsibilities include generation of molecular matrices for phylogenetic inference, data analysis, specimen imaging, and development of an online interactive key. 2006 – Research Associate, Department of Entomology, University of Arizona. Held a postdoctoral 2008 position on an Assembling the Tree of Life (NSF - ATOL) grant to reconstruct the phylogeny of the Coleoptera. Responsibilities included assisting in the development of a bioinformatics workflow system, the development of new protein-coding nuclear genes for phylogenetic analysis, and specimen curation and imaging. 1999 – Doctoral Student, Department of Entomology, U. C. Davis. Conducted externally funded 2005 phylogenetic and revisionary research in several ant genera, carried out molecular work for an NSF project to reconstruct the phylogeny of the ant family, and worked in the curation of entomology collections at the Bohart Museum of Entomology and the California Academy of Sciences. 1998 – Agriculture Sector Coordinator, U. S. Peace Corps/Paraguay. Activities included redesigning 1999 the Peace Corps agriculture plan to boost emphasis on no-till agriculture and to increase Peace Corps’ coordination with local organizations, interacting with Paraguayan communities to determine placement of incoming volunteers, organizing several week-long workshops in sustainable agriculture for Paraguayan subsistence farmers and Peace Corps volunteers, providing logistical support to volunteers, and editing a monthly newsletter. 1995 – Apiculture Extensionist, U. S. Peace Corps/Paraguay. Responsibilities included teaching 1998 beekeeping with Africanized honeybees in several subsistence farming communities and performing extension in agroforestry and sustainable agriculture. 1995 – Associate Curator, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural del Paraguay. Curated the ants in 1999 the Paraguayan National Museum on a part-time basis 1995 Invertebrate Laboratory Intern, Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid, Florida. Assisted in the curation of the Archbold insect collection. Professional Preparation 2005 University of California at Davis. Ph.D. in Entomology. 1995 Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME. A.B. summa cum laude in Biology and Environmental Studies. Reviewed Publications Nondillo, A., Arioli, C. J., Wild, A. L., Bueno, O.C., Botton, M. 2017. Myrmecofauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) present in vineyards infested with Eurhizococcus brasiliensis (Hemiptera: Margarodidae) in southern Brazil. Florida Entomologist 100 (3), 551-557. McKenna, D. M., A. L. Wild, K. Kanda, C. L. Bellamy, R. G. Beutel, M. S. Caterino, C. W. Farnum, D. C. Hawks, M. A. Ivie, M. L. Jameson, R. A. B. Leschen, A. E. Marvaldi, J. V. McHugh, A. F. Newton, J. A. Robertson, M. K. Thayer, M. F. Whiting, J. F. Lawrence, S. A. Ślipiński, D. R. Maddison & B. D. Farrell. 2015. The beetle Tree of Life reveals Coleoptera survived End Permian mass extinction to diversify during the Cretaceous terrestrial revolution. Systematic Entomology 46 pp. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/syen.12132 Porter, S. D., Valles, S. M., Wild, A. L., Dieckmann, R., Plowes, N. J. R. 2015. Solenopsis invicta virus 3: Further host-specificity tests with native Solenopsis ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Florida Entomologist 98 (1), 122-125. Short, A. E. Z., Joly, L. J., Garcia, M., Wild, A. L., Bloom, D. D., Maddison, D.R. 2015. Molecular phylogeny of the Hydroscaphidae (Coleoptera: Myxophaga) with description of a remarkable new lineage from the Guiana Shield. Systematic Entomology 40 (1), 214-229. Marsh, P. M., Wild, A. L., and J. B. Whitfield. 2013. The Doryctinae (Braconidae) of Costa Rica: genera and species of the tribe Heterospilini. ZooKeys, 347: 1-474. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.347.6002 Wild, A. L., Marsh, P. M., and J. B. Whitfield. 2013. Fast-evolving homoplastic traits are best for species identification in a group of Neotropical wasps. PLoS ONE 8(9): e74837. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0074837 Delsinne, T., W. Mackay, A. Wild, A. Y. Roisin, and M. Leponce. 2012. Distribution and Diversity of the Cryptic Ant Genus Oxyepoecus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in Paraguay with Descriptions of Two New Species. Psyche doi:10.1155/2012/594302 Smith, C. D. et al. 2011. The draft genome of the globally widespread and invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 108: 5667–5672. Wild, A. L., and I. Brake. 2009. Field observations on Milichia patrizii ant-mugging flies (Diptera: Milichiidae: Milichiinae) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. African Invertebrates 50: 205–212. Wetterer, J. K., A. L. Wild, A. V. Suarez, N. Roura-Pascual, and X. Espadaler. 2009. Worldwide spread of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News 12: 187–194. Wild, A. L. 2009. Evolution of the Neotropical Ant Genus Linepithema. Systematic Entomology 34: 49–62. Wild, A. L., and D. R. Maddison. 2008. Evaluating nuclear protein-coding genes for phylogenetic utility in the Coleoptera. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48: 877–891. Wild, A. L. 2007. A Catalogue of the Ants of Paraguay (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 1622: 1–55. Wild, A. L. 2007. Taxonomic revision of the ant genus Linepithema (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). University of California Publications in Entomology 126: 1–159. Roura-Pascual, N., A. V. Suarez , K. McNyset, C. Gómez, P. Pons, Y. Touyama, A. L. Wild, F. Gascón, and A. T. Peterson. 2006. Niche differentiation and fine-scale projections for Argentine ants based on remotely sensed data. Ecological Applications 16(5): 1832– 1841. Donoso, D. A., J. M. Vieira, and A. L. Wild. 2006. Three new species of Leptanilloides Mann from Andean Ecuador (Formicidae: Leptanilloidinae). Zootaxa 1201: 47–62. Wild, A. L., and F. Cuezzo. 2006. Rediscovery of a fossil dolichoderine ant lineage (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Dolichoderinae) and a description of a new genus from South America. Zootaxa 1142: 57–68. Wild, A. L. 2005. Taxonomic revision of the Pachycondyla apicalis species complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Zootaxa 834: 1–25. Roura-Pascual, N, A. V. Suarez , C. Gómez, P. Pons, Y. Touyama, A. L. Wild, and A. T. Peterson. 2004. Geographic potential of Argentine ants (Linepithema humile Mayr) in the face of global climate change. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 271:2527–2534. Wild, A. L. 2004. Taxonomy and distribution of the Argentine ant Linepithema humile (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 97(6): 1204–1215. Orians, C. M., C. H. Huang, A. Wild, K. A. Dorfman, P. Zee, M. T. T. Dao, and R. S. Fritz. 1997. Willow hybridization differentially affects preference and performance of herbivorous beetles. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 83: 285–294. Additional Publications Wild, A. L. 2018. Why We Miss the Wasps. NBC News; NBC Think. Online: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/why-we-miss-wasps-ncna944751 Wild, A. L. 2010. Book Review of Moffett, M. W. 2010 Adventures among ants: a global safari with a cast of trillions. Myrmecological News 14: 20. Wild, A. L. 2008. Book Review of Snelling et al 2007 Festschrift to E. O. Wilson. Myrmecological News, online early. Wild, A. L. 2008. A Feast for the Initiated. Bioscience 58: 80–81. Wild, A. L. 2008. The Argentine Ant. Encyclopedia entry in Capinera, J., ed. 2008, Encyclopedia of Entomology, 2nd edition. Springer, 4768pp. Wild, A. L. 2005. Observations on larval cannibalism and other behaviors in a captive colony of Amblyopone oregonensis. Notes from Underground 11: 9. Online article available at: http://www.notesfromunderground.org/archive/issue11-1/features/amblyopone.html Suarez, A.V., M. Benard, N. D. Tsutsui, T.