Myrmecology is the scientific study of ants, a branch of entomology. The ant, its habits, behaviours and society have long fascinated man. Ancient Judaic and Greek moral tales both show that these societies had observed the behaviour of ants and related it to that of people. In many ways this social understanding of the ant world is what myrmecology is all about. This article considers the history of zoology in the years up to 1912, since the theory of evolution by natural selection proposed by Charles Darwin in 1859. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ... For other uses, see Ant (disambiguation). ... Not to be confused with Etymology, the study of the origin of words. ...

Definitions

Myrmecochorous (adj.) dispersed by ants. For other uses, see Ant (disambiguation). ...

Myrmecophagous (adj.) feeding on ants. For other uses, see Ant (disambiguation). ...

Myrmecophile (n.) an organism that habitually shares an ant nest myrmecophilous adj., myrmecophily n. A myrmecophile is a type of organism, usually an insect, that habitually shares ant nests. ... “Life on Earth” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Ant (disambiguation). ...

Early Examples of human attempts to understand ant society

Jewish Mosaic Law

Said that any seeds found in the nests of ants must be given to the poor: In Southern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries, there are numerous species of ants of the genera Phelidole and Messor which gather seeds and store them.

Solomon (Proverbs 6:6)

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise."^[1] This refers to the fact that the ants are hard workers. A sluggard being a lazy person, Solomon said to work as the ants work.

Pliny

Pliny lauded the industry of the ant working through the summer nights. There are two famous persons named Pliny: Pliny the Elder, a Roman nobleman, scientist and historian who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD The great-nephew of the former, Pliny the Younger, a statesman, orator, and writer who lived between 62 AD and 113 AD. This...

Aelian

Claudius Aelianus admired the complex arrangements of the galleries and chambers in the nests of ants and compared these with the labyrinths of Greece and Crete. Claudius Aelianus (c. ...

Later Studies

This early wonder at such great industry in such a small creature resulted in the birth of Myrmecology, and the discovery that many of the features of the way of life of ants are similar to our own, and the extent of the great diversity of species which belong to the ant kingdom. The similarities between primitive ponerine ants found in different continents is an important pointer to the periods when land bridges were extant and also to the nature of the pre-ant.

List of notable Myrmecologists

• Laurent Keller (1961- )
• Murray S. Blum (1929- )
• Barry Bolton
• Cedric Collingwood
• Mark A. Deyrup
• Deborah Gordon
• Horace Donisthorpe (1870 - 1951)
• Auguste Forel (1848 - 1931)
• William Gould ((approx.)1715 - ????)
• Thomas C. Jerdon (1811 - 1872)
• Sir John Lubbock (the 1st Lord and Baron Avebury) (1834–1913)
• Derek Wragge Morley (1920 - 1969)
• John Obadiah Westwood (1805 - 1893)
• William Morton Wheeler (1865-1937)
• E.O. Wilson (1929 -)
• Bert Hölldobler (1936 - )
• Frederick Smith (1805 - 1879)

Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Murray S. Blum is an American research entomologist and a noted authority in the field of chemical ecology. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Barry Bolton is an English myrmecologist, the worlds leading expert on classification, systematics and taxonomy of ants, long time working in the British museum of the natural histories (London), known on the works on the African ants and three largest monographies in which has given the full review of... Deborah Gordon (born 1955) is a biologist at Stanford University, profiled in the New York Times Magazine. ... Image:Donisthorpe. ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Auguste-Henri Forel (September 1, 1848 _ July 27, 1931) was a Swiss myrmecologist, neuroanatomist and psychiatrist, notable for his investigations into the brain structure of humans and ants. ... Year 1848 (MDCCCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Rev. ... Thomas Claverhill Jerdon (1811 - 1872) was a British physician, zoologist and botanist. ... 1811 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... John Lubbock. ... Year 1834 (MDCCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Derek Wragge-Morley, (full name Basil Derek Wragge-Morley), most noted for his work on the study of ants, was born in Cambridge in 1920. ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... John Obadiah Westwood (22 December 1805 - 2 January 1893) was a British entomologist and archaeologist also noted for his artistic talents. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... William Morton Wheeler William Morton Wheeler (March 19, 1865 - 1937) was an American entomologist, myrmecologist and Harvard Professor. ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... E.O. Wilson with Dynastes hercules E. O. Wilson, or Edward Osborne Wilson, (born June 10, 1929) is an entomologist and biologist known for his work on ecology, evolution, and sociobiology. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bert Hölldobler (born 1936) is a German myrmecologist who is a co-winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his work on The Ants (1991) with Edward O. Wilson. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Frederick Smith (1805 - 1879) was a British entomologist. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Notes

1. ^ http://www.bartleby.com/108/20/6.html

See also

• British Ants
• Ants
• BWARS
• Formicarium, also known as ant farm
• Stigmergy, a biological mechanism attributed to the coordination of ants and other social insects

This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Ant (disambiguation). ... BWARS, the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society, is a British society dedicated to recording Bees, Wasps and Ants. ... Ants tunneling through a formicarium. ... Stigmergy is a method of communication in decentralised systems in which the individual parts of the system communicate with one another by modifying their local environment. ...

External links

• Russian mirmecologist
• American myrmecologist/Ant Photographer
• Documentary about Myrmecology