Ted R. Schultz
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Admixture between lineages of the tramp ant Technomyrmex albipes revealed by mitochondrial and ultra-conserved element sequencing Open
Hybridisation between divergent populations can lead to various outcomes, including potentially increased invasiveness. In this study, we investigated the genetic background of a recent outbreak of a tramp ant species in southern Taiwan. C…
Digging into the evolutionary history of the fungus-growing-ant symbiont, Escovopsis (Hypocreaceae) Open
Symbiotic relationships shape the evolution of organisms. Fungi in the genus Escovopsis share an evolutionary history with the fungus-growing "attine" ant system and are only found in association with these social insects. Despite this clo…
Ground Observations from the In Situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail in the Plains Open
Detailed ground observations of hailstones are historically rare, particularly as it relates to properties that describe hail beyond its maximum single axis diameter, or in sampling the hail swath in substantive detail. To address this gap…
Laboratory Environment Affects the Volatiles of Fungus Gardens in the Colonies of Fungus-farming Ants Open
The ability to recognize nestmates is critical to the ecological success of social insects. Fungus-farming “attine” ants (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini: Attina) can recognize their nestmates and symbiotic fungi via chemoreception. Althoug…
The coevolution of fungus-ant agriculture Open
Fungus-farming ants cultivate multiple lineages of fungi for food, but, because fungal cultivar relationships are largely unresolved, the history of fungus-ant coevolution remains poorly known. We designed probes targeting >2000 gene regio…
Assembling the ant "Tree of Life" (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Open
Ants are the world's premier eusocial organisms and they have assumed pivotal ecological roles in many terrestrial communities. A well resolved and robustly supported phylogeny of the ants is needed to better understand many facets of…
Macroecological patterns of functional and phylogenetic diversity vary between ground and arboreal assemblages in Neotropical savanna ants Open
Macroscale environmental gradients can have contrasting effects on organisms that occupy different vertical niches, but we have little understanding of how this might result in different macroscale diversity patterns in ground and arboreal…
View article: Genomic diversification of the specialized parasite of the fungus-growing ant symbiosis
Genomic diversification of the specialized parasite of the fungus-growing ant symbiosis Open
Fungi shape the diversity of life. Characterizing the evolution of fungi is critical to understanding symbiotic associations across kingdoms. In this study, we investigate the genomic and metabolomic diversity of the genus Escovopsis , a s…
The Last Piece of the Puzzle? Phylogenetic Position and Natural History of the Monotypic Fungus-Farming Ant Genus<i>Paramycetophylax</i>(Formicidae: Attini) Open
The evolutionary history of fungus-farming ants has been the subject of multiple morphological, molecular phylogenetic, and phylogenomic studies. Due to its rarity, however, the phylogenetic position, natural history, and fungal associatio…
Phylogenomic Delimitation of Morphologically Cryptic Species in Globetrotting <i>Nylanderia</i> (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Species Complexes Open
The ant genus Nylanderia Emery has a cosmopolitan distribution and includes 150 extant described species and subspecies, with potentially hundreds more undescribed. Global taxonomic revision has long been stalled by strong intra- and inter…
UCE Phylogenomics Resolves Major Relationships Among Ectaheteromorph Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae, Heteroponerinae): A New Classification For the Subfamilies and the Description of a New Genus Open
Uncovering the evolutionary history of the subfamilies Ectatomminae and Heteroponerinae, or ectaheteromorphs, is key to understanding a major branch of the ant tree of life. Despite their diversity and ecological importance, phylogenetic r…
Woody Encroachment Affects Multiple Dimensions of Ant Diversity in a Neotropical Savanna Open
Although savanna woody encroachment has become a global phenomenon, few studies have simultaneously evaluated its effects on multiple dimensions and levels of savanna biodiversity. We evaluated how the progressive increase in tree cover in…
Phylogenomic reconstruction reveals new insights into the evolution and biogeography of <i>Atta</i> leaf‐cutting ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Open
Atta Fabricius is an ecologically dominant leaf‐cutting ant genus, the major herbivore of the Neotropics, and an agricultural pest of great economic importance. Phylogenetic relationships within Atta have until now remained uncertain, and …
Using an integrative taxonomic approach to delimit a sibling species, <i>Mycetomoellerius mikromelanos</i> sp. nov. (Formicidae: Attini: Attina) Open
The fungus-growing ant Mycetomoellerius (previously Trachymyrmex ) zeteki (Weber 1940) has been the focus of a wide range of studies examining symbiotic partners, garden pathogens, mating frequencies, and genomics. This is in part due to t…
Biomineral armor in leaf-cutter ants Open
Although calcareous anatomical structures have evolved in diverse animal groups, such structures have been unknown in insects. Here, we report the discovery of high-magnesium calcite [CaMg(CO 3 ) 2 ] armor overlaying the exoskeletons of ma…
Biomineral armor in leaf-cutter ants Open
Although calcareous anatomical structures have evolved in diverse animal groups, such structures have been unknown in insects. Here, we report the discovery of high-magnesium calcite [CaMg(CO 3 ) 2 ] armor overlaying the exoskeletons of ma…
Functional richness shows spatial scale dependency in <i>Pheidole</i> ant assemblages from Neotropical savannas Open
There is a growing recognition that spatial scale is important for understanding ecological processes shaping community membership, but empirical evidence on this topic is still scarce. Ecological processes such as environmental filtering …
View article: The molecular phylogenetics of <i>Trachymyrmex</i> Forel ants and their fungal cultivars provide insights into the origin and coevolutionary history of ‘higher‐attine’ ant agriculture
The molecular phylogenetics of <i>Trachymyrmex</i> Forel ants and their fungal cultivars provide insights into the origin and coevolutionary history of ‘higher‐attine’ ant agriculture Open
The fungus‐growing ants and their fungal cultivars constitute a classic example of a mutualism that has led to complex coevolutionary dynamics spanning c . 55–65 Ma. Of the five agricultural systems practised by fungus‐growing ants, higher…
Convergent evolution of complex structures for ant–bacterial defensive symbiosis in fungus-farming ants Open
Evolutionary adaptations for maintaining beneficial microbes are hallmarks of mutualistic evolution. Fungus-farming “attine” ant species have complex cuticular modifications and specialized glands that house and nourish antibiotic-producin…
Paleotropical Diversification Dominates the Evolution of the Hyperdiverse Ant Tribe Crematogastrini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Open
Blaimer, Bonnie B., Ward, Philip S., Schultz, Ted R., Fisher, Brian L., Brady, Seán G. (2018): Paleotropical Diversification Dominates the Evolution of the Hyperdiverse Ant Tribe Crematogastrini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Insect Systematic…
Phylogeny and evolution of the cryptic fungus‐farming ant genus <i>Myrmicocrypta</i> F. Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) inferred from multilocus data Open
Fungus‐farming ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) have become model systems for exploring questions regarding the evolution of symbiosis. However, robust phylogenetic studies of both the ant agriculturalists and their fungal cultivars are nece…
Evolution, systematics, and natural history of a new genus of cryptobiotic fungus‐growing ants Open
Xerolitor , a new, monotypic genus of fungus‐growing ants, is described to accommodate the phylogenetically isolated, relict species Mycetosoritis explicatus Kempf. We also diagnose the male and the larva of Xerolitor explicatus (Kempf) co…
Natural history and nest architecture of the fungus-farming ant genus Sericomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Open
The fungus-farming ant genus Sericomyrmex (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini) contains 11 species distributed from northern Mexico to southern Brazil. Within their nests, all Sericomyrmex species grow highly specialized, obligately symbiotic …
Corrigenda: Ješovnik A, Schultz TR (2017) Revision of the fungus-farming ant genus Sericomyrmex Mayr (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae). ZooKeys 670: 1–109. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.670.11839 Open
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.670.11839.].
Compositional heterogeneity and outgroup choice influence the internal phylogeny of the ants Open
Knowledge of the internal phylogeny and evolutionary history of ants (Formicidae), the world’s most species-rich clade of eusocial organisms, has dramatically improved since the advent of molecular phylogenetics. A number of relationships …