E.O. Wilson

Solenopsis invicta and Paraponera clavata

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Renowned evolutionary biologist Edward O. Wilson has spent his long career cracking the code of ants. It’s the ants’ ability to communicate and form tight-knit societies that lies behind their extraordinary evolutionary success. Ari Daniel Shapiro visits Wilson in his office at Harvard to learn the nature of the ants’ special language—and what’s in an ant’s name. Photo Credit: Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology

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Meet the Scientists

E.O. Wilson Podcast: Meet the Scientist

One Species at a Time host, Ari Daniel Shapiro with Dr. E.O.Wilson in his office at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. USA. Image Credit: Tracy Barbaro. CC BY

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Our host Ari Daniel Shapiro had the opportunity to sit down to talk with biologist Edward O. Wilson in his office at Harvard University. Take a moment to listen to what Dr. Wilson loves about science.

What do you study?

I suppose you can say my specialty is myrmecology, the study of ants and ant biology. But then in addition I am an entomologist. I have always had a broad interest and engagement in the study of insects. And beyond that, I am an evolutionary biologist, that is I am a biologist who spends a great deal of his time studying the evolutionary process, using the creatures that he is most familiar with. But beyond that I guess I am a biologist generally, because I write broadly across the areas of biology and the relationship of biology and the other branches of learning.

What do you do when you are not at work?

Each evening at 5:00 pm I shut down. I usually work very long and hard through the day and I tend to shut down and listen to music or watch a movie. And that turns my mind off and then the next morning, early I am ready to go again.

What do you love about science?

Science is not an odd and special human activity or set of beliefs in the same way that theology or dentistry are human activities that you think of as different in their own way and often among a host of other human activities and belief systems. Scientific knowledge is quite simply what we know for sure about reality. It is something that is shared by every human being whether they know it or not, their lives depend on it. And the activity of adding to science, which isn’t just the realm of so called scientists, is the most important-now in our time of overpopulation and decline and shortages and continuing conflict-the most important activity I believe for the future of humanity.

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Extras

E.O. Wilson Podcast: Extras

Here you will find intriguing extras: segments our producers weren't able to fit into a five-minute podcast as well as images, interesting facts and ways to get involved or in touch with biodiversity wherever you live.

Audio

Hear Dr. Wilson explain how he named a species that he discovered at the age of 17.

Listen:

Visit our "Meet the Scientist" page to hear what E.O. Wilson loves about science.

Images

Images of Solenopsis invicta (Imported Red Fire Ant) and Paraponera clavata (Bullet Ant) from EOL species pages.

Red imported fire ant, worker (Solenopsis invicta). Photo Credit: Walter Tschinkel, Harvard University: MCZ Department of Entomology

Red imported fire ant, small worker (Paraponera clavata). Photo Credit: Walter Tschinkel, Harvard University: MCZ Department of Entomology

Red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta ). Photo Credit: April Nobile, AntWeb, California Academy of Sciences, 2000-2008

Red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta). Photo Credit: Walter Tschinkel, Harvard University: MCZ Department of Entomology

Bullet Ant (Paraponera clavata), female, Ecuador. Photo Credit: Chris A. Schmidt,Tree of Life Web Project

Bullet Ant (Paraponera clavata), Tambopata, Peru. Photo Credit: G Drange, BioPix

Video

Dr. Wilson's Cabinet of Myrmecological Wonders

Visit Dr. Wilson’s cabinet of myrmecological wonders…this “retired” Harvard professor’s office, chock full of souvenirs from his long career studying ants.

Why I Do Science: E. O. Wilson

Here Wilson explains how a boyhood accident left him blind in one eye and forced him to focus on the “little things that rule the world”—ants. In describing his own path to a career as a biologist, he cautions there are many pathways to a life in science and our challenge is to help the next generation find their own ways. (2:00)

QUEST on KQED Public Media.

Facts

http://www.eol.org/data_objects/475340

Colonies of fire ants survive floods by joining their bodies into a living raft and taking advantage of their bodies’ property of repelling water.

http://www.eol.org/data_objects/8993474

Bullets ants usually nest at the base of trees, but sometimes a colony will form in humus mats, spongy masses of decomposing leaves and twigs, high in the rain forest canopy. http://www.eol.org/data_objects/926587

Which ant’s sting is more painful? According to entomologist Justin O. Schmidt, it’s no contest. He gives the bullet ant a rating of 4.0+ on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, and describes the pain as “fire walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel.” A fire ant rates a 1.2, like “walking across a shag carpet and reaching for the light switch.” Schmidt knows his insect stings. He estimates he’s been stung by 150 different kinds of ants, bees, and wasps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index

Some scientists consider the imported fire ant the “fruit fly” or “lab rat”of ants. Eighty years of government-sponsored research aimed at controlling this invader have helped make it the most studied ant in the world. Learn more.

Colonies of fire ants survive floods by joining their bodies into a living raft and taking advantage of their bodies’ property of repelling water. Learn more.

Bullets ants usually nest at the base of trees, but sometimes a colony will form in humus mats, spongy masses of decomposing leaves and twigs, high in the rain forest canopy. Learn more.

Participate

Journey to the Ants

Wilson shared a Pulitzer Prize for his encyclopedic account of ant societies, The Ants. His classic book introduction to ants for all ages, Journey to the Ants, coauthored with Bert Hölldobler, includes detailed advice for keeping and studying ants at home.

Lord of the Ants

Check out the classroom activities created to accompany the NOVA science video profile of Wilson, “Lord of the Ants.”

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E.O. Wilson

Solenopsis invicta and Paraponera clavata

Listen to the Podcast

Learn More