Bert Hölldobler

Berthold Karl Hölldobler (born 25 June 1936) is a German sociobiologist and evolutionary biologist who studies evolution and social organization in ants. He is the author of several books, including ''The Ants'', for which he and his co-author, E. O. Wilson received the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction writing in 1991.

Life

Hölldobler was born June 25, 1936, in Erling-Andechs, Bavaria, Germany, the son of Karl and Maria Hölldobler. He studied biology and chemistry at the University of Würzburg. His doctoral thesis was on the social behavior of the male carpenter ant and their role in the organization of carpenter ant societies. He was named professor of zoology at the University of Frankfurt in 1971. From 1973 to 1990 he was professor of biology and Alexander Agassiz professor of zoology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1989 he returned to Germany to accept the chair of behavioral physiology and sociobiology at the Theodor-Boveri-Institute of the University of Würzburg. From 2002 to 2008 Hölldobler was an Andrew D. White Professor at Large at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Since his retirement in 2004 Hölldobler has worked as a research professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. There he is one of the founders of the Social Insect Research Group (SIRG) and of the Center for Social Dynamics and Complexity.

Research fields and publications

Hölldobler is one of the world's leading experts in myrmecology. His experimental and theoretical contributions cover sociobiology, behavioral ecology, and chemical ecology. His primary study subjects are social insects and in particular ants. His work has provided valuable insights into mating strategies, regulation of reproduction, the evolution of social parasitism, chemical communications, and the concept of " superorganisms". Publications on these topics include:

* 1965. with U. Maschwitz, ''Der Hochzeitsschwarm der Rossameise Camponotus herculeanus L. (Hym. Formicidae)''. Z. Vergl. Physiol. 50:551-568
* 1971. ''Sex pheromone in the ant Xenomyrmex floridanus'' J. Insect. Physiol. 17:1497-1499
* 1973. with M. Wüst ''Ein Sexualpheromon bei der Pharaoameise Monomorium pharaonis (L.)'' Z. Tierpsychol. 32:1-9
* 1974. ''Home range orientation and territoriality in harvesting ants'' Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 71:3274-3277
* 1976. ''Recruitment behavior, home range orientation and territoriality in harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex'' Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 1:3-44
* 1978. with H. Engel, ''Tergal and sternal glands in ants'' Psyche 85:285-330
* 1980. with C. Lumsden, ''Territorial Strategies in Ants Science'' 210:732-739
* 1982. with H. Engel, R.W. Taylor, ''A New Sternal Gland in Ants and its Function in Chemical Communication'' Naturwissenschaften 69:90
* 1983. with E.O. Wilson, ''Queen Control in Colonies of Weaver Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)'' Ann. of the Ent. Soc. of America 76:235-238
* 1984. with N.F. Carlin, ''Nestmate and Kin Recognition in Interspecific Mixed Colonies of Ants'' Science 222:1027-1029
* 1987. with N.F. Carlin, ''Anonymity and specificity in the chemical communication signals of social insects'' J. Comp. Physiol. A 161:567-581
* 1992. with K. Sommer, ''Coexistence and dominance among queens and mated workers in the ant Pachycondyla tridentata'' Naturwissenschaften 19:470-472
* 1998. with M. Obermayer, G.D. Alpert, ''Chemical trail communication in the amblyoponine species Mystrium rogeri Forel (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae) Chemoecology'', 8:119-123
* 1999 with K. Tsuji, K. Egashira, ''Regulation of worker reproduction by direct physical contact in the ant Diacamma sp. from Japan'' Animal Behaviour 58:337-343
* 2003. with J. Gadau, C.P. Strehl, J. Oettler, ''Determinants of intracolonial relatedness in Pogonomyrmex rugosus (Hymenoptera; Formicidae) – mating frequency and brood raids'', Molecular Ecology 12: 1931-1938
* 1999. with J. Liebig, C. Peeters, ''Worker policing limits the number of reproductives in a ponerine ant'' Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 266:1865-1870

Awards

* John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (1980)
* Pulitzer Prize (1991) for ''The Ants'' together with Edward O. Wilson
* Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (1990)
* U.S. Senior Scientist Prize of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
* Werner Heisenberg-Medal of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
* Körberpreis for the European Science (1996)
* Karl Ritter von Frisch Medal and Science Prize of the German Zoological Society (1996)
* Benjamin Franklin-Wilhelm v. Humboldt Prize of the German-American Academic Council ( 1999)
* Honorary doctor Biology of the University of Konstanz (2000)
* Order of Merit First Class of the Federal Republic of Germany (2000)
* Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art (2003)
* Alfried-Krupp-Wissenschaftspreis (2004)
* Treviranus-Medal of the Verband deutscher Biologen (vdbiol) (2006)
* Lichtenberg Medal (2010)
* Ernst-Jünger-Prize for Entomology Baden-Württemberg (2010)
* Cothenius-Medal in Gold of the Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (2011)
* Exemplar Award by the American Animal Behavior Society (2013)
* Fabricius medal (2019) (German entomological society)

Academic associations

* Fellow of the American Animal Behavior Society (1992)
* Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (1986 korrespondierend, 1995 ordentlich)
* American Academy of Arts and Sciences
* Deutsche Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina (1975)
* Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (1979)
* Academia Europaea (1994)
* Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1995)
* National Academy of Sciences (United States) (1998)
* American Philosophical Society (1997)
* Fellow of the Entomological Society of America (2019)

Documentary films

In addition to his published scientific papers and books, Hölldobler's work was the subject of the documentary film ''Ants - Nature's Secret Power'' the winner of the 2005 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festivals Special Jury Prize.
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Books

* Bert Hölldobler, E.O. Wilson: ''The Ants'', Harvard University Press, 1990,
* Bert Hölldobler, E.O. Wilson: '' Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration'', 1994,
* Bert Hölldobler, E.O. Wilson: ''The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies'', W.W. Norton, 2008.
* Bert Hölldobler, E.O. Wilson: ''The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct'', W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2011,
* Bert Hölldobler, Christina L. Kwapich: ''The Guests of Ants: How Myrmecophiles Interact with Their Hosts'', Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2022,

Notes

References

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External links

Curriculum vitae

Faculty website

Darwin Distinguished Lecture Series

Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival

The Social Nature of Nature - Ask A Biologist Audio Interview

Web interviews

Hölldobler's 2007 interview on the ''Ask A Biologist'' podcast program details his early life growing up in Germany as well as his interest in ants and writing.
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UC Riverside. Leading Entomologist to Give Talk at UC Riverside on Communication and Cooperation in Ant Societies

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holldobler, Bert
1936 births
Living people
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners
German entomologists
Myrmecologists
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction winners
University of Würzburg alumni
University of Würzburg faculty
Goethe University Frankfurt faculty
Harvard University faculty
Cornell University faculty
Arizona State University faculty
20th-century German writers
21st-century German writers
21st-century German male writers
Members of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
Members of Academia Europaea
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Fellows of the Entomological Society of America
People from Starnberg (district)
German expatriates in the United States
Chemical ecologists
Entomological writers
Sociobiologists
Members of the American Philosophical Society