William Morton Wheeler (March 19, 1865 – April 19, 1937) was an American
entomologist
Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...
,
myrmecologist
Myrmecology (; from Greek: μύρμηξ, ''myrmex'', "ant" and λόγος, ''logos'', "study") is a branch of entomology focusing on the scientific study of ants. Some early myrmecologists considered ant society as the ideal form of society and ...
and
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher l ...
professor.
Biography
Early life and education
William Morton Wheeler was born on March 19, 1865, to parents Julius Morton Wheeler and Caroline Georgiana Wheeler ( Anderson) in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At a young age, Wheeler had an interest in natural history, first being when he observed a moth ensnared in a spiders web; such observation interested Wheeler that he became importunate for more nature lore. Wheeler attended public school, but, due to "persistently bad behavior", he was transferred to a local
German academy which was known for its extreme discipline. After he completed his courses in the German academy, he attended a German normal school. In both institutions, Wheeler was trained in a variety of subjects: he was given training in languages, philosophy and science. By this time, he could read fluently in French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin and Spanish. While he was a student at the German academy, Wheeler would frequently observe the old museum of natural history at the institution.
In 1884,
Henry August Ward, proprietor of the
Ward's Natural Science Establishment, brought a collection of stuffed and skeletonized mammals, birds and reptiles, and also a series of marine invertebrates to the academy. This was to persuade the city fathers to purchase them and combine them with the present collection at the academy, in which it would lay the foundation for a free municipal museum
of natural history. Wheeler, who had familiarized himself with the museum since childhood, volunteered to spend the nights in helping to unpack and install the specimens. Impressed by his enthusiasm, Ward offered Wheeler a job in his
Rochester, New York establishment. His first duties were to identify and list birds and mammals and the preparation of catalogues. He was later made as a foreman and spent most of his time identifying and arranging the collection of shells, echinoderms, and sponges, as well as preparing catalogues and price lists of these specimens for publication.
In 1885, Wheeler returned to Milwaukee to teach German and physiology at a high school. At the time, George W. Peckham was the principal of the school, in which Wheeler and Peckham formed a close working relationship. Wheeler collaborated with some of Peckham's published papers by illustrating the
palpi
Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") and ...
and
epigynes of spiders, and by assisting him and his wife with their field work on wasps. Wheeler was also under the influence of
C.O. Whitman and
William Patten, who were embryologists at the Allis Lake Laboratory in Milwaukee. He was inspired by Patten to study insect embryology and did so for several years. During this time, Wheeler left the high school in 1887 and become a custodian at
Milwaukee Public Museum, a position he held until 1890. He studied embryology at home and after work hours, in which he had set up a small laboratory. He left Milwaukee after leaving the museum to assist Whitman at
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in th ...
, and, by 1892, secured a
doctorate in philosophy; his dissertation was "Contribution to Insect Embryology". At the same time, Wheeler commenced his work on insects and published around 10 entomological papers, which presented himself as a candidate for the degree of Ph.D. After receiving a call from the
University of Chicago, Whitman subsequently accepted their offer, followed by Wheeler who was appointed under him as instructor in embryology in 1892. He held this position until 1897, where he became the assistant professor in his chosen field. Before he began his duties at Chicago, Wheeler was given a year's absence, allowing him to study in Europe between 1893 and 1894. There, he first spent time at the Zoological Institute at the University of Würzburg as a student, and also at the Naples Zoological Station. Enamoured by the fauna of Naples, Wheeler studied the sex life of ''
Myzostoma
''Myzostoma'' is a genus of marine worms, which are parasitic on crinoids in the family Myzostomidae.
Species
The following species are classified in this genus:
*'' Myzostoma abundans'' Graff, 1883
*'' Myzostoma adhaerens'' Remscheid, 1918
*'' ...
'', a subject he further studied at the Institut Zoologique at Liege, Belgium. His monograph on ''Myzostoma'' was published in 1897 by professor
E. Van Beneden in the ''Archives de Biologie''.
Career
In 1894 Wheeler returned to the University of Chicago where he was a teacher of embryology for five years. He continued to publish papers, half of which involved insects. In 1898, Wheeler married Dora Bay Emerson in Chicago, where they had met earlier. In 1899, he was offered the "Professorship In Zoology" following the death of professor Norman of the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
. There, he took the opportunity to reorganize the department as professor of zoology. He remained there until 1903, but during this period was when Wheeler developed an interest in the behavior and classification of ants. The ants would eventually become the predominant group of insects he studied. His two children were also born in
Rockford, Illinois while he was staying in Texas.
A number of students sought to study under Wheeler; notable entomologists such as
C. T. Brues and
A. L. Melander made their way to Austin and spent several years studying there in his laboratory. This began an influx of young students, both who were pupils and scientific associates, to study and research for long periods of time under his guidance. Other students include
C. L. Metcalf,
T. B. Mitchell,
O. E. Plath,
George Salt George Salt (12 December 1903, Loughborough, Leicestershire – 17 February 2003, Cambridge, UK) was an English entomologist and ecologist. (On p. 449 the phrase "Elected FRS 1965" contains a typographical error and should be "Elected FRS 1956".) H ...
,
Alfred C. Kinsey,
George C. Wheeler,
Frank M. Carpenter,
William S. Creighton,
Neal A. Weber
Cornelius "Neal" Albert Weber (December 14, 1908, Towner, North Dakota – January 21, 2001) was an internationally known American myrmecologist, specializing in the fungus-growing ants (the attines).
Biography
Weber graduated from the University ...
,
J. G. Myers,
William M. Mann,
Marston Bates and
Philip J. Darlington.
In 1903, Wheeler resigned from his position at the University of Texas and accepted the position "Curator of Invertebrate Zoology" at the
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inte ...
in New York City.
A close contact of the British
myrmecologist
Myrmecology (; from Greek: μύρμηξ, ''myrmex'', "ant" and λόγος, ''logos'', "study") is a branch of entomology focusing on the scientific study of ants. Some early myrmecologists considered ant society as the ideal form of society and ...
and
coleopterist
Coleopterology (from Coleoptera and Greek , ''-logia'') is the scientific study of beetles, a branch of entomology. Practitioners are termed coleopterists and form groups of amateurs and professionals for business and pleasure. Among these is Th ...
Horace Donisthorpe
Horace St. John Kelly Donisthorpe (17 March 1870 – 22 April 1951) was an eccentric British myrmecologist and coleopterist, memorable in part for his enthusiastic championing of the renaming of the genus ''Lasius'' after him as ''Donisthorpea' ...
, it was to Wheeler whom Donisthorpe dedicated hi
first major book on antsin 1915. Donisthorpe and Wheeler also frequently exchanged specimens, leading the latter to first develop the idea that the
Formicinae subfamily had its origins in North America.
For his work, ''Ants of the American Museum Congo Expedition'', Wheeler was awarded the
Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the National Academy of Sciences in 1922. He was professor of
applied biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...
at
Harvard University's
Bussey Institute, which had one of the most highly regarded biology programs in the United States.
In 1924 he spent about two months in Panama with
Dr. Nathan Banks, collecting invertebrates around Barro Colorado and along the railroad in the vicinity of Panama City.
Wheeler led the
Harvard Australian Expedition (1931–1932)
The Harvard Australian Expedition of 1931–1932 was a six-man venture sent by then Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) director Thomas Barbour to Australia for the dual purpose of procuring specimens and studying native (living) wildlife i ...
on behalf of the
Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, a six-man venture sent for the dual purpose of procuring specimens - the museum being "weak in Australian animals and...desires
ngto complete its series" - and to engage in "the study of the animals of the region when alive." The mission was success with over 300 mammal and thousands of insect specimens returning to the United States.
Wheeler was elected in 1901 a fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsi ...
and in 1906 a fellow of the
Entomological Society of America
The Entomological Society of America (ESA) was founded in 1889 and today has more than 7,000 members, including educators, extension personnel, consultants, students, researchers, and scientists from agricultural departments, health agencies, ...
.
A species of gecko, ''
Nephrurus wheeleri'', is named in his honor.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Wheeler", p. 283).]
His work includes 467 titles.
Bibliography
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Notes
References
Cited sources
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* (Page 71 of this book contains the typographical error "T. D. Mitchell" instead of the correct "T. B. Mitchell" — see page 197 of the 1970 biography by Mary A. Evans & Howard E. Evans.)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, William Morton
1865 births
1937 deaths
Harvard University faculty
American entomologists
Ethologists
Myrmecologists
American zoologists
American non-fiction writers
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellows of the Entomological Society of America
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences