Bert Hölldobler

Updated on Oct 20, 2023

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Nationality German Residence Germany Role Biologist		Name Bert Holldobler Fields Sociobiology Known for Ant

Born 25 June 1936 (age 87) Andechs ( 1936-06-25 ) Institutions Arizona State University Notable awards Pulitzer Prize, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize Education University of Wurzburg (1962–1965) Awards Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, Guggenheim Fellowship for Natural Sciences, US & Canada Books The Ants, Journey to the Ants, The Superorganism: The Beau, The Leafcutter Ants: Civil, Ameisen Die Entdecku Similar People E O Wilson, Martin Lindauer, G Homer Durham

Bert h lldobler interview

Bert 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.

Bert h lldobler ants don t fight wars for war s sake

Life

Bert Hölldobler Pulitzer Prize winner Bert Hlldobler to speak Oct 28 on ant

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

Bert Hölldobler episode 75 E O Wilson and Bert Hlldobler part 01 YouTube

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 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:

Bert Hölldobler Pulitzer Prizewinning author unlocks social world of nature39s most

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

(date?) 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

Bert Hölldobler Bert Hlldobler quotAnts don39t fight wars for war39s sakequot YouTube

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)

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)

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.

Ants don't fight wars for war's sake on YouTube

Ants fight to survive on YouTube

The amazing world of ants on YouTube

Books

Bert Hölldobler, E.O. Wilson: The Ants, Harvard University Press, 1990, ISBN 0-674-04075-9

Bert Hölldobler, E.O. Wilson: Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration, 1994, ISBN 0-674-48525-4

Bert Hölldobler, E.O. Wilson: The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies, W.W. Norton, 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-06704-0

Bert Hölldobler, E.O. Wilson: The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2011, ISBN 978-0-393-33868-3

References

Bert Hölldobler Wikipedia

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