Bert Hölldobler

Bert Hölldobler
Born (1936-06-25) 25 June 1936
Andechs
Residence Germany
Nationality German
Fields Sociobiology
Institutions Arizona State University
Known for Ants
Notable awards Pulitzer Prize, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize

Bert Hölldobler (born 25 June 1936) is a German behavioral biologist, sociobiologist and evolutionary biologist.

Life

Hölldobler 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 results

Hölldobler is an international scientist of excellence. His experimental and theoretical contributions cover sociobiology, behavioral ecology, and chemical ecology. His primary study subjects are social insects and in particular ants. His comprehensive work on social insects, mainly on ants provided lots of valuable insights into:

[1] [2] [3]

[4] [5] [6]

[7] [8]

[9] [10]

[11] [12] [13]

[14] [15] [16]

Awards

Academic associations

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.

Books

References

  1. ↑ B. Hölldobler, U. Maschwitz, 1965. Der Hochzeitsschwarm der Rossameise Camponotus herculeanus L. (Hym. Formicidae). Z. Vergl. Physiol. 50:551-568
  2. ↑ B. Hölldobler, 1971. Sex pheromone in the ant Xenomyrmex floridanus J. Insect. Physiol. 17:1497-1499
  3. ↑ B. Hölldobler, M. Wüst, 1973. Ein Sexualpheromon bei der Pharaoameise Monomorium pharaonis (L.) Z. Tierpsychol. 32:1-9
  4. ↑ K. Sommer, B. Hölldobler, 1992. Coexistence and dominance among queens and mated workers in the ant Pachycondyla tridentata Naturwissenschaften 19:470-472
  5. ↑ K. Tsuji, K. Egashira, B. Hölldobler, 1999. Regulation of worker reproduction by direct physical contact in the ant Diacamma sp. from Japan Animal Behaviour 58:337-343
  6. ↑ J. Liebig, C. Peeters, B. Hölldobler Worker policing limits the number of reproductives in a ponerine ant Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 266:1865-1870
  7. ↑ B. Hölldobler, E.O. Wilson, 1983. Queen Control in Colonies of Weaver Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Ann. of the Ent. Soc. of America 76:235-238
  8. ↑ N.F. Carlin, B. Hölldobler, 1984. Nestmate and Kin Recognition in Interspecific Mixed Colonies of Ants Science 222:1027-1029
  9. 1 2 B. Hölldobler, C. Lumsden, 1980. Territorial Strategies in Ants Science 210:732-739
  10. ↑ J. Gadau, C.P. Strehl, J. Oettler, B. Hölldobler, 2003. Determinants of intracolonial relatedness in Pogonomyrmex rugosus (Hymenoptera; Formicidae) – mating frequency and brood raids, Molecular Ecology 12: 1931-1938
  11. ↑ B. Hölldobler, 1974. Home range orientation and territoriality in harvesting ants Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 71:3274-3277
  12. ↑ B. Hölldobler, 1976. Recruitment behavior, home range orientation and territoriality in harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 1:3-44
  13. ↑ B. Hölldobler, N.F. Carlin, 1987. Anonymity and specificity in the chemical communication signals of social insects J. Comp. Physiol. A 161:567-581
  14. ↑ B. Hölldobler, M. Obermayer, G.D. Alpert, 1998. Chemical trail communication in the amblyoponine species Mystrium rogeri Forel (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ponerinae) Chemoecology, 8:119-123
  15. ↑ B. Hölldobler, H. Engel, 1978. Tergal and sternal glands in ants Psyche 85:285-330
  16. ↑ B. Hölldobler, H. Engel, R.W. Taylor, 1982. A New Sternal Gland in Ants and its Function in Chemical Communication Naturwissenschaften 69:90

External links

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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