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leafcutter ants

Ted Schultz, Curator of Hymenoptera (Ants)

  • Phone:   202-633-0999
  • Fax:   202-786-3141
  • E-mail Address:   schultzt@si.edu

  • Mailing Address:

    Smithsonian Institution
    PO Box 37012, MRC 188, Rm. CE-516
    Washington, DC 20013-7012

  • Shipping Address:
    Smithsonian Institution
    National Museum of Natural History
    10th & Constitution NW
    Washington, DC 20560-0188

  • Education:

    Ph.D. Cornell University
    B.A. University of California, Berkeley

 Ted Schultz digging ant colonies in the field

Research Interests:

  • Evolution and systematics of ants, especially the fungus-growing ants (Myrmicinae: Attini). 
  • Phylogenetic analysis using morphological and molecular characters. 
  • Historical ecology and evolution of the fungus-growing behavior. 
  • Theory and methodology of phylogenetic analysis, especially the reconstruction of ancestral character states. 
  • Quantitative methods for assessing ant biodiversity.

Research in the Smithsonian AntLab largely focuses on the systematics, phylogenetics, and biodiversity of ants (family Formicidae), but two AntLab researchers work on bees and in the past AntLab researchers have conducted projects on termites, dragonflies, spiders, and beetles. Three main themes run through most of our research: (1) The evolution, phylogenetics, and systematics of the fungus-growing ants (tribe Attini, subfamily Myrmicinae); (2) the phylogeny of all ants (family Formicidae), currently funded by an NSF Assembling the Tree of Life grant (to Phil Ward, Sean Brady, Brian Fisher, and Ted Schultz); and (3) the quantitative sampling of leaf-litter ants of the Guiana Shield in particular and of South America in general (a collaboration with John LaPolla, Ted Suman, and Jeffrey Sosa-Calvo).
 
Current AntLab personnel include Museum Specialist Eugenia Okonski; Research Entomologist Sean Brady; Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellows Natasha Mehdiabadi and Molly Rightmyer; graduate students Jeffrey Sosa-Calvo and Stephanie Johnson; Research Associates John LaPolla, Ted Suman, and Leeanne Alonso; and visiting researchers Natapot Warrit and Scott Solomon.

Here in the Department of Entomology in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, TRS is the "contact person" for the following groups of aculeate Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea (Bethylidae, Chrysididae, Dryinidae, Embolemidae, Plumariidae, Sclerogibbidae, Scolebythidae) and Vespoidea excluding Vespidae (Bradynobaenidae, Formicidae, Mutillidae, Pompilidae, Rhopalosomatidae, Sapygidae, Scoliidae, Sierolomorphidae, Tiphiidae).

Selected Publications:

Schultz, T. R. and Brady, S. G. 2008 Major evlolutionary transitions in ant agriculture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 105:5435-5440. pdf
  (With accompanying "Commentary": U.G. Mueller and C. Rabeling. 2008. "A breakthrough innovation in animal evolution." PNAS 105:5287-5288.) pdf


Schultz, T.R.  2007. The fungus-growing ant genus Apterostigma in Dominican amber.  In: A Festschrift for E.O. Wilson (R. Snelling and P.S. Ward, Eds.), Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 77: 443-454. 

Brady, S.G., T.R. Schultz, B.L. Fisher, and P.S. Ward.  2006.  Evaluating alternative hypotheses for the early evolution and diversification of ants.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103: 18172-18177. pdf
  (With accompanying "Commentary": Ross H. Crozier.  2006.  “Charting uncertainty about ant origins.”  PNAS 103: 18029-18030.)


Mueller, U.G, N.M. Gerardo, D.K. Aanen, D.L. Six, and T.R. Schultz.  2005.  The evolution of agriculture in insects.  Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 36: 563-595.

Schultz, T.R., U.G. Mueller, C.R. Currie, and S.A. Rehner.  2005.  Reciprocal illumination: A comparison of agriculture in humans and ants.  Pp. 149-190 in: Ecological and Evolutionary Advances in Insect-Fungal Associations (Fernando Vega and Meredith Blackwell, editors).  Oxford University Press, New York.

Currie, C.R., B. Wong, A.E. Stuart, T.R. Schultz, S.A. Rehner, U.G. Mueller, G.H. Sung, J.W. Spatafora, and N.A. Straus.  2003.  Ancient tripartite coevolution in the attine ant-microbe symbiosis.  Science 299: 386-388.  pdf
  (With accompanying "News" article: E. Pennisi.  2003.  "On ant farm, a threesome co-evolves."  Science 299: 325.)


Hoyt, Erich and T.R. Schultz (Editors).  2002.  Insect Lives: Stories of Mystery and Romance From a Hidden World.  (Trade paperback edition.)  Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Agosti, D., J. Majer, L. Alonso, and T.R. Schultz (Editors).  2000.  Ants: Standard Methods for Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity.  Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.  280 pp.

Schultz, T.R. and G.A. Churchill.  1999.  The role of subjectivity in reconstructing ancestral character states: A Bayesian approach to unknown rates, states, and transformation asymmetries.  Systematic Biology 48: 651-664. pdf

Schultz, T.R., D. Bekkevold, and J.J. Boomsma.  1998.  Acromyrmex insinuator new species: An incipient social parasite of fungus-growing ants.  Insectes Sociaux 45: 457-471.

Mueller, U.G., S.A. Rehner, and T.R. Schultz.  1998.  The evolution of agriculture in ants.  Science 281: 2034-2038.  pdf
  (With accompanying "Commentary": Jared Diamond.  1998.  “Ants, crops, and history.”  Science 281: 1974-1975.)


Schultz, T.R. and R. Meier.  1995.  A phylogenetic analysis of the fungus-growing ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Attini) based on morphological characters of the larvae.  Systematic Entomology 20: 337-370.

Full Publication List:

Sosa-Calvo, J.S., T.R. Schultz, & J.S. LaPolla.  Review of the ant tribe Dacetini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Guyana.  Submitted.  Zootaxa.

Brady, S. G., T. R. Schultz, B. L. Fisher & P. S. Ward. 2006. Evaluating alternative hypotheses for the early evolution and diversification of ants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103: 18172-18177.

Sosa-Calvo, J., S. O. Shatuuck, & T. R. Schultz. 2006. Dacetine ants of Panama: new records and description of a new species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Dacetini). Proceedings of the Entomological Society
of Washington 108(4): 814-821.

Mueller, U. G, N. M. Gerardo, D. K. Aanen, D. L. Six, & T. R. Schultz. 2005. The evolution of agriculture in insects. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 36: 563-595.

Schultz, T. R. 2005. The fungus-growing ant genus Apterostigma in Dominican amber. In: A Festschrift for E.O. Wilson. In: R. Snelling and P. S. Ward ( eds.). Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 77: 443-454.

Schultz, T. R., U. G. Mueller, C. R. Currie, & S. A. Rehner. 2005. Reciprocal illumination: A comparison of agriculture in humans and ants. Pp. 149-190. In: Fernando Vega and Meredith Blackwell (eds.). Ecological and Evolutionary Advances in Insect-Fungal Associations. Oxford University Press, New York.

Ward, P. S., Brady, S. G., Fisher, B. L. & Schultz, T. R. 2005. Assembling the ant "Tree of Life". Myrmecologische Nachrichten 7: 87-90.

S. E. Solomon, U. G. Mueller, T. R. Schultz, C. R. Currie, S.L. Price, A. C. Oliveira da Silva-Pinhati, M. Bacci Jr., & H. L.Vasconcelos. 2004. Nesting biology of the fungus growing ants Mycetarotes Emery (Attini, Formicidae). Insectes Sociaux 51: 333-338.

Villesen, P., U. G. Mueller, T. R. Schultz, R. M. M. Adams, & M. C. Bouck. 2004. Evolution of ant-cultivar specialization and cultivar switching in Apterostigma fungus-growing ants. Evolution 58: 2252-2265.

Currie, C. R., B. Wong, A. E. Stuart, T. R. Schultz, S. A. Rehner, U. G. Mueller, G. H. Sung, J. W. Spatafora, & N. A. Straus. 2003. Ancient tripartite coevolution in the attine ant-microbe symbiosis. Science 299: 386-388.

Price, S. L., T. Murakami, U. G. Mueller, T. R. Schultz, and C. R. Currie. 2003. Recent Findings in Fungus-Growing Ants: Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior of a Complex Microbial Symbosis. In: T. Kikuchi, N. Azuma, and S. Higashi (eds.). Genes, Behaviors, and Evolution of Social Insects. Hokkaido University Press, Sapporo, Japan.

Schultz, T. R. 2003. "Hyperdiversity Up Close." Invited Book Review: Pheidole in the New World by E. O. Wilson, Science 300: 57-58.

Bang, R., T. R. Schultz, and R. DeSalle. 2002. Development, Homology, and Systematics. In: DeSalle, R., G. Giribet and W. Wheeler (eds.). Molecular Systematics and Evolution: Theory and Practice. Birkhauser, Basel.

Hoyt, E. and T. R. Schultz. 2002. Insect Lives: Stories of Mystery and Romance From a Hidden World. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Sallum, M.A.M., T. R. Schultz, P. G. Foster, K. Aronstein, R. A. Wirtz, & R. C. Wilkerson. 2002. Phylogeny of Anophelinae (Diptera: Culicidae) Based on Nuclear Ribosomal and Mitochondrial DNA Sequences. Sytematic Biology 27: 361-382.

Schultz, T. R., S. A. Solomon, U. G. Mueller, P. Villesen, J. J. Boomsma, R. M. M. Adams, & B. Norden. 2002. Cryptic Speciation in the Fungus-Growing Ants Cyphomyrmex longiscapus Weber and Cyphomyrmex muelleri Schultz and Solomon, New Species (Formicidae: Attini). Insectes Sociaux 49: 331-343.

Vilesen, P., T. Murakami, T. R. Schultz, & J. J. Boomsma. 2002. Identifying the Transition Between Single and Multiple Mating of Queens in Fungus-Growing Ants. Proceedings of the Royal Society (London), Series B
269: 1541-1548.

Artiss, T., T. R. Schultz, D. A. Polhemus, & C. Simon. 2001. Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of the Odonate Genera Libellula, Ladona, and Plathemis (Odonata: Lielluidae) based on Mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase 1 and 16S RNA Sequence Data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 18(3): 348-361.

Mueller, U. G., T. R. Schultz, C. R. Currie, R. M. M. Adams, & D. Malloch. 2001. The Origin of the Attine Ant-Fungus Mutualism. Quarterly Review of Biology 76: 169-197.

Sallum, M. A. M., T. R. Schultz, P. G. Foster, & R. C. Wilkerson. 2001. Phylogeny of Anophelinae (Diptera: Culicidae) Based on Mitochondrial and Nuclear Ribosomal DNA Sequences. Third International Congress of
Vector Ecology Program and Abstracts, Barcelona, Spain: Society of Vector Ecology [Abstract]

Schultz, T. R., M. S. Engel, and J. S. Ascher. 2001. Evidence for the Origin of Eusociality in the Corbiculate Bees (Hymoptera: Apidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 74: 10-16.

Schultz, T. R., R. B. Root, and T. Eisner. 2001. "William L. Brown, Jr.: June 1, 1922 - March 30, 1997." In: "Memorial Statements, Cornell University Faculty 1996-97". Ithaca, New York: Office of the Dean of the Faculty, Cornell University [Obituary] 2001: 12-16.

Adams, R. M. M., U. G. Mueller, T. R. Schultz, and B. Norden. 2000. Agro-Predation: Usurpation of Attine Fungus Gardens by Megalomyrmex Ants. Naturwissenschaften 87: 549-554.

Adams, R. M. M., U. G. Mueller, T. R. Schultz, and B. Norden. 2000. Usurpers and Marauders: The Social Predator Megalomyrmex sp. nov. (Formicidae: Solenopsidini) Pillages Both Garden and Brood from Fungus-Growing Ants (Attini). Abstracts of International Congress of Entomology, International Congress of Entomology (21:2000: Foz do Iguassu). Londrina, Brasil: Embrapa Soja. abs 2: 8666.

Agosti, D., J. Majer, L. Alonso, and T. R. Schultz. 2000. Ants: Standard Methods for Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. 280 pp.

Agosti, D., J. Majer, L. Alonso, and T. R. Schultz. 2000. Sampling Ground-dwelling Ants: Case Studies from the Worlds' Rain Forests. Curtin School of Environmental Biology Bulletin No. 18. Curtin School of Environmental Biology, Perth, Australia. 75 pp.

Agosti, D., J. Majer, L. Alonso, and T. R. Schultz. 2000. The Biodiversity Challenge (Preface). In: D. Agosti, J. Majer, L. Alonso, and T. R. Schultz (eds.). Ants: Standard Methods for Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

Sallum, M. A. M., T. R. Schultz, and R. C. Wilkerson. 2000. Phylogeny of Anophelinae (Diptera Culicidae) Based on Morphological Characters. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 93: 745-775.

Schultz, T. R. 2000. The Origin and Evolution of Fungus-Growing: Clues from the Phylogeny of the Fungus-Growing Ants. Abstracts of International Congress of Entomology, International Congress of Entomology (21:2000: Foz do Iguassu). Londrina, Brasil: Embrapa Soja [abs 2: 865. (Abstract).

Schultz, T. R. 2000. In Search of Ant Ancestors, Invited "Commentary". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 26: 14028-14029.

Schultz, T. R. and L. E. Alonso. 2000. Glossary. In: D. Agosti, J. Majer, L. Alonso, and T. R. Schultz (eds.). Ants: Standard Methods for Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

Schultz, T. R. and T. P. McGlynn. 2000. The Interactions of Ants with Other Organisms. In: D. Agosti, J. Majer, L. Alonso, and T. R. Schultz (eds.). Ants: Standard Methods for Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.

Hoyt, E. and Schultz, T. 1999. Insect Lives, Stories of Mystery and Romance from a Hidden World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., NY. 360 pp.

Schultz, T. R. 1999. Ants, Plants, and Antibiotics. Invited "News and Views." Nature 398: 747-748.

Schultz, T. R. and Churchill, G. A. 1999. The Role of Subjectivity in Reconstructing Ancestral Character States: A Bayesian Approach to Unknown Rates, States, and Transformation Assymmetries. Systematic Biology 48(3): 651-664.

Schultz, T. R., M. S. Engel, and M. A. Prentice. 1999. Resolving Conflict Between Morphological and Molecular Evidence for the Origin of Eusociality in the "Corbiculate" Bees (Hymoptera: Apidae): A Hypothesis-Testing Approach. In: G. W. Byers, R. H. Hagen, and R. W. Brooks (eds.). Entomological Contributions in the Memory of Byron A. Alexander. University of Kansas Natural History Museum Special Publications, 24.

Adams, R. M., U. G. Mueller, and T. R. Schultz. 1998. Nest Usurpation and Fungivory in Megalomyrmex sp. Nov. (silvestri species group): Lestobiotic or Predatory Relations with Fungus-Growing Ants? [Abstract]. In: M. P. Schwarz and K.l Hogendoorn, eds (eds.). Social Insects at the Turn of the Millenium: Proceedings of the XIII International Congress of IUSSI, Adelaide, Australia, 29 December 1998-3 January 1999. Flinders University Press, Adelaide, Australia.

Mueller, U. G., Rehner, S. A., and Schultz, T. A. 1998. The Evolution of Agriculture in Ants. Science 281: 2034-2038.

Mueller, U. G., S. A. Rehner, and T. R. Schultz. 1998. The Evolution of Agriculture in Ants. Social Insects at the Turn of the Millenium. [Abstract]. In: M. P. Schwarz and K. Hogendoorn (eds.). Proceedings of the XIII
International Congress of IUSSI, Adelaide, Australia, 29 December - 3 January 1999. Flinders University Press, Adelaide, Australia.

Schultz, T. R. 1998. Phylogeny of the Fungus-Growing Ants (Myrmicinae: Attini): Evidence from DNA Sequences (Nuclear Elongation Factor-1 Alpha and Mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I) and Morphology. [Abstract]. In: M. P. Schwarz and K.l Hogendoorn (eds.). Social Insects at the Turn of the Millenium: Proceedings of the XIII International Congress of IUSSI, Adelaide, Australia, 29 December 1998-3 January 1999. Flinders University Press, Adelaide, Australia.

Schultz, T. R., Bekkevold, D., and Boomsma, J. J. 1998. Acromyrmex insinuator new species: an incipient social parasite of fungus-growing ants. Insectes Sociaux 45: 457-471.

Wetterer, J. K., Schultz, T. R., and Meier, R. 1998. Phylogeny of Fungus-Growing Ants (Tribe Attini) Based on mtDNA Sequence and Morphology. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 9(1): 42-47.

Engel, M. S. and Schultz, T. R. 1997. Phylogeny and Behavior in Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 90(1): 43-53.

Meier, R. and T. R. Schultz. 1996. Pilzzucht und Blattschneiden bei Ameisen: Präadaptationen und evolutive Trends. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin 35: 57-76.

Schultz, T. R., Cocroft, R. B. and Churchill, G. A. 1996. The Reconstruction of Ancestral Character States. Evolution 50(2): 504-511.

Schultz, T. R. and Meier, R. 1995. A phylogenetic analysis of the fungus-growing ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Attini) based on morphological characters of the larvae. Systematic Entomology 20: 337-370.

Chapela, I. H., Rehner, S. A., Schultz, T. R. and Mueller, U. G. 1994. Evolutionary History of the Symbiosis Between Fungus-Growing Ants and Their Fungi. Science 266: 1691-1694.

Hinkle, G., Wetterer, J. K., Schultz, T. R. and Sogin, M. L. 1994. Phylogeny of the Attine Ant Fungi Based on Analysis of Small Subunit Ribosomal RNA Gene Sequences. Science 266: 1695-1697.

Meier, R. & T. R. Schultz. 1994. The fungus-growing ants are monophyletic: A cladistic analysis of the Attini (Formicidae) based on a comparative SEM study of larvae. Verhandlungen der Deutschen Zoologischen Gesellschaft 87: 230.

Schultz, T. R. 1994. [Review] Identification Guide to the Ant Genera of the World, by Bolton, B., Harvard University Press. Psyche 101(3-4): 203-208.

Schultz, T. R. and R. Meier. 1994. The Phylogeny of the Fungus-Growing Ants (Myrmicinae: Attini) and their Fungi. In, Les Insectes Sociaux: 12th Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects, Paris, Sorbonne, 21-127 August A. Lenior, G. Arno. (Abstract).

Schultz, T. R. 1993. Stalking the Wild Attine. Notes from Underground (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University) [Article] 8: 7-10.

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