Schultz, Ted R.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
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

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).

“I went back to school for biology in my 30s. I had done a million other things, but I always loved animals and insects. I read E.O. Wilson’s book, 'The Insect Societies,' which galvanized my interest in social insects. Insects have small brains and a lot of what they do is hard-wired, but social insects do incredibly complicated things. Some sacrifice their lives for other individuals, they have wars, grow fungi, herd aphid ‘cattle.’

I wanted to know how such a complex society of many individuals could evolve from a solitary insect ancestor. I focused on fungus-growing ants because of all the crazy things that nature does, this seems like the craziest. Ants that are farmers! I thought, if I can only figure out one thing, I’m going to figure out how this evolved.”

Three more pieces of Ted Trivia:

1. He has worked as a freelance writer, copy editor, proofreader, graphic designer, illustrator, printer, newspaper production artist, magazine production artist, copy camera operator, jewelry maker, cab driver, bartender, dental technician, dishwasher, janitor, file clerk, sign painter, waterbed upholsterer, tree cutter, temp agency worker, bicycle messenger, mover, day laborer, railroad car inspector, news agency paper stuffer, and truck driver.

2. Between 1970 and 1988 he spent eight years in four undergraduate institutions variously majoring in Fine Art, Computer Science, and Biology.

3. He holds a degree in Mixology from the Golden Gate Bartending Academy in San Francisco.

PUBLICATIONS

 * [[Media:Agosti et al 2000.pdf| Agosti, D.; Majer, J.; Alonso, L.; Schultz, T. (eds.) 2000. Sampling ground-dwelling ants: case studies from the world's rain forests. Perth, Australia: Curtin University School of Environmental Biology (Bulletin No. 18), xii + 75 pp. [2000-04] PDF]]


 * [[Media:Blaimer et al. 2015 BMC EvoBio.pdf|Blaimer, B. B.; Brady, S. G.; Schultz, T. R.; Lloyd, M. W.; Fisher, B. L.; Ward, P. S. 2015. Phylogenomic methods outperform traditional multi-locus approaches in resolving deep evolutionary history: a case study of formicine ants. BMC Evolutionary Biology 15:257. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Brady et al 2014.pdf|Brady, S. G.; Fisher, B. L.; Schultz, T. R.; Ward, P. S. 2014. The rise of army ants and their relatives: diversification of specialized predatory doryline ants. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014 14:93, 14 pp. (doi:10.1186/1471-2148-14-93).]]


 * [[Media:Brady et al 2006.pdf|Brady, S.G., Schultz, T.R., Fisher, B.L. & Ward, P.S. 2006. Evaluating alternative hypotheses for the early evolution and diversification of ants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. 103: 18172-18177. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Fernandes, I.O., Souza, J.P. et al. 2015. A new species of Simopelta from Brazil and Costa Rica.pdf|Fernandes, I.O., Souza, J.L.P., Fernandez, F., Delabie, J.H.C. and Schultz, T.R. 2015. A new species of Simopelta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae) from Brazil and Costa Rica. Zootaxa. 3956:295–300.]] doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3956.2.10


 * [[Media:Hinkle et al 1994.pdf| Hinkle, G.; Wetterer, J. K.; Schultz, T. R.; Sogin, M. L. 1994. Phylogeny of the attine ant fungi based on analysis of small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequences. Science (Washington, D. C.) 266:1695-1697. PDF]]


 * [[Media:LaPolla Kjer Schultz Bischoff 2006.pdf|LaPolla, J.S., K.M. Kjer, T.R. Schultz and J.F. Bischoff. 2006. Phylogenetic Position of the Ant Genus Acropyga Roger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and the Evolution of Trophophoresy. Insect Systematics and Evolution 37(3): 197-212. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Mehdiabadi & Schultz 2009.pdf| Mehdiabadi, N.J. & Schultz, T.R. 2009. Natural history and phylogeny of the fungus-farming ants. Myrmecological News 13: 37-55. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Rabeling et al 2011.pdf|Rabeling, C.; Gonzales, O.; Schultz, T. R.; Bacci, M. 2011. Cryptic sexual populations account for genetic diversity and ecological success in a widely distributed, asexual fungus-growing ant. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108:12366-12371. [2011-07-26] PDF]]


 * [[Media:Rabeling et al 2015.pdf|Rabeling, C.; Schultz, T. R.; Bacci, M., Jr.; Bollazzi, M. 2015. Acromyrmex charruanus: a new inquiline social parasite species of leaf-cutting ants. Insectes Sociaux. ]]


 * [[Media:Schultz 2007.pdf|Schultz, T.R. 2007. The fungus-growing ant genus Apterostigma in Dominican amber (pp. 425-436). In Snelling, R.R., Fisher, B.L. & Ward, P.S. (eds). Advances in ant systematics: homage to E.O. Wilson – 50 years of contributions. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 80: 690 pp. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Schultz Bekkvold Boomsma 1998.pdf|Schultz, T.R., Bekkevold, D. ; Boomsma, J.J. 1998. Acromyrmex insinuator new species; an incipient social parasite of fungus-growing ants. Insectes Soc. 45(4): 457-471.]]


 * Schultz, T.R. & Meier, R. 1995. A phylogenetic analysis of the fungus-growing ants based on morphological characters of the larvae. Systematic Entomology 20: 337-370. [15.xii.1995.]


 * Schultz, T. R.; Solomon, S. A. 2002. [Untitled. Cyphomyrmex muelleri Schultz and Solomon, new species.] Pp. 336-337 in: Schultz, T. R.; Solomon, S. A.; Mueller, U. G.; Villesen, P.; Boomsma, J. J.; Adams, R.


 * [[Media:Schultz, Solomon & Mueller 2002.pdf| Schultz, T. R., S. A. Solomon and U. G. Mueller. 2002. Cryptic speciation in the fungus-growing ants Cyphomyrmex longiscapus Weber and Cyphomyrmex muellerei Schultz and Solomon, new species (Formicidae, Attini). Insectes Sociaux 49: 331-343.]]


 * [[Media:Sosa Calvo Brady Schultz 2009.pdf|Sosa-Calvo, J., S. G. Brady and T. R. Schultz. 2009. The gyne of the enigmatic fungus-farming ant species Mycetosoritis explicata. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 18(1): 113-120. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Sosa Calvo & Schultz 2010.pdf|Sosa-Calvo, J. & Schultz, T. R. 2010. Three remarkable new fungus-growing ant species of the genus Myrmicocrypta, with a reassessment of the characters that define the genus and its position within the Attini. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 103: 181-195. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Sousa Calvo et al 2013.pdf|Sosa-Calvo, J.; Schultz, T. R.; Brandão, C. R. F.; Klingenberg, C.; Feitosa, R. M.; Rabeling, C.; Bacci, M., Jr.; Lopes, C. T.; Vasconcelos, H. L. 2013. Cyatta abscondita: Taxonomy, evolution, and natural history of a new fungus-farming ant genus from Brazil. PLoS ONE 8:e80498. [2013-11-15] PDF]]


 * [[Media:Sosa-Calvo, J., Schultz, T.R. et al. 2018. Evolution, systematics, and natural history of a new genus of cryptobiotic fungus-growing ants.pdf|Sosa-Calvo, J., Schultz, T.R., Jesovnik, A., Dahan, R.A., Rabeling, C. 2018. Evolution, systematics, and natural history of a new genus of cryptobiotic fungus-growing ants. Systematic Entomology, 43, 549–567 (doi:10.1111/syen.12289).]]


 * [[Media:Sosa Calvo et al 2010.pdf|Sosa-Calvo, J., T.R. Schultz, and J.S. LaPolla. 2010. A review of the dacetine ants of Guyana (Formicidae: Myrmicinae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 19(1): 12-43. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Sosa-Calvo et al 2006.pdf| Sosa-Calvo, J., Shattuck, S.O. & Schultz, T. R. 2006. Dacetine ants of Panama: new records and description of a new species. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 108: 814-821. [12.x.2006.] PDF]]


 * [[Media:Ward Brady Fisher Schultz 2010.pdf|Ward, P.S., Brady, S.G., Fisher, B.L. & Schultz, T.R. 2010. Phylogeny and biogeography of Dolichoderinae ants: effects of data partitioning and relict taxa on historical inference. Systematic Biology 59: 342-362. PDF]]


 * [[Media:Ward et al 2015.pdf|Ward, P. S., S. G. Brady, B. L. Fisher, and T. R. Schultz. 2015. The evolution of myrmicine ants: phylogeny and biogeography of a hyperdiverse ant clade (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology. 40:61-81. ]]