Global Ant Project -- World Ant Taxonomists

Jacobus J. Boomsma

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Universitetsparken 15
2100 Copenhagen
Denmark

ANT TAXONOMY

I am primarily interested in the population biology of conflict and cooperation, i.e. in the evolutionary ecology (a.o. sex allocation and mating systems) and population genetics of insect societies including their social parasites and in the co-evolutionary study of mutualisms. Important model systems are the fungus-growing ants and termites and their symbionts, Maculinea butterflies and their Myrmica host ants, and Lasius and Formica ants. Additional projects have focused on the population- and breeding structure of vertebrate species in Denmark and insects in Greenland. Most studies involve some combination of field studies, experiments and analysis of DNA markers. My group is increasingly involved in biodiversity and conservation studies and is supported by the Danish Natural Science Research Council (Centre of Social Evolution and Symbiosis), an EU Research-training network (INSECTS) that I coordinate, and various other EU network grants and individual Marie Curie fellowships.

PUBLICATIONS

Boomsma, J. J.; Brouwer, A. H.; Van Loon, A. J. 1990. A new polygynous Lasius species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from central Europe. II. Allozymatic confirmation of species status and social structure. Insectes Soc. 37: 363-375

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

Van Loon, A. J.; Boomsma, J. J.; Andrasfalvy, A. 1990. A new polygynous Lasius species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from central Europe. I. Description and general biology. Insectes Soc. 37: 348-362

REFERENCE

Bolton B, Alpert G, Ward PS, Naskrecki P. 2007. [CD-ROM] Bolton’s Catalogue of the Ants of the World. Harvard University Press.