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Scientific American

March 1, 1958

1 min read

The Fire Ant

An imported species of this insect has become a serious pest in the South. It is studied both to find means to control it and to learn how a species adapts itself to a new environment

By Edward O. Wilson

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Edward O. Wilson has made major contributions to a number of fields, including the behavior and evolution of social insects, chemical communication, and the evolution of social behavior. His interest in living organisms, especially ants, stems back to his childhood and to his undergraduate studies in evolutionary biology at the University of Alabama. He received his Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University, where he is now Pellegrino University Research Professor and Honorary Curator in Entomology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Among his many honors are the National Medal of Science, two Pulitzer Prizes (for On Human Nature, 1978, and The Ants, 1990, with Bert Hölldobler), and the Tyler Prize for environmental achievement. Other groundbreaking books include Consilience and Sociobiology.

More by Edward O. Wilson
Scientific American Magazine Vol 198 Issue 3This article was originally published with the title “The Fire Ant” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 198 No. 3 (), p. 36
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0358-36
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