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William Morton Wheeler (March 19, 1865 – April 19, 1937) was an American entomologist, myrmecologist and professor at Harvard University.
William Morton Wheeler (born March 19, 1865, Milwaukee—died April 19, 1937, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.) was an American entomologist recognized as one of the world’s foremost authorities on ants and other social insects.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
William Morton Wheeler (1865 – 1937) was an American entomologist, myrmecologist, and professor. He is considered a taxonomist of the highest order, and became a leading authority on the behaviors of social insects.
- Early Years
- Ward’s Natural Science Establishment
- Research as High School Teacher
- Research in Insect Embryology
- Later Life
- The Harvard Australian Expedition
William Morton Wheeler was born to parents Julius Morton Wheeler and Caroline Georgiana Wheeler (née Anderson) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was sent to a local German academy known for its discipline during his school years due to his bad behavior and after completing his courses there, Wheeler attended a German normal school. Wheeler learned philos...
In 1884, Wheeler was acquainted with Henry August Ward, proprietor of the Ward’s Natural Science Establishment. Ward brought a collection of stuffed and skeletonized mammals, birds and reptiles, and also a series of marine invertebrates to the academy in order to persuade the city to purchase it and integrate the collection at the academy. William ...
William Morton Wheeler became a high school teacher for German and physiology in 1885. Back then, George Peckham was the school’s principal and both began collaborating scientifically. Wheeler illustrated Peckham’s work on palpi and epigynes of spiders, i.e. the external genital structure of female spiders, assisted Peckham and his wife with their ...
In the following years, Wheeler began studying insect embryology and became a custodian at Milwaukee Public Museum. William Morton Wheeler earned his doctorate in 1892 with his dissertation titled “Contribution to Insect Embryology“. Wheeler further published several papers on insects and became instructor in embryology at the University of Chicago...
Before Wheeler began focusing his work on ants, he returned to Chicago and was occupied as a teacher of embryology, still publishing papers of which about half were on insects. At the University of Texas, Wheeler was appointed professor in zoology and also began to become enthusiastic about the behavior and classification of ants. In 1903, Wheeler ...
Wheeler led the Harvard Australian Expedition (1931–1932) on behalf of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, a six-man venture sent for the dual purpose of procuring specimens – the museum being “weak in Australian animals and…desires[ing] to complete its series” – and to engage in “the study of the animals of the region when alive.” The missi...
IN the death of Prof. William Morton Wheeler, the United States loses an outstanding personality in the biological world and a man whose reputation spread far beyond the confines of his native...
- A. D. Imms
- 1937
American zoologist and a foremost authority on the ecology, behavior, and classification of ants and social insects. Wheeler's insect embryology work is considered classic, and he developed a comparative analysis approach for studying the sociology and psychology of insects.
William Morton Wheeler was born on March 19, 1865, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He had a diverse career, but established himself as one of the foremost authorities on ants and other social insects.
