Jeffrey Sosa-Calvo

Ph. D, University of Maryland
M. Sc., University of Maryland
B.S., Universidad del Quindio-Armenia-Colombia

I am an entomologist interested in questions related to the evolution of symbioses, taxonomy, phylogenomics, biodiversity, and conservation. I address these questions by investigating fungus-farming (attine) ants (Hyme­noptera: Formicidae), which include the most conspicuous and charis­matic neotropi­cal insects, the leaf-cutter ants. My research integrates tra­ditional morphological tools, with cutting-edge genomic methods, field observation, and natural history data.

K Y Robles López, J Sosa‐Calvo, J M Calixto, E Zoppas de Albuquerque, K M Baudier (2023) One ant's trash is another ant's treasure: Army ant middens provide resources for diverse ant assemblages. Biotropica

K Gotting, DS May, J Sosa-Calvo, L Khadempour, et al. (2022) Genomic diversification of the specialized parasite of the fungus-growing ant symbiosis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119 (51), e2213096119

PE Hanisch, J Sosa-Calvo, TR Schultz (2022)  The Last Piece of the Puzzle? Phylogenetic Position and Natural History of the Monotypic Fungus-Farming Ant Genus  Paramycetophylax (Formicidae: Attini). Insect Systematics and Diversity 6 (1), 11

CA Barrera, J Sosa‐Calvo, TR Schultz, C Rabeling, M Bacci Jr. (2022) Phylogenomic reconstruction reveals new insights into the evolution and biogeography of Atta leaf‐cutting ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Systematic Entomology 47 (1), 13-35

H Li, CY Sun, Y Fang, CM Carlson, H Xu, A Ješovnik, J Sosa-Calvo, et al. (2020). Biomineral armor in leaf-cutter ants. Nature Communications 11 (5792)