Joseph Wilson

Publications | Books

• Williams, K.A, Wilson, J.S, (2024). Velvet ants of North America. Princeton University Press
• Wilson, J.S, Carril, O., (2023). Common bees of western North America. Princeton University Press
• Wilson, J.S, Carril, O., (2021). Common bees of eastern North America. Princeton University Press
• Wilson, J.S, Messinger, O., (2015). The Bees in your backyard: a guide to North America's bees. Princeton University Press

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

Publications | Journal Articles

Academic Journal

• Wilson, J.S, Sidwell, J., Forister, M., Williams, K., Pitts, J., (2020). Thistledown velvet ants in the Desert Mimicry Ring and the evolution of white coloration: Müllerian mimicry, camouflage and thermal ecology. Biology Letters, 16:7, doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0242
• Badik, K., Jahner, J., Wilson, J.S, (2018). A biogeographic perspective on the evolution of fire syndromes in pine trees (Pinus: Pinaceae). . Royal Society Open Science
• Pan, A., Williams, K., Wilson, J.S, (2017). Are diurnal iguanian lizards the evolutionary drivers of New World female velvet ant (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) Mullerian mimicry rings?. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 120, 436-447.
• Sadler, E., Pitts, J., Wilson, J.S, (2017). Faunal Study of the Nocturnal Aculeate Wasps (Hymenoptera) of the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of Joshua Tree National Park. . Annals of the Entomological Society of America
• Wilson, J.S, Forister, M., messinger Carril, O., (2017). Interest exceeds understanding in public support of bee conservation. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 15, 460-466.
• Jahner, J., Forister, M., Parchman, T., Smilanich, A., Miller, A., Wilson, J.S, Walla, T., Tepe, E., Richards, L., Quijano-Abril, M., Glassmire, A., Dyer, L., (2017). Host clade conservatism, geography, and elevation in the evolution of a Neotropical moth radiation.. Evolution
• Hines, H., Witkowski, P., Wilson, J.S, Wakamatsu, K., (2017). Melanic variation underlies aposematic color diversification in two hymenopteran mimicry systems. PLOS One
• Glassmire, A., Jahner, J., Badik, K., Forister, M., Smilanich, A., Dyer, L., Wilson, J.S, (2017). The soil mosaic hypothesis: a synthesis of multi-trophic diversification via soil heterogeneity. Ideas in Ecology and Evolution, 10, 20-26.
• Glassmire, A., Jeffrey, C., Forister, M., Parchman, T., Nice, C., Jahner, J., Wilson, J.S, Walla, T., Robinson, L., Smilanich, A., Morrison, C., Simbana, W., Salagaje, L., Dodson, C., Miller, J., Leonard, M., Dyer, L., (2016). Caterpillars on acid: intraspecific phytochemical variation drives population and community structure for specialist caterpillars.. New Phytologist, 212, 208-219.
• Wilson, J.S, Jahner, J., Forister, M., (2016). Human observers differ in ability to perceive insect diversity. Environmental Conservation, 43, 376-380.
• Wilson, J.S, Jahner, J., Starley, L., Calvin, C., Ikerd, H., Griswold, T., (2016). Sampling bee communities using pan traps: alternative methods increase sample size. Insect Conservation and Diversity. Journal of Insect Conservation, 20, 919-922.
• Jahner, J.P, Lucas, L., Wilson, J.S, Forister, M.L, (2015). Morphological outcomes of gynandromorphism in Lycaeides butterflies (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Journal of Insect Science, 15:1, 38.
• Wilson, J.S, Jahner, J.P, Sheehan, E.S, Williams, K.A, Pitts, J., (2015). North American velvet ants form the world’s largest known Müllerian mimicry complexes. . Current Biology, 25, R704-R706.
• Jahner, J.P, Forister, M.L, Nice, C.C, Fordyce, J., Wilson, J.S, Murphy, D., Marion, Z., Shapiro, A., (2015). Regional population differentiation in the morphologically diverse, elevationally widespread Nearctic skipper Polites sabuleti. Journal of Biogeography, 42, 1787-1799.
• Gompert, Z., Jahner, J.P, Scholl, C.F, Wilson, J.S, Lucas, L., Soria-Carrasco, V., Fordyce, J.A, Nice, C.C, Buerkle, C.A, Forister, M.L, (2015). The evolution of novel host use is unlikely to be constrained by trade-offs or a lack of genetic variation. Molecular ecology, 24:11, 2777–2793.
• Smith, A., Wilson, J.S, Cognato, A., (2015). The evolution of Batesian mimicry within the asidine darkling beetles of North American (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Asidini). . Cladistics, 31, 441-454.
• Jahner, J.P, Lucas, l., Wilson, J.S, Forister, M., (2015). Morphological outcomes of gynandromorphism in Lycaeides butterflies. Journal of Insect Science
• Wilson, J.S, Carril, O.M, Sipes, S., (2014). Revisiting the Great American Biotic Interchange through analyses of amphitropical bees.. Ecography, doi: DOI: 10.1111/ecog.00663.
• Rodriguez, J., Pitts, J., von Dohlen, C.D, Wilson, J.S, (2014). Müllerian mimicry as a result of codiversification between velvet ants and spider wasps. Evolution
• Rodriguez, J., Pitts, J., von Dohlen, C.D, Wilson, J.S, (2014). Müllerian mimicry as a result of codivergence between velvet ants and spider wasps. PLoS One, doi: DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112942
• Wilson, J.S, Sneck, M., Nice, c., Murphy, D., Fordyce, J., Forister, M., (2013). Complex evolutionary history of the pallid dotted-blue butterfly (Lycaenidae:Euphilotes pallescens) in the Great Basin of western North America. Journal of Biogeography, 40, 2059-2070.
• Mramba, L.K, Barber, S., Hommola, K., Dyer, L.A, Wilson, J.S, Forister, M.L, Gilks, W.R, (2013). Permutation tests for analyzing cospeciation in multiple phylogenies: applications in tri-trophic ecology. Statistical applications in genetics and molecular biology, 12:6, 679–701.
• Forister, M.L, Scholl, C.F, Jahner, J.P, Wilson, J.S, A Fordyce, J., Gompert, Z., Narala, D.R, Buerkle, C.A, Nice, C.C, (2013). Specificity, rank preference, and the colonization of a non-native host plant by the Melissa blue butterfly. Oecologia, 172:1, 177–188.
• Wilson, J.S, Gunnell, C.F, Wahl, D.B, Pitts, J., (2013). Testing the species limits of the tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae) endemic to California’s Southern Coast Ranges, USA. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 6, 365-371.
• Wilson, J.S, Gunnell, C.F, Wahl, D.B, Pitts, J., (2013). Testing the species limits of the tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae) endemic to California’s Southern Coast Ranges, USA. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 6, 365-371.
• Wilson, J.S, Gunnell, C.F, Wahl, D.B, Pitts, J., (2013). Testing the species limits of the tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae) endemic to California’s Southern Coast Ranges, USA. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 6, 365-371.
• Forister, M., Scholl, C., Jahner, J., Wilson, J.S, Fordyce, J., Gompert, Z., Narala, D., Buerkle, A., Nice, C., (2013). Specificity, rank preference and the colonization of a non-native host plant by the Melissa blue butterfly. Oecologia, 172, 177-188. doi: DOI 10.1007/s00442-012-2476-8
• Wilson, J.S, Jahner, J., Williams, K., Forister, M., (2013). Ecological and evolutionary processes drive the origin and maintenance of imperfect mimicry. PLOS ONE, 8, e61610.
• Forister, M., Wilson, J.S, (2013). The population ecology of novel plant-herbivore interactions. Oikos, 122, 657-666.
• Wilson, J.S, von Dohlen, C.D, Forister, M., Pitts, J., (2013). Family-level divergences in the stinging wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) with correlations to Angiosperm diversification. Evolutionary Biology, 40, 101-107. doi: DOI: 10.1007/s11692-012-9189-0
• Wilson, J.S, Clark, S., Williams, K., Pitts, J., (2012). Historical biogeography of the arid-adapted velvet ant Sphaeropthalma arota (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) reveals cryptic species.. Journal of Biogeography, 39, 336-352.
• Wilson, J.S, Clark, S., Williams, K., Pitts, J., (2012). Historical biogeography of the arid-adapted velvet ant Sphaeropthalma arota (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) reveals cryptic species.. Journal of Biogeography, 39, 336-352.
• Wilson, J.S, Clark, S., Williams, K., Pitts, J., (2012). Historical biogeography of the arid-adapted velvet ant Sphaeropthalma arota (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) reveals cryptic species.. Journal of Biogeography, 39, 336-352.
• Wilson, J.S, Forister, M., Dyer, L., O'Connor, J., Burls, K., Feldman, C., Jaramillo, M., Miller, J., Rodriguez-Castaneda, G., Tepe, E., Whitfield, J., Young, B., (2012). Host conservatism, host shifts and diversification across three trophic levels in two Neotropical forests. . Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 25, 532-546.
• Wilson, J.S, Pitts, J., (2012). Identifying Nearctic cold-desert refugia through the phylogeographic analysis of Sphaeropthalma difficilis (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae). . Diversity and Distributions, 18, 1139-1152.
• Wilson, J.S, Pitts, J., (2012). Identifying Pleistocene refugia in North American cold deserts using phylogeographic analyses and ecological niche modelling. Diversity and Distributions, 18, 1139-1152.
• Wilson, J.S, Williams, K., Forister, M., von Dohlen, C.D, Pitts, J., (2012). Repeated evolution in overlapping mimicry rings among North American velvet ants. Nature Communications, 3, 1272.
• Wilson, J.S, Pitts, J., (2011). Pleistocene connection between the Nearctic Mediterranean and desert regions in the Sphaeropthalma unicolor species-complex (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae). . Insect Conservation and Diversity, 4, 222-234.
• Forister, M.L, Jahner, J.P, Casner, K.L, Wilson, J.S, Shapiro, A.M, (2011). The race is not to the swift: Long-term data reveal pervasive declines in California’s low-elevation butterfly fauna. Ecology, 92:12, 2222–2235.
• Pitts, J., Wilson, J.S, von Dohlen, C.D, (2010). Evolution of the nocturnal Nearctic Sphaeropthalminae velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) driven by Neogene orogeny and Pleistocene glaciation.. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 56, 134-145.
• Wilson, J.S, Pitts, J., (2010). Illuminating the lack of consensus among descriptions of earth history data in the North American deserts: A resource for biologists.. Progress in Physical Geopgraphy, 34, 419-441.
• Wilson, J.S, Williams, K., Tanner, D., Pitts, J., (2010). Nectaring by nocturnal velvet ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae). The Southwestern Naturalist, 55, 443-444.
• Pitts, J., Wilson, J.S, Williams, K., Boehme, N., (2010). Nocturnal velvet ant males (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of Deep Canyon, California including four new species and a fifth new species from Owens Lake Valley, California. Zootaxa, 2553, 1-34.
• Wilson, J.S, Williams, K., Gunnell, C., Pitts, J., (2010). Phylogeographic investigations of the widespread, arid-adapted antlion Brachynemurus sackeni Hagen (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae).. Psyche, 2010, 1-7.
• Wilson, J.S, Pitts, J., (2010). Pleistocene diversification of the Odontophotopsis unicornis species-group (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae). . Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 103, 555-565.
• Wilson, J.S, Williams, K.A, Pitts, J., (2010). Preliminary assessment of velvet ant (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) diversity in the deserts of Southern California. Western North American Naturalist, 70, 224-232.
• Wilson, J.S, Wilson, L.E, Loftis, L.D, Griswold, T., (2010). The montane bee fauna of north central Washington, U.S.A., with floral associations.. Western North American Naturalist, 70, 198-207.
• Pitts, J., Wilson, J.S, (2009). Description of the female of Acrophotopsis (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) with synonymy of Sphaeropthalma dirce. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 18, 205-211.
• Wilson, J.S, Pitts, J., von Dohlen, C.D, (2009). Lack of variation in nuclear genes among isolated populations of the sand dune restricted bee Colletes stepheni (Hymenoptera: Colletidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 82, 316-320.
• Wilson, J.S, Pitts, J., (2009). Species boundaries of Sphaeropthalma unicolor (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae): Is color useful for differentiating species? . Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 18, 212-226.
• Wilson, J.S, Topham, S., (2009). The negative effects of barrier fencing on the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) and non-target species: Is there room for improvement? . Contemporary Herpetology, 2009:3, 1-4.
• Wilson, J.S, Messinger, O., Griswold, T., (2009). Variation between bee communities on a sand dune complex in the Great Basin Desert, North America: Implications for sand dune conservation. . Journal of Arid Environments, 73, 666-671.
• Pitts, J., Wilson, J.S, Williams, K., Boehme, N., (2009). Velvet Ants (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) of the Algodones Sand Dunes of California, USA. Zootaxa, 00.0, 1-53.
• Wilson, J.S, Pitts, J., (2008). Revision of Velvet Ant Genus Dilophotopsis Schuster (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) by Using Molecular and Morphological Data, with Implications for Desert Biogeography.. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 101, 514-524.
• Wilson, J.S, Griswold, T.L, Messinger, O., (2008). Sampling bee communities (Hymenoptera: Apiformes) in a desert landscape: Are pan traps sufficient? . Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 81, 288-300.
• Wilson, J.S, Pitts, J., (2007). New host associations for new world spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 80, 223-229.
• Pitts, J., Wilson, J.S, Parker, F.D, (2007). The Spider Wasps of Fiji (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae). Bishop Museum Occasional Papers, 91, 3-15.

Public or Trade Journal

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.

Publications | Other

An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.