This colorful first nature picture book, written by Judy Allen and illustrated by Tudor Humphries, gives children aged 4 to 7 an inside look at how they would experience life if they were an ant.Ideal for reading aloud or as a first reader, the detailed, warm illustrations bring this familiar creature to life in a truly memorable way. Children who love ants will learn all about their life cycles and behavior, and the witty, interactive text―beginning with the question "Are you an ant?"―will encourage readers to explore the similarities and differences between themselves and these fascinating animals.And if you love insects, why not collect all ten titles in the Backyard Books series?

Not mighty in size, but mighty in resourcefulness and industry, the ant has crawled the earth since prehistoric times. It has dwelt in rainforest tree trunks and acorns of oak trees, beneath logs, and under sidewalks. It has protected forests by capturing insects, cleared weeds away from acacia trees, and by growing gardens has released important nutrients into the soil. Seed lifters, dirt diggers, social beings, ants have the most advanced brain of all insects! So watch where you step, especially on a warm day: a small but mighty ant may be underfoot.

The perfect tool to help inspire compassion in our world’s youth.”—Jane Goodall, world-renowned primatologistA hilarious picture book that poses the eternal question: To squish or not to squish? With a meaningful message about the importance of caring for creatures big and small, this is a perfect book for Earth Day and year round.What would you do if the ant you were about to step on looked up and started talking? Would you stop and listen? That’s what happens in this funny, thought-provoking book. First composed as a song by a father-daughter team, this suprising conversation between a tiny ant and a little girl is sure to inspire discussions about caring, kindness, and respect for both animals and humans.

A charming picture book to show kids what it would be like to be an ant! Unique board book teaches kids about the important lives and work of a colony of ants An amazing adventure takes children inside an anthill with every new turn of the page Learn the different kinds of ants, what they do (it's a lot!), how they live, and what all the amazing passageways inside an anthill are for Cut-out accents and charming illustrations on unique anthill-shaped, extra-thick board pages Kids ages 3-6 will love learning all about ants, with fun facts, interesting captions, and new vocabulary wordsWe see ants almost every day, but have you ever wondered what they do each day or what it would be like to live inside of an anthill? Now you can find out!This charming, one-of-a-kind board book teaches young children what it would be like to be an ant by starting on the outside of the anthill and working its way deeper in with each turn of the page!A unique children's book that features dozens of adorable illustrations, educational captions, vocabulary words, cut-out accents, and hidden chambers to be revealed, Discovering the Active World of the Anthill will delight kids while they learn all about busy ants and the amazing work they do!

Read and find out about ants in this colorfully illustrated nonfiction picture book.Did you ever wonder where an ant goes when it disappears into an anthill? Underneath the hill, there are miles of tunnels and hundreds of rooms!In this Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children (NSTA/CBC), Arthur Dorros uses simple, easy-to-understand words and colorful illustrations to guide early readers on the life of a harvester ant—and even shows readers how to build their own ant farms.This is a clear and appealing science book for early elementary age kids, both at home and in the classroom. It's a Level 2 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores more challenging concepts for children in the primary grades. The 100+ titles in this leading nonfiction series are: hands-on and visual acclaimed and trusted great for classroomsTop 10 reasons to love LRFOs: Entertain and educate at the same time Have appealing, child-centered topics Developmentally appropriate for emerging readers Focused; answering questions instead of using survey approach Employ engaging picture book quality illustrations Use simple charts and graphics to improve visual literacy skills Feature hands-on activities to engage young scientists Meet national science education standards Written/illustrated by award-winning authors/illustrators & vetted by an expert in the field Over 130 titles in print, meeting a wide range of kids' scientific interestsBooks in this series support the Common Core Learning Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) standards. Let's-Read-and-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.

One Hundred Hungry Ants is not only a spirited and whimsical picture book story, it also serves as a fun visual introduction to math.Hi dee ho! It's off to a picnic we go!One hundred very hungry ants hurry to sample the delights of a picnic, but marching in a single file seems too slow for 100 empty stomachs.The smallest ant of all suggests they travel in two rows of 50, four rows of 25 . . . and the division begins.In five-star reviews, both teachers and parents report enjoying this book. As one put it: "My four-year-old loves this book! It has a silly cute repetitive song, and teaches about division and multiplication."

Filming Keesha's pet ant for a science project fair, the students in Ms. Frizzle's class take a journey into the lives of ants during which they learn many fascinating facts about the ant community. Original.

Ants are everywhere. They creep, they crawl, they climb, and they fall. But they get up and they keep on working. Ants come in all different shapes, different sizes, and different colors. And they do a lot of different jobs. These hard-working little creatures thrive wherever they go, making whatever adaptations necessary in their ever-changing world.National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.

This sparkly board book edition of the familiar song featuring lively ants teaches the concepts of counting from 1 to 5 and in groups.The ants go marching one by one,Hurrah! Hurrah!Preschoolers will delight in this fun, repetitious rhyme with adorable ant characters. Watch as they march one by one, two by two, and all the way up to five by five toward a surprise ending! Priscilla Burris's distinctive ants put a new spin on a favorite preschool song.Count-and-Sing books introduce preschoolers to math concepts in an interactive and engaging way. This book teaches:-Counting from 1 to 5-Counting in groups Safe for all ages.

Illustrated with full-color photography, Ants!, from TIME For Kids®, explores the lives of these hard-working insects and provides fun-filled facts about ants.Ants rule the world! These industrious insects live mostly in colonies and work together as a team. Worker ants take care of the colony and search for food. Ants eat seeds, fruit, and even other insects. Whenever ants find food, they carry it back to the colony to share.Supports the Common Core State Standards

From the Arctic to South Africa - one finds them everywhere: Ants. Making up nearly 15% of the entire terrestrial animal biomass, ants are impressive not only in quantitative terms, they also fascinate by their highly organized and complex social system. Their caste system, the division of labor, the origin of altruistic behavior and the complex forms of chemical communication makes them the most interesting group of social organisms and the main subject for sociobiologists. Not least is their ecological importance: Ants are the premier soil turners, channelers of energy and dominatrices of the insect fauna.

This landmark work, the distillation of a lifetime of research by the world’s leading myrmecologists, is a thoroughgoing survey of one of the largest and most diverse groups of animals on the planet. Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson review in exhaustive detail virtually all topics in the anatomy, physiology, social organization, ecology, and natural history of the ants. In large format, with almost a thousand line drawings, photographs, and paintings, it is one of the most visually rich and all-encompassing views of any group of organisms on earth. It will be welcomed both as an introduction to the subject and as an encyclopedia reference for researchers in entomology, ecology, and sociobiology.

Bestselling children's author Kay de Silva presents “Ants". The book uses captivating illustrations, and carefully chosen words to teach children about the ’social insect'.This series is known for its beautiful full-color images. The description in large text is simple enough for young readers or for a parent to guide a child through.There are also picture captions that provide more information to talk about with your child. Alternatively, a child of any age (even the child in you) can just look at the images and appreciate their beauty.This book depicts the wonder of the world of ants in all its glory. Children are given a well-rounded understanding of these awesome insects: their anatomy, feeding habits, and behavior. The following ants are featured: * The deadly Army Ant * The foraging Harvester Ant * The agricultural Leaf Cutter Ant * The spirited Trap Jaw Ant * The industrious Weaver Ant*** Your child will love this book - this is guaranteed.***

Daisy was the world's laziest bear. Grant was the forest's hardest working friend. With winter quickly approaching, what will happen when their paths continue to cross?

Simple text and photographs describe ants and the nests in which they live.

Crawl inside the curious world of ants with the Junior Scientists series for kids ages 6-9!Ants are scurrying, social creatures with unique abilities to carry huge loads, work as a team, and fiercely protect their colony. This book gives you a microscopic look into the hidden world of ants, answering all your big questions about our small, hardworking neighbors. Learn fun facts about flat headed Turtle Ants, wide-eyed Gigantiops, and many more. Explore colorful photos and cool profiles on how big each ant is, what they eat, where they're found, and more!Get up close and underground with: A look inside the anthill―Discover which jobs each ant has in its colony, how they communicate, how they build their homes, and how they fight. Vibrant photographs―Get up close and personal with bright, colorful photos of dozens of different types of ants. Off-the-page projects―Become an ant ambassador with instructions for making your very own ant farm and tips on ant watching in the wild.Discover all the secrets about the ant queen, her drones, and loyal colony in Ants for Kids.

'Beautifully written and filled with mind-boggling wonders' - Dave Goulson, author of A Sting in the Tale'Thrilling, compellingly readable and paradigm-shattering' - Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast'Both expert and entertaining' - David Barrie, author of Incredible JourneysAnts have been walking the Earth since the age of the dinosaurs. Today there are one million ants for every one of us.The closer you get to ants, the more human they look: they build megacities, grow crops, raise livestock, tend their young and infirm, and even make vaccines. They also have a darker side: they wage war, enslave rivals and rebel against their oppressors. From fearsome army ants, who stage twelve-hour hunting raids where they devour thousands, to gentle leaf-cutters gardening in their peaceful underground kingdoms, every ant is engineered by nature to fulfil their particular role.Acclaimed biologist Susanne Foitzik has travelled the globe to study these master architects of Earth. Joined by journalist Olaf Fritsche, Foitzik invites readers deep into her world - in the field and in the lab - and will inspire new respect for ants as a global superpower.Fascinating and action-packed, Empire of Ants will open your eyes to the secret societies thriving right beneath your feet.

The Grasshopper and the Ant When you work all summer to save up your crumbsYou'll have no worries when wintertime comes. About Aesop’s Fables Who was Aesop, and why are his fables famous all over the world? In fact, very little is known about this mysterious Ancient Greek figure. He is thought to have been a slave originally from Africa, but even that isn’t known for certain. But his stories, with their talking animals and simple moral lessons, have been popular for thousands of years. They have been translated into almost every language and were among the first books to be printed when the printing press was invented in the 1400s. The most famous Aesop’s Fable is probably the story of The Hare and the Tortoise, with its message that “slow and steady wins the race.” Children everywhere have grown up loving these delightful short tales, learning and growing through their bond with these timeless classics.I grew up enjoying many of Aesop’s fables and I’m excited to share them with you here in my own style, a little more contemporary and told in rhymes to make them fun to read and listen to. I hope you and your kids will love sharing these stories and learning from their messages just as much as I always have.**Sigal Adler adds a new book to her impressive number of books for children. This time ‘round she continues her survey of Aesop’s Fables (THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANT is Book 2 of that series) and in doing so she not only provides quality reading entertainment, but also opens the path for children to appreciate beloved fables of yesteryear. Each of her books was written in Hebrew and as they became best sellers in Israel she decided to have them translated into English to benefit an even broader range of children. As always Sigal's rhyming style is delightful. The stories are not only entertaining but they also carry some subtle messages to those children fortunate enough to read them - or have them read to them. The books are enhanced by illustrator Abira Das.The Aesop fable Sigal uses describes how a hungry grasshopper begs for food from an ant when winter comes and is refused, the moral being the virtues of hard work and planning for the future. Sigal’s retelling of the fable in rhyming fashion places a more positive stance and makes this important fable accessible to children and is a particular joy, summarizing the tale as follows: ‘When you work all summer to save up your crumbs You’ll have no worries when winter comes.’ But on to the lyricism – ‘Once a grasshopper lived near a sweet ant Wonderful neighbors around the same plant; Childhood friends so loyal and true, Good-hearted bugs they were through and through.’ The ant uses her time in the spring to gather food while the grasshopper relaxes and lives for music, games, and play. But when winter comes the ant has her food and the grasshopper is left without friends, needing to depend on the friendship with the ant to survive. ‘That’s how they spent the winter that year Proving that friends are good to have near.A fun story with a solid message beautifully illustrated - and Sigal Adler successfully adds to her repertoire of fine children's books. Grady Harp

Shortlisted for the 2022 Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize This sweeping portrait of the world’s uncontested six-legged conquerors will open your eyes to the secret societies thriving right beneath your feet—and shift your perspective on humanity.Ants number in the ten quadrillions, and they have been here since the Jurassic era. Inside an anthill, you’ll find high drama worthy of a royal court; and between colonies, high-stakes geopolitical intrigue is afoot. Just like us, ants grow crops, raise livestock, tend their young and infirm, and make vaccines. And, just like us, ants have a dark side: They wage war, despoil environments, and enslave rivals—but also rebel against their oppressors.Engineered by nature to fulfill their particular roles, ants flawlessly perform a complex symphony of tasks to sustain their colony—seemingly without a conductor—from fearsome army ants, who stage twelve-hour hunting raids where they devour thousands, to gentle leafcutters cooperatively gardening in their peaceful underground kingdoms.Acclaimed biologist Susanne Foitzik has traveled the globe to study these master architects of Earth. Joined by journalist Olaf Fritsche, Foitzik invites readers deep into her world—in the field and in the lab. (How do you observe the behavior of ants just millimeters long—or dissect a brain the width of a needle?) Richly illustrated and photographed in full color, Empire of Ants will inspire new respect for ants as a global superpower—and raise new questions about the very meaning of “civilization.”

This photographic field guide covers every species of ant found in Britain and Europe.More than 400 species of ant can be found in the region and Ants of Britain and Europe covers them all, describing 150 species in detail. The accounts include information on field characteristics, confusion species, habitat and biology, and distribution maps. The book also features a comprehensive introduction to ant ecology and guidance on where to look for ants, a glossary, an overview of families suitable for beginners to entomology, and a detailed, illustrated identification key. Nearly 600 photos are included, showing species close-up and in their natural habitats.

Rissman, Rebecca

Develops reading skills through games and a fictional story about the chaos an ant causes a woman when he decides to move into her pants.

Intrepid international explorer, biologist, and photographer Mark W. Moffett, "the Indiana Jones of entomology," takes us around the globe on a strange and colorful journey in search of the hidden world of ants. In tales from Nigeria, Indonesia, the Amazon, Australia, California, and elsewhere, Moffett recounts his entomological exploits and provides fascinating details on how ants live and how they dominate their ecosystems through strikingly human behaviors, yet at a different scale and a faster tempo. Moffett's spectacular close-up photographs shrink us down to size, so that we can observe ants in familiar roles; warriors, builders, big-game hunters, and slave owners. We find them creating marketplaces and assembly lines and dealing with issues we think of as uniquely human--including hygiene, recycling, and warfare. Adventures among Ants introduces some of the world's most awe-inspiring species and offers a startling new perspective on the limits of our own perception.* Ants are world-class road builders, handling complex traffic problems on thoroughfares that dwarf our highway systems* Ants take slaves from conquered armies and create societies dependent on their labor* Ants with the largest societies often deploy complex military tactics* Some ants have evolved from hunter-gatherers into farmers, domesticating other animals and growing specific crops for food

Be an eyewitness to creepy crawlies around the world with DK Eyewitness Books: Insect. Bees, beetles, bugs, butterflies and more—love them or hate them—insects are everywhere. Discover the different varieties, body-structure, life-cycles and behavior—from why bees make honey, to which insects have ears on their knees. Comes with a clipart CD.The most trusted nonfiction series on the market, Eyewitness Books provide an in-depth, comprehensive look at their subjects with a unique integration of words and pictures.

Intrepid international explorer, biologist, and photographer Mark W. Moffett, “the Indiana Jones of entomology,” takes us around the globe on a strange and colorful journey in search of the hidden world of ants. In tales from Nigeria, Indonesia, the Amazon, Australia, California, and elsewhere, Moffett recounts his entomological exploits and provides fascinating details on how ants live and how they dominate their ecosystems through strikingly human behaviors, yet at a different scale and a faster tempo. Moffett’s spectacular close-up photographs shrink us down to size, so that we can observe ants in familiar roles; warriors, builders, big-game hunters, and slave owners. We find them creating marketplaces and assembly lines and dealing with issues we think of as uniquely human―including hygiene, recycling, and warfare. Adventures among Ants introduces some of the world’s most awe-inspiring species and offers a startling new perspective on the limits of our own perception.• Ants are world-class road builders, handling traffic problems on thoroughfares that dwarf our highway systems in their complexity• Ants with the largest societies often deploy complicated military tactics• Some ants have evolved from hunter-gatherers into farmers, domesticating other insects and growing crops for food

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of The Ants comes this dynamic and visually spectacular portrait of Earth's ultimate superorganism. The Leafcutter Ants is the most detailed and authoritative description of any ant species ever produced. With a text suitable for both a lay and a scientific audience, the book provides an unforgettable tour of Earth's most evolved animal societies. Each colony of leafcutters contains as many as five million workers, all the daughters of a single queen that can live over a decade. A gigantic nest can stretch thirty feet across, rise five feet or more above the ground, and consist of hundreds of chambers that reach twenty-five feet below the ground surface. Indeed, the leafcutters have parlayed their instinctive civilization into a virtual domination of forest, grassland, and cropland―from Louisiana to Patagonia. Inspired by a section of the authors' acclaimed The Superorganism, this brilliantly illustrated work provides the ultimate explanation of what a social order with a half-billion years of animal evolution has achieved. Four-color throughout, 56 photographs

Two-time Caldecott medal winning author-illustrator Chris Van Allsburg, author of Jumanji and ThePolarExpress, brings his signature whimsical storytelling and dazzling artwork to a tale about two ants on the adventure of a lifetime.The ants are tired of their humdrum life in the same ant hole, so they’re off to the strange new world of a kitchen in search of sugar crystals for their queen.But when two ants stay behind and take a nap in the sugar bowl, they are in for a wild ride. Falling into a sizzling cup of coffee and a heated stay inside of a toaster is just the beginning for these misbehaved ants.Will they ever make it back home?Chris Van Allsburg’s terrific story about the consequences of disobeying reminds us all that the comforts of home aren’t so bad after all.

The carpenter ant is one of the most common and destructive pests affecting homes and businesses. However, in natural areas, these ants also play an important role in forest ecology: they break down dead wood and are the principal food source of the pileated woodpecker.In the first book devoted entirely to carpenter ants, Laurel D. Hansen and John H. Klotz cover the ants' life history and foraging behavior, then turn to their economic importance. The authors provide a comprehensive overview of carpenter ant ecology, morphology, taxonomy, and distribution as well as a detailed chapter on control and management that will appeal especially to urban pest control programs and pest management officials. Carpenter Ants of the United States and Canada is illustrated with distribution maps, 94 halftones, 52 line drawings, and 24 color plates on a four-page insert.

At present, there are 11,006 species of ant known. They are found throughout the world except at the polar icecaps, and it is estimated that their combined population makes up half the mass of all insects alive today. Ants have figured in fantasy as miniature armies, as models of good behavior, as infiltrating communists, and as creatures on the borderline between the realms of the organic and the machine. Ant experts have been hired to help solve problems with information networks. Ant considers the variety of human responses to ants and their intricate, miniature societies and elucidates the cultural reasons behind our varied reactions to these extraordinary insects.

Ten thousand types of ants march on our Earth. All About Ants profiles the queens, the drones, and the worker ants that make up this crawling army.

It?s a busy time in Room 2B?an ant observation project is beginning, Miss Mackle is teaching square dancing, and class pictures are being taken. Then one of the fish from the 2B fish tank goes belly-up! Is Harry to blame?

Numbering more than nine thousand described species, ants rank among the most abundant and widespread of insect groups—the collective weight of ants in tropical forests and grasslands may constitute as much as 10 to 15 percent of the animal biomass. Written by thirty leading ant biologists, this comprehensive book describes procedures for surveying the diversity of ground-dwelling ants. It introduces a standardized protocol for collecting ant samples in any part of the world and for conducting repeated sampling over time, which enables researchers to analyze global and long-term patterns. Covering aspects of ant ecology and taxonomy, species identification, specimen preparation, and sources of sampling equipment, this book provides the necessary foundation for readers from a wide range of backgrounds.

Head for the hills! The ants are coming! Ferdy and Actual Factual's ant-breeding experiment backfires and Bear Country is overrun by a rapidly multiplying colony of nasty hybrid ants who will eat anything in very large mouthfuls! Beartown is in a panic, and Mayor Honeypot authorizes Actual Factual to hire Bugsy X Terminator, the local bug bear, to destroy the ants. "Who would have thought," muses Actual Factual, "that the very existence of Bear Country would be endangered by an ant?""Or," as Ferdy aptly puts it, "an uncle." Uncle Factual, that is.

In the early years of the twentieth century, South American fire ants crossed the Caribbean and invaded the shores of the southeastern United States. These imported fire ants quickly found a niche in Gulf Coast fields and lawns, overpowered the native species, and began spreading. In the process they became a notorious pest to some, a beneficial ally to others, and a potential killer to allergy sufferers. As a result, they are among the most intensely studied insects in the world. Near the turn of the millennium the dominant species, the red imported fire ant, finally made its long-feared leap across the hostile western desert into the greener oasis of southern California, where it stood poised to infest the richest agricultural region in the country.In this authoritative book, five economically important species take center stage. These are the red imported fire ant, the black imported fire ant, the tropical fire ant, the southern fire ant, and the golden fire ant. A general introduction and a history of their invasion of North America open the door to additional chapters on natural history, origin and evolution, animals that share the fire ants' nest, the mixed successes of chemical control, and natural enemies and the hopes for biocontrol. Also examined are the pros and cons of fire ants, their medical importance, and suggestions for future research. The appendices list all known fire ant species and explain how to prepare, preserve, and identify every known species occurring in the United States.Well written and enhanced by an extensive glossary, a thorough bibliography of scientific literature, and more than one hundred photos, maps, and drawings, Fire Ants engages and informs both nonprofessionals and specialists.

The Stanford University professor summarizes two decades of research on ants conducted in the Arizona desert in a revolutionary re-examination of how ant society is organized, how individual members make decisions, and how a colony evolves over time.

A scientific tour de force, Deborah Gordon's Ants at Work takes us to the amazing world of an ant society and reveals a new and original understanding of how these tiny animals get the work of the colony done. Gordon's surprising and deceptively simple message that the queen is not in charge represents a fundamental shift in modern biology. It is no less than a revolution in our thinking on the mystery of natural organization.Based on the author's seventeen years of research on harvester ants in the Arizona desert, Ants at Work overturns all standard ideas of insect society hierarchy. Gordon shows that an ant colony operates without any central control and that no ant has power over another. Yet the ant colony, harmoniously performs extremely complex tasks; including nest building, navigation, foraging, food storage, tending the young, garbage collection, and on occasion, even war. She shows that there are no territorial borders in the way we understand them because ants are always ready to change. Ants also switch from one task to another, which undermines the standard view that insect societies are run on a caste system. Gordon explores how ants use simple, local information to make the decisions that generate the complex behavior of colonies. New colonies are born, struggle to occupy a foraging area, grow larger, start to reproduce, and then settle in among their lifelong neighbors.Superb drawings of ants and maps directly from Gordon's field notes enrich the experience of reading this breakthrough work. In these maps we discover what ants do when a neighboring colony disappears behind an enclosure and what they do when their neighbors suddenly reappear. We see where different tasks of ant daily life are performed. Through Gordon's wry sense of humor and lucid voice, we experience the delights and frustrations of spending blistering days in the desert between the Chiricahua and Peloncillo mountains of Arizona, pursuing the mystery of the fascinating behavior of Pogonomyrmex.By focusing on chaotic patterns of behavior instead of searching for fixed universal laws, Gordon signals the future of scientific investigation. She boldly contends that ant communication is a model of how brains, immune systems, and the natural world as a whole organize themselves. Her discoveries have profound implications for anyone who is interested in how organizations work, from biologists and physicists to business leaders and pioneers of cyberspace. Ants at Work brings to the natural world the insights of a new era in the science of life.

Book by

The native red ants of Texas, favored prey of the endangered Texas horned lizard, are but one of many New World ants known as "harvesters." The two genera, Pogonomyrmex and Ephebomyrmex, range from southern Canada to southern Argentina and the western half of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti).Harvester ants are generally noted for their habit of building large gravel mounds in the center of huge clearings, for “harvesting” the grain of favorite grasses, and for their fiery stings. Some early naturalists believed that harvesters planted their favored grasses around their mounds—a claim that, though mistaken, could be imagined to be true of these well-organized, highly social insects. Two hundred years of study are summarized in this volume, which covers all aspects of the lives of the harvester ants.The book begins with the mythology and folklore surrounding the harvester ants of the Southwest and Mexico: the Aztecs believed that the red harvester brought corn to humankind, and Native Americans of the southwestern deserts invoked special rituals to placate the ants when their mounds were disturbed. Following sections describe the ants’ evolution, distribution, nest structure, habits, foods, predators and cohabitors, defenses, chemistry and communication, and sex life. The final chapter considers the ants’ interaction with humans, including its perception as a pest and the history of pesticide use.Appendixes give the scientific and common names of each harvester ant species, explain how to identify harvesters without technical devices, and provide a complete key to all sixty species. The key is supplemented by illustrations and distribution maps for every species. An extensive bibliography and a detailed index are included.Stephen Taber’s excellent and beautifully illustrated book on harvester ants will serve as both a general guide to these ants for the lay audience and a quick, accurate, and inclusive reference for scientists.

Biologists since Darwin have been intrigued and confounded by the complex issues involved in the evolution and ecology of the social behavior of insects. The self-sacrifice of sterile workers in ant colonies has been particularly difficult for evolutionary biologists to explain. In this important new book, Andrew Bourke and Nigel Franks not only present a detailed overview of the current state of scientific knowledge about social evolution in ants, but also show how studies on ants have contributed to an understanding of many fundamental topics in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology.One of the substantial contributions of Social Evolution in Ants is its clear explanation of kin selection theory and sex ratio theory and their applications to social evolution in insects. Working to dispel lingering skepticism about the validity of kin selection and, more broadly, of "selfish gene" theory, Bourke and Franks show how these ideas underpin the evolution of both cooperation and conflict within ant societies. In addition, using simple algebra, they provide detailed explanations of key mathematical models. Finally, the authors discuss two relatively little-known topics in ant social biology: life history strategy and mating systems.This comprehensive, up-to-date, and well-referenced work will appeal to all researchers in social insect biology and to scholars and students in the fields of entomology, behavioral ecology, and evolution.

Book by Gotwald, William H.

Richly illustrated and delightfully written, Journey to the Ants combines autobiography and scientific lore to convey the excitement and pleasure the study of ants can offer. Bert Hölldobler and E. O. Wilson interweave their personal adventures with the social lives of ants, building, from the first minute observations of childhood, a remarkable account of these abundant insects’ evolutionary achievement.