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Tales from the Ant World - Paperback | Diverse Reads

Tales from the Ant World

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“In Mr. Wilson ants have found not only their Darwin but also their Homer.” —Economist

In Tales from the Ant World, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O. Wilson takes us on a thrilling myrmecological tour across continents and through time, inviting us into his decades-long scientific obsession with ants. Animating his observations with personal stories, Wilson hones in on twenty-five ant species to explain how these creatures talk, smell, taste, and crucially, how they fight to determine dominance. Richly illustrated throughout with depictions of ant species and photos from Wilson’s own expeditions, Tales from the Ant World is a fascinating personal account from one of our greatest scientists—and a necessary volume for any lover of the natural world.

ISBN-13: 9781324091097

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation

Publication Date: 10-05-2021

Pages: 240

Product Dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.60(d)

Edward O. Wilson (1929-2021) was the author of more than thirty books, including Anthill, Letters to a Young Scientist, and The Conquest of Nature. The winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, Wilson was a professor emeritus at Harvard University and lived with his wife in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Ants Rule 9

1 Of Ants and Men: Morality and Triumph 15

2 The Making of a Naturalist 19

3 The Right Species 27

4 Army Ants 35

5 Fire Ants 43

6 How Fire Ants Made Environmental History 49

7 Ants Defeat the Conquistadors 59

8 The Fiercest Ants in the World, and Why 63

9 The Benevolent Matriarchy 73

10 Ants Talk with Smell and Taste 79

11 How We Broke the Pheromone Code 87

12 Speaking Formic 97

13 Ants Are Everywhere (Almost) 101

14 Homeward Bound 113

15 Adventures in Myrmecology 123

16 The Fastest Ants in the World, and the Slowest 129

17 Social Parasites Are Colony Engineers 137

18 The Matabele, Warrior Ants of Africa 143

19 War and Slavery among the Ants 149

20 The Walking Dead 155

21 Tiny Cattle Ranchers of Africa 159

22 Trapjaws versus Springtails 163

23 Searching for the Rare 175

24 An Endangered Species 183

25 Leafcutters, the Ultimate Superorganisms 193

26 Ants That Lived with the Dinosaurs 205

Acknowledgments 211

References 213

Index 217