The ants

View a collection of videos on Professor Wilson entitled "On the Relation of Science and the Humanities" 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. Hölldobler and 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. Title Page 9 Copyright Page 10 Dedication 11 CHAPTER 1 - The Importance of Ants 12 CHAPTER 2 - Classification and Origins 17 THE TAXONOMY OF ANTS 17 ORIGIN OF THE ANTS 50 BEGINNINGS OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR 57 THE CAUSES OF SUCCESS 62 TAXONOMIC KEYS 70 CHAPTER 3 - The Colony Life Cycle 290 STAGES OF COLONY GROWTH 290 NUPTIAL FLIGHTS AND MATING 293 COLONY FOUNDING AND GROWTH 318 BROOD CARE AND LARVAL RECIPROCATION 331 DEMOGRAPHY OF COLONY MEMBERS 340 COLONY MOVEMENTS 344 ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES IN COLONY LIFE CYCLES 350 CHAPTER 4 - Altruism and the Origin of the Worker Caste 368 ALTRUISM 368 KIN SELECTION 370 PARENTAL MANIPULATION 375 OFFSPRING CONSENT 377 TESTING THE KIN SELECTION THEORY 381 EUSOCIALITY AND CHROMOSOME NUMBERS 401 OVERVIEW 402 CHAPTER 5 - Colony Odor and Kin Recognition 405 KIN RECOGNITION: GENERAL PRINCIPLES 405 DISCRIMINATORY ABILITY 412 BROOD DISCRIMINATION 416 SOURCE OF THE COLONY ODOR 420 THE ONTOGENY OF RECOGNITION 427 PROSPECT 430 CHAPTER 6 - Queen Numbers and Domination 432 THE ORIGINS OF POLYGYNY AND MONOGYNY 433 GYNY AND SPECIES DIVERSITY 448 PLEOMETROSIS 450 DEMOGRAPHIC CONSEQUENCES OF GYNY AND OF DOMINANCE ORDERS 456 WHO IS IN CHARGE, QUEENS OR WORKERS? 462 CHAPTER 7 - Communication 469 CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION 469 RITUALIZATION 511 SIGNAL ECONOMY AND “SYNTAX” 517 MODULATORY COMMUNICATION 519 SYNERGISM 523 CASTE AND COLONY DIFFERENCES IN COMMUNICATION 524 ACOUSTICAL COMMUNICATION 525 TACTILE COMMUNICATION 531 VISUAL COMMUNICATION 536 ALARM COMMUNICATION 538 PROPAGANDA 545 RECRUITMENT 546 ADULT TRANSPORT 572 TRUNK TRAILS AND “HIGHWAYS” 583 INTERSPECIFIC TRAIL FOLLOWING 587 MARKING OF HOME RANGES, TERRITORIES, AND NEST ENTRANCES 588 ATTRACTION AND SURFACE PHEROMONES 594 TROPHALLAXIS 597 FACILITATION AND GROUP EFFECTS 605 AUTOSTIMULATION 607 MEDIATION OF LARVAL DIAPAUSE 608 NECROPHORESIS OR CORPSE REMOVAL 609 CHAPTER 8 - Caste and Division of Labor 612 CASTE, TASK, ROLE 613 ADAPTIVE DEMOGRAPHY 628 THE EVOLUTION OF PHYSICAL CASTES 636 TEMPORAL CASTES 642 CASE HISTORIES 651 SPECIALIZATION BY MAJORS: DEFENSE 672 SPECIALIZATION BY MAJORS: MILLING AND FOOD STORAGE 679 CASTE OPTIMIZATION 682 THE ALLOMETRIC SPACE 693 ELITES 695 PATROLLERS AND RESERVES 697 CLIQUES AND TEAMS 700 PULSATILE ACTIVITY 703 MALES AND LARVAE AS CASTES 705 CASTE DETERMINATION 710 CHAPTER 9 - Social Homeostasis and Flexibility 724 SERIES-PARALLEL OPERATIONS 726 MULTIPLIER EFFECTS 730 RULES OF THUMB 731 THE SUPERORGANISM 732 REGULATION OF HOMEOSTASIS 735 ADAPTIVE SHIFTS IN BEHAVIOR 739 VARIATION AMONG COLONIES 741 POSITIVE FEEDBACK AND RUNAWAY REACTIONS 742 CASTE AND BEHAVIORAL FLEXIBILITY 745 TEMPO 748 LEARNING 750 ANTS DO NOT PLAY 758 THERMOREGULATION 759 HUMIDITY REGULATION 778 CHAPTER 10 - Foraging Strategies, Territory, and Population Regulation 785 FORAGING THEORY 785 THE TEMPERATURE-HUMIDITY ENVELOPE 787 DAILY CYCLES OF ACTIVITY 792 FORAGING STRATEGIES 796 SOLITARY FORAGERS 798 ORTSTREUE AND MAJORING 801 CENTRAL-PLACE FORAGING 805 ENERGY MAXIMIZERS VERSUS TIME MINIMIZERS 807 SPECIAL STRATAGEMS THAT IMPROVE HARVESTING 808 POPULATION REGULATION 812 OFFENSE AND DEFENSE BY FORAGERS 815 TERRITORIAL STRATEGIES 831 TERRITORY, PREDATION, AND TRUE SLAVERY 861 OTHER TECHNIQUES OF COMPETITION AND EXPLOITATION 864 CHAPTER 11 - The Organization of Species Communities 871 INTERSPECIFIC COMPETITION 871 CHANGING AND REMOVING DOMINANTS 876 THE DOMINANCE-IMPOVERISHMENT RULE 878 THE CONDITIONS FOR COEXISTENCE OF SPECIES 880 TROPHALLACTIC APPEASEMENT 891 ENEMY SPECIFICATION 892 CHARACTER DISPLACEMENT 896 ECOLOGICAL EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION 900 SPECIES PACKING AND EQUILIBRIUM 901 THE INFLUENCE OF PARASITES AND PREDATORS 903 THE FUTURE OF COMMUNITY STUDIES 904 CHAPTER 12 - Symbioses among Ant Species 906 THE ULTIMATE SOCIAL PARASITE 906 THE KINDS OF SOCIAL PARASITISM IN ANTS 909 COMPOUND NESTS 918 MIXED COLONIES 919 THE OCCURRENCE OF SOCIAL PARASITISM THROUGHOUT THE ANTS 920 THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL PARASITISM IN ANTS 924 THE TEMPORARY PARASITISM ROUTE 927 THE DULOSIS ROUTE 930 XENOBIOSIS AND TROPHIC PARASITISM 955 PARABIOSIS 960 THE DEGREES OF INQUILINISM 962 CHAPTER 13 - Symbioses with Other Arthropods 969 HISTORY OF MYRMECOPHILE STUDIES 969 DIVERSITY OF MYRMECOPHILES 970 THE GUESTS OF ARMY ANTS: AN EXTREMELY RICH COMMUNITY 972 THE ANT COLONY AS AN ECOSYSTEM 991 WASMANNIAN MIMICRY 1041 SYMBIOSES BETWEEN ANTS AND LYCAENID BUTTERFLIES 1050 THE TROPHOBIONTS 1063 HERDERS AND NOMADS 1074 CHAPTER 14 - Symbioses between Ants and Plants 1080 THE VARIETIES OF ANT-PLANT SYMBIOSES 1080 PROTECTIONISM AND THE ACACIA CASE 1093 THE BALANCE OF MUTUALISM 1098 ANTS PROTECT PLANTS 1099 PLANTS SHELTER ANTS: MYRMECOPHILY 1100 ANT GARDENS 1116 PLANTS FEED ANTS: FOOD BODIES 1119 PLANTS FEED ANTS: EXTRAFLORAL NECTARIES 1120 ANTS FEED PLANTS: MYRMECOTROPHY 1122 ANTS DISPERSE PLANTS: MYRMECOCHORY 1124 ANTS POLLINATE FLOWERS (SPARINGLY) 1127 ANTS PRUNE AND WEED 1129 TRADE-OFF AND COMPROMISE 1132 PARASITES OF ANTS: MICROORGANISMS AND FUNGI 1134 POSSIBLE MICROORGANISMIC SYMBIONTS IN ANTS 1140 CHAPTER 15 - The Specialized Predators 1142 THE EVOLUTION OF PREY SPECIALIZATION 1144 THE EVOLUTION OF THE DACETINE ANTS 1151 EGG PREDATORS 1158 THE ANT-TERMITE ARMS RACE 1159 PREY PARALYSIS AND PREY STORAGE 1167 CHAPTER 16 - The Army Ants 1171 THE SWARM RAIDERS 1171 PHYLOGENY OF THE DORYLINE AND ECITONINE ARMY ANTS 1190 WHAT IS AN ARMY ANT? 1192 THE DRIVER ANTS 1197 THE ORIGIN OF LEGIONARY BEHAVIOR 1208 CHAPTER 17 - The Fungus Growers 1211 FUNGUS CULTURING 1213 THE LIFE CYCLE OF LEAFCUTTER ANTS 1218 HOST SELECTION 1224 ANT-FUNGUS SYMBIOSES OUTSIDE THE ATTINI 1232 CHAPTER 18 - The Harvesting Ants 1235 HISTORY OF THE STUDY OF HARVESTING ANTS 1235 THE DISTRIBUTION OF HARVESTING 1237 AN EXTREME GRANIVORE 1238 SEED SELECTION 1243 FORAGING PATTERNS 1244 EFFECTS OF HARVESTERS ON VEGETATION 1248 CHAPTER 19 - Weaver Ants 1252 COMMUNAL NEST WEAVING 1255 THE HIGHEST GRADE OF COOPERATION 1257 INTERMEDIATE STEPS 1263 THE SIMPLEST TYPE OF WEAVING 1269 ANATOMICAL CHANGES 1272 THE UNCERTAIN CLIMB TOWARD COOPERATION 1275 CHAPTER 20 - Collecting, Culturing, Observing 1278 HOW TO COLLECT ANTS 1278 PREPARATION FOR MUSEUM WORK 1280 CULTURING ANTS 1281 TRANSPORTING COLONIES 1284 BREEDING NEW COLONIES 1285 Glossary 1287 Bibliography 1306 Acknowledgements 1454 Index 1457 Reviews In Detail All Topics In The Anatomy, Physiology, Social Organization, Ecology, And Natural History Of Ants. The Importance Of Ants -- Classification And Origins -- The Colony Life Cycle -- Altruism And The Origin Of The Worker Caste -- Colony Odor And Kin Recognition -- Queen Numbers And Domination -- Communication -- Caste And Division Of Labor -- Social Homeostasis And Flexibility -- Foraging Strategis, Territory, And Population Regulation -- The Organization Of Species Communities -- Symbioses Among Ant Species -- Symbioses With Other Arthropods -- Symbioses Between Ants And Plants -- The Specialized Predators -- The Army Ants -- The Fungus Growers -- The Harvesting Ants -- Weaver Ants --collecting, Culturing, Observing. Bert Hölldobler And Edward O. Wilson. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 645-709. This landmark work is a thoroughgoing survey of one of the largest and most diverse groups of animals on the planet. Hoelldobler and Wilson review in exhaustive detail virtually all topics in the anatomy, physiology, social organization, ecology, and natural history of the ants.