The ants
by Bert Hölldobler, Edward Osborne Wilson · first published 1990
13mentions
7recommended by
12HN commenters
2014–2026first – last mentioned
58% recommend42% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A comprehensive, well-written reference on ant biology and behavior, and the leading book in its field. It is fascinating and helps make sense of what you observe in nature.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Reviews in detail all topics in the anatomy, physiology, social organization, ecology, and natural history of ants.
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Before I saw your comment I made a top level comment about a book but wanted to repeat it here so that you saw it. If you are interested in ants take a look at Ants by holldobler and wilson. http://www.amazon.com/The-Ants-Bert-Holldobler/dp/0674040759
on “Ants Build Complex Structures With a Few Simple Rules” ↗If you are ever interested in browsing (reading from start to finish would be a lot of ants reading) a fascinating book about ants take a look at Ants by Holldobler and Wilson: http://www.amazon.com/The-Ants-Bert-Holldobler/dp/0674040759
on “Ants Build Complex Structures With a Few Simple Rules” ↗If you are interested in this topic I would highly recommend The Ants by E.O. Wilson Bert Holldobler. I was lucky enough to observe ant symbiosis in my yard. Their book helped me understand what I saw. I did a write up of it here: http://www.elegantcoding.com/2016/05/my-ant-symbiosis-storie...
on “Ant species cultivates coffee for accommodation” ↗https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Ants-Story-Scientific-Explora... EO Wilson’s book on ants is a personal favorite. This also has guides on how to catch and cultivate.
on “Ants learned to farm fungi during a mass extinction” ↗I don’t know the answer to your questions off the top of my head, unfortunately, but they are most certainly answered in The Ants by E.O. Wilson. It’s a fascinating and artfully written book. I unfortunately gave my copy to a student, or I’d have found the relevant passage for you. (The biomass fact mentioned in a parent comment…
on “Mammals Evolved into Ant Eaters 12 Times Since Dinosaur Age, Study Finds” ↗…the late 1980s and I haven't been back, though from the photo in Wikipedia its kind of derelict/dumpy entrance looks like it hasn't changed at all. If you read "Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology," Lawrence Weschler's superb 1995 book about the museum with extended interviews with Wilson, you will find it hard not to want…
on “Niche Museums” ↗FWIW, The Ants by Holldobler & Wilson is a famous book, afaik the leading book in its field.
on “Ants: Who looks after the injured in a colony?” ↗"The Ants" by Bert Holldobler and Edward O. Wilson.
on “Lazy ants make themselves useful in unexpected ways” ↗That's really cute, it reminds me that Will Wright (creator of The Sims) has referenced this book "The Ants", by Bert Holldobler in multiple occasions as a key inspiration for his games (and in particular SimAnt) and systems thinking. Did you come across that during your research phase or had you not heard…
on “Show HN: Swarm – Program a colony of 200 ants using a custom assembly language” ↗"Karl Marx was right, socialism works, it is just that he had the wrong species" -- Edward O. Wilson, The Ants
on “Socialism is incompatible with human nature” ↗Ants, sosiobiology and biodiversity conservation. I have only read "Sociobiology: The New Synthesis" (1975). Be aware that Wilson's group selection theory is not generally accepted by other evolutionary…
on “E.O. Wilson has died” ↗E.O. Wilson, an entomologist studying ants, describes a "chemical grammar" for communications. Ants use specific chemicals (pheromones), producing odors, for communication. Their signals for food and other sustaining activities are fairly complex…
on “Signal for Help” ↗…because it means nothing for one individual to "hoard" against another. You mean Eusocial[1]? Individuals of an asocial species would want to maximize its 'own' chances of survival at all cost, i.e. greed. Ants, bees are eusocial species and to quote Wilson, “One ant is no ant”. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusociality
on “E.O. Wilson saw the world in a new way” ↗