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Best books about ants

Started By ANTdrew , Nov 19 2018 12:30 PM

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#1 Offline ANTdrew - Posted November 19 2018 - 12:30 PM

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I first got really into ants after reading some great books about them several years ago. As the weather grows colder, what better time to find some good books about ants? These are some of the best ones I've read:

Journey to the Ants by Holdobbler and EO Wilson (I never could make it through his The Ants, though)

Adventures Among Ants  by Marc W. Moffett

The Lives of Ants by Laurent Keller

Bees, Wasps, and Ants by Eric Grissel

 

Insects and Gardens by Eric Grissel is also an excellent read though not directly about ants.

 

Does anyone out there know of more great ant books? I'd love to find new ones to help me through the winter!

 

 

 

 


Edited by ANTdrew, October 9 2020 - 5:12 AM.

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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#2 Offline ANTdrew - Posted November 20 2018 - 7:12 AM

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Another really fun read I almost forgot is:

The Earth Dwellers: Adventures in the Land of Ants by Erich Hoyt

It's written in a narrative form, which is really unique and entertaining.


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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#3 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted November 20 2018 - 7:54 AM

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I have read both The Earth Dwellers and Adventures Among Ants, they are both really good books.


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#4 Offline Nathant2131 - Posted November 20 2018 - 12:21 PM

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Ants of North America: A Guide to the Genera by Brian L. Fisher and Stefan P. Cover is an invaluable reference.

 

Ants at Work by Deborah Gordon is a very interesting read.


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#5 Offline MegaMyrmex - Posted December 18 2018 - 3:47 PM

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The Fire Ants by Walter R. Tachinkel, a good read for anyone serious about fire ants and their background
The Superorganism by E. O. Wilson and Bert Holldobbler, a bit more general and more towards social insects in general

Proverbs 6:6-8 New International Version (NIV)

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest.

 

#6 Offline Leo - Posted December 18 2018 - 4:18 PM

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"the ants" by E O wilson is a great book! I have the hard copy at home, its pretty huge. 

 

"The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct" is also a pretty good book for those keeping leafcutter ants (its also by E O wilson)


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#7 Offline Mettcollsuss - Posted December 18 2018 - 4:37 PM

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I just got Journey to the Ants, and it's really good. From what I've read so far, it's basically a slimmed-down, less complicated version of The Ants.


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#8 Offline Serafine - Posted December 18 2018 - 9:07 PM

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Not about ants but still a very interesting read:

- Bee Democracy (Thomas Dyer Seeley), you will find a lot of parallels to ants in this but also some things in which bees are vastly different, it gives you a nice comparison if you already know a few things about ants (and shows how similar/different eusocial insects can be).

 

If you're German and interested in a broader picture you might also like:
- "Stachel und Staat" (Michael Ohl), this book is not primarily about ants but more about the entire Aciculata (stinging hymenopterans aka bees, wasps, bumblebees and ants) group, mostly about wasps (which are by far the biggest and most diverse members of this group). It gives a good overview of this group of insects and the entire pattern of behavior from solitary to eusocial wasps and bees (obviously ants are eusocial by default).


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#9 Offline FSTP - Posted December 18 2018 - 10:02 PM

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I just got Journey to the Ants, and it's really good. From what I've read so far, it's basically a slimmed-down, less complicated version of The Ant

 

 

 

 

Yeah that one is pretty coo. I was looking through my childhood book collection and I had that in there to my surprise. I find the end of the book pretty intesting with its early 1990's ideas on keeping ants.


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#10 Offline Serafine - Posted December 18 2018 - 10:10 PM

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I find the end of the book pretty intesting with its early 1990's ideas on keeping ants.

The really interesting part there is that you can actually keep Oecephylla in test tubes (well, some sort of weird test tube tree), especially when considering how many people fail at keeping them because they repeatedly kill the tree on which they live.
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#11 Offline FSTP - Posted December 18 2018 - 10:41 PM

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Yes that Test tube tree held together with fixtures is pretty cool idea.


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#12 Offline ANTdrew - Posted December 19 2018 - 4:50 AM

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Journey to the Ants is an incredible read!


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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#13 Offline ANTdrew - Posted October 2 2020 - 4:48 AM

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Bumping this back up.

 

I just ordered two more ant books:

Tales From the Ant World by EO Wilson (I read the eBook preview in Amazon, and it was awesome!)

 

and Ways of the Ant by John Crompton (This is an older book from 1957, but I hope there will be interesting stuff in it)


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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#14 Offline KitsAntVa - Posted October 2 2020 - 4:55 AM

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Are these like actual books about ants or are they adventure type things were its not real or something?


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#15 Offline Ants_Dakota - Posted October 2 2020 - 6:20 AM

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Are these like actual books about ants or are they adventure type things were its not real or something?

actually interesting books on ants. not like something ANTdrew would read to his human larvae.


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#16 Offline ANTdrew - Posted October 2 2020 - 6:50 AM

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Are these like actual books about ants or are they adventure type things were its not real or something?

actually interesting books on ants. not like something ANTdrew would read to his human larvae.
Haha, exactly.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#17 Offline KitsAntVa - Posted October 2 2020 - 6:53 AM

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Hehe i may look into them but i'm not really a book person or a reading person for that matter I'm impatient sometimes on somethings i want soooo....


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#18 Offline RushmoreAnts - Posted October 2 2020 - 6:54 AM

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Bumping this back up.

 

I just ordered two more ant books:

Tales From the Ant World by EO Wilson (I read the eBook preview in Amazon, and it was awesome!)

 

and Ways of the Ant by John Crompton (This is an older book from 1957, but I hope there will be interesting stuff in it)

I may consider getting this........
 


"God made..... all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds (including ants). And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25 NIV version

 

Keeping:

Tetramorium immigrans

Formica cf. pallidefulva, cf. incerta, cf. argentea

Formica cf. aserva, cf. subintegra

Pogonomyrmex occidentalis

Pheidole bicarinata

Myrmica sp.

Lasius neoniger, brevicornis

#19 Offline ANTdrew - Posted October 2 2020 - 7:00 AM

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Hehe i may look into them but i'm not really a book person or a reading person for that matter I'm impatient sometimes on somethings i want soooo....

Books are still the best way to learn about something you care about. The internet is a mile wide, but a 1/4 deep.
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"The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." Prov. 30:25
Keep ordinary ants in extraordinary ways.

#20 Offline KitsAntVa - Posted October 2 2020 - 7:04 AM

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Hehe i may look into them but i'm not really a book person or a reading person for that matter I'm impatient sometimes on somethings i want soooo....

Books are still the best way to learn about something you care about. The internet is a mile wide, but a 1/4 deep.

 

Yea that's about right, for my information about ants i come here to people that have kept them for a long time, and for anything else for that matter i rely on my experience or others because care sheets aren't always correct anyway.


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