Imprint
- Gaia
- Gaia
Empire of Ants: The hidden worlds and extraordinary lives of Earth's tiny conquerors
Susanne Foitzik, Olaf Fritsche
Father’s Day, Animal behaviour, Natural history, Wildlife: butterflies, other insects & spiders
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A fascinating look at the hidden life of ants
'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 Journeys
Ants 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.
Praise for Empire of Ants: The hidden worlds and extraordinary lives of Earth's tiny conquerors
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Are we the sole rulers of this world? This wonderful book brings our tiny co-rulers alive via an engaging description of ants' cities, hard work, warfare, royalty, diversity, and ecological impact. These insects may be quite different from us, but their societies are eerily similar.
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If you ever wanted to travel to an exotic planet filled with strange life forms - you've arrived. Every page of Empire of Ants brims with astonishing stories and facts that could never have been invented by a human mind.
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This is a charming tribute to the 'little creatures that run the world.' A very personal selection of the many wonders discovered in the world of ants that introduces readers to their fascinating lives.
Susanne Foitzik
Susanne Foitzik is an evolutionary biologist, behavioral scientist and international authority on ants. After completing her PhD in ant evolution and behavior and conducting postdoctoral work in the US, she became a professor at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Currently, she teaches at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, where she studies the behaviors of slaveholding ants and different work roles in insect colonies. Her findings have been published in over 100 scientific papers to date.
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