''The Ants'' is a zoology textbook by the German entomologist

Bert Hölldobler Berthold Karl Hölldobler (born 25 June 1936) is a German sociobiologist and evolutionary biologist who studies evolution and social organization in ants. He is the author of several books, including ''The Ants'', for which he and his co-author, ...

and the American entomologist

E. O. Wilson Edward Osborne Wilson (June 10, 1929 – December 26, 2021) was an American biologist, naturalist, entomologist and writer. According to David Attenborough, Wilson was the world's leading expert in his specialty of myrmecology, the study of an ...

, first published in 1990. It won the

Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published duri ...

in 1991.

This book is primarily aimed at academics as a reference work, detailing the

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

, social organization including their caste system, altruistic behaviour, and chemical communication with

pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...

s, their

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

(vital for turning the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

and controlling

insect pest Economic entomology is a field of entomology, which involves the study of insects that benefit or harm humans, domestic animals, and crops. Insects that cause losses are termed as pests. Some species can cause indirect damage by spreading disea ...

s), and natural history. An account of some of Hölldobler and Wilson's most interesting findings, popularized for the layman, can be found in their 1994 book '' Journey to the Ants''.

Reception

The ''

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

'' magazine reviewer described the book as a "mighty tome" and commented that it would "surely take its place among the greatest of all entomology books", as it was "a wonderful exploration of almost every ramification of

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes ( natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life ...

, from developmental biology to the structure of ecological communities". The illustrations are praised as lavish and extremely detailed, with monochrome drawings and 24 colour plates. All the 297 extant genera are illustrated and identifiable with the supplied keys. But "''The Ants'', like every great book and every ant colony, is much more than the sum of its parts." Diana Wheeler, reviewing the book in ''

The Quarterly Review of Biology ''The Quarterly Review of Biology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of biology. It was established in 1926 by Raymond Pearl. In the 1960s it was purchased by the Stony Brook Foundation when the editor H. Bentley Glass be ...

'', comments that

William Morton Wheeler William Morton Wheeler (March 19, 1865 – April 19, 1937) was an American entomologist, myrmecologist and Harvard professor. Biography Early life and education William Morton Wheeler was born on March 19, 1865, to parents Julius Morton Wheel ...

thought his book not practical to revise as it would require too much work and would make the book too expensive, and that it was fortunate that the authors "did not flinch" at the challenge. They had produced a massive but affordable volume, and it was accessible to the public as well as to entomologists.

References

External links

*
Review: "The only professional science work to have won a Pulitzer Prize -- for general nonfiction in 1991 – The Ants"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ants, The 1990 non-fiction books Encyclopedias of science English-language books Zoology books Entomological literature Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction-winning works Myrmecology Works by Bert Hölldobler Works by E. O. Wilson Ants

Contents

Reception

See also

References

External links