De mierenmaatschappij

by Susanne Foitzik, Olaf Fritsche, Ans van der Graaff (Translator)

Ontdek in dit boek de bijzondere aspecten van mieren aan de hand van intrigerende en vaak humoristische verhalen. Ze zijn fascinerend, ze zijn overal, en gedragen zich soms net zoals wij. Mieren bekleden verschillende beroepen, ze cultiveren tuinen, houden bladluizen als vee en beschermen ze tegen roofdieren. Koninginnen regeren, oorlogen woeden en slavernij is er aan de orde van de dag; het mierenrijk is een onverbiddelijke maatschappij in het klein.

Op wetenschappelijke én wetenswaardige wijze vertellen Foitzik en Fritsche de waanzinnige prestaties van een beestje dat tot wel honderd keer zijn eigen gewicht kan dragen. Een insectenboek met prachtige illustraties en krachtige boodschappen, die ons regelmatig een spiegel voorhouden.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Biology, Animals, Natural History, Audiobook

314 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a comprehensive review of ant biology and behavior but really it's about the amazing variety of ways ants (and by extension all of life) have found to survive and thrive and the many ways that evolution, through competition and cooperation, can lead to complex speciation and behavior.

Some of my favorite examples came from leafcutter ants, who can denude a lemon tree in a day. They use the leaves to grow the fungus they live on, one of many examples of farming and ranching ant species. But when the leafcutters are out harvesting, they are vulnerable to parasites and therefore have come up with a unique defense - smaller (minor) worker ants of their species who ride along:

"Scuttle flies of the genus Pseudacteon love to lay their eggs on the thoraxes of leafcutters, who are unable to defend themselves while carrying their little leaf flags. Once hatched, the fly larvae crawl inside the ant's head, where they begin eating their host from the inside out....To nip this sinister process in the bud, transport ants are often accompanied by air defense workers. Tiny minors ride along...and defend them against attacks....The minors themselves have a natural form of defense against the flies: They are simply too small to serve as suitable bassinets for the flies' larvae."

Or look at the complex evolutionary arms race between the ants, their preferred fungal food and another invasive fungus that can wipe everything out:

"It is no accident that minors are so tiny. They have to be. They are the colony's gardeners and must be able to creep into any secret corner....checking the condition of the fungus. They feed it with chewed up leaves and lay the groundwork for new cultivation areas....A fungus grower's sworn enemy is the sac fungus Escovopsis, which lies in wait seeking an opportunity to infest the culture and bring about the ants' ruin....within a year or two, half the fungal cultures will be affected....To keep matters from reaching this stage, minors carry out patrols throughout the network....Workers on business outside the nest, who could be carrying all kinds of pathogens on their cuticles, are barred from entering the fungus garden....leafcutter ants regularly turn their chemical talents to their gardens [and]...produce a secretion...which they spread over the fungus. The substances secreted include growth hormone....antibiotics and antifungals, which the ants cannot synthesize themselves. The real manufacturers are symbiotic bacteria, which, depending on species, live on different parts of the ant's bodies and feed off glandular secretions. Thus, leafcutter gardens often witness wrestling matches among four different participants unlike any other in the animal kingdom: The ants tend to a fungus, which is attacked by another fungus, which the insects fight with the help of a bacteria. And this underground battle has raged for fifty million years."

How amazing is that?

Other standout chapters included looks at how ants are studied in the field (lots of digging and ziplocs), experimental methods for understanding ant behavior (particularly navigation), swarming and army ants, invasive species, and the many ways ants have found to feed themselves. I don't know how much of this ant knowledge I'll retain, but there are many cool lessons here on biodiversity and evolution.

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Empire Of Ants
By Susanne Foitzik
This is a fascinating book with wonderful facts and unique characteristics that kept me entertained and informed. Relaxing and totally brilliant!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just the thought of ants is enough to make some people’s skin crawl. I am not overly worried by them and whilst I am more than happy for the colony’s living alongside our house to stay there, I am less happy with them coming inside as they do occasionally. They are only there for food though and if one of them finds a suitable source of nutrition then it is not long before, what seems like the entire nest is there.

Ants have been around for millions of years and it is thought that there are 22,00 different species of which we have categorised about two-thirds of them. They are a social species and are part of the same family as wasps and bees. They can live in tiny colonies of thirty or so individuals or vast nest containing millions. Each species has evolved in a particular way even though they have some common habits, there is a whole world of particular differences between them.

Ants are a fascinating species and one that Susanne Foitzik has made a career from. She has written over 100 paper on ant behaviours but along with Olaf Fritsche in this book, they are bringing their cutting edge research to the wider readership. It is a mix of personal stories from collecting colonies and filling their host fridge with them, writing about how different species enslave other ants or other insects for food. Some caterpillars crawl into the nest as this is the safest place for them as they pupate unless they do not disguise themselves with the correct pheromones in which case they end up as lunch.

There are stories on how tidy they can be making sure that all waste is placed outside the nest and how this supports another set of creatures in turn. One species is always on the move and they create a shelter called a bivouac in some natural gap. This is made up of ants who hook themselves together to create the shelter to protect the young and old members of the nest. Even though they can’t see much they use other senses to find their way to and from the nest, experiments have show how they use these senses to navigate

I thought that this was a good overview of all things ant. Each of the chapters covers a particular topic on how ant colonies operate, from The Birth of a Colony to The Path to World Domination. It is very readable and thankfully it didn’t read like an academic paper as some popular science books can do at times. If you like insects and creepy crawlies then this would be right up your street.

[Antje · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein faszinierender Blick in die Myrmekologie; kurzweilig vorgetragen mit einer Fülle von Informationen, die man leider viel zu schnell wieder vergessen wird. - Doch eines steht fest, dieses sechsbeinige emsige Tierchen ist jede Beobachtung und Lektüre wert.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little non-fiction book is divided into 13 chapters that tell of the structure of ant colonies, how colonies are established, the social hierarchy (it's not what you think), ants' navigational skills, senses, communication abilities, diet (incl. cannibalism), the effects on their environment, history and evolution and much more.

Before reading this, I thought I knew quite a lot about ants. I soon had to discover that what I did know was only about 1/3 of what is known to science, if that much, and that there is so much science doesn't yet know.

Mrs. Foitzik had a very nice way of presenting facts, interspersed with some self-depricating humour, giving some insight into the process of finding out more about these fascinating "Spartans" (if you've read the book, you know what I'm referring to).

Ants in general are fascinating. Not only can they carry things multiple times as heavy as they themselves are, their social structure and willingness to sacrifice themselves is nothing short of weird! *lol* And yet, theirs is a success story if we consider that they were walking this planet back when the dinosaurs did and everything that has happened to the planet and life on Earth since couldn't kill them off.

Yes, I also consider them slightly creepy - I'm not afraid of them or anything and do admire them for their usefulness. However, much about them is downright alien and just considering how many of them must exist on the planet, the fact that we don't actually know, and how efficiently they can drive us nuts in small numbers when taking over one's house for example is enough to make me shudder (they could easily overrun us).

Nice science book with very accessible information that gives a detailed look at this highly fascinating animals.

[Radiantflux · Rating 2 out of 5]

11th book for 2022.

Interesting topic; poor execution.

I wanted to like this more, but couldn't stand the way the author kept putting themselves into the book in cutesy ways. I had the feeling this was done at the insistence of the editors, or after advice in some non-fiction writing workshop, where it was recommended that a book about ants would be too dry in itself, and needed to be humanised with cute stories of researchers in the jungle.

Each chapter details a particular subject area, and we are then presented with cute/amazing information detailing this information from various different species. This is interesting, but since each species is different it is hard to know how to synthesise this information together. It's a bit like a book called "Humans" had a chapter called "Buildings" and then had a paragraph on the amazing Empire State Building, another paragraph on the "Taj Mahal" and then a third on the Imperial Palace at Koyoto—then off to the next chapter on food with tells of reindeer eating humans in the Artic, vegans in Brooklyn, and grasshopper eaters in Bangkok. It's all very interesting, but there isn't enough groundwork given (presumably thought to be too boring) to really help with the synthesis of the material.

2-stars.

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 5 out of 5]

In love with our own grandeur, most humans don’t give a thought to the magnificence of other species, and this is particularly true of ants. People use ants as their go-to being to fill in the SAT Analogy “Gods are to Humans as Humans are to ______________.” When we want to explain how some more capable entity (be it a god, a trans-galactic alien species, or an advanced artificial intelligence) is more likely to kill us through indifference than through maliciousness, we draw upon the image of an ant about to be crushed under the boot of a person who’s just going about his day, harboring no ill-will towards his six-legged neighbors.

This book will roll back that smug attitude, impressing the reader not only with all the little-known but intriguing behaviors of ants, but also with the range of skills employed by ants that we humans have always thought of as our unique bailiwick – e.g. city building, agriculture, slavery, war, and communication of complex ideas.

The book consists of fourteen chapters and a brief epilogue. The introductory chapter not only prepares the reader to be more impressed by ants, it also explains how crucial ants are collectively to our ecosystems. Chapter two explores the ant caste system in much more detail than the usual queen / worker / drone distinction, and it also explains how sex is determined in a manner quite different than that to which we are used. Chapter three continues an extensive discussion of reproduction that was begun in the previous chapter.

Chapter four dives into what might be called the governance of ant colonies. That may sound grandiose (and, in some sense, it is) but we are talking about huge populations living in a relatively small space. While sci-fi might have one imagining the queen ruling with an iron first while all others act as mindless automatons, the truth is very different, and – in fact – after establishment of the nest, the queen leaves the the thinking business altogether. Chapters five and six investigate the subjects of communication and navigation, respectively. Ants have a tremendously varied set of chemical emitters and receptors, allowing them to communicate a wide range of messages with great clarity. They also communicate through physical contact. Anyone who has ever seen a line of ants in convoy probably suspects that ants must be skilled at getting where they need to go and back. This chapter explains the methods by which ants achieve this purposeful motion, from chemical signals to navigation by the sun to – in some cases – an internal magnetic compass.

Chapter seven takes the reader into the realm of ant militaries, elucidating how they hunt, bivouac, and carry out the various tasks required of them. Chapter eight introduces the question of how colonies (that can be on par with human cities with respect to population) feed everyone, and gives special attention to leafcutter supply chain logistics and in-colony fungiculture. Chapter nine examines the lives of tree-dwelling ants. In this chapter, we learn that not only do ants engage in activities we think of as human; some also perform activities we associate with other species – such as silk weaving. Chapter ten continues the book’s examination of ant agriculture by explaining how some ants keep aphids as livestock [the aphids consume leaves and excrete sugars as a waste product because there is far more of it than they need for their own purposes.]

While chapter seven indicated how ants share some of the less palatable habits of humans – specifically, war, chapter eleven delves into some of the downright loathsome activities these insects share with our species – including: enslavement and theft. Chapter twelve identifies some of the threats to ant health and well-being, including tape worms and fungal parasites. You may have read about the fungus that can hijack an ant’s nervous system to turn it into a zombie (Ophiocordyceps camponoti-floridani,) eventually the fruiting body of the cordyceps pops out of the ant’s head to release spores (after the fungus has “driven” the ant high up into a tree from which the spores can be widely distributed.)

Chapter 13, entitled “The Path to World Domination,” is largely about how invasive species have come to take over in many parts of the world. This includes fire ants, which the Spanish (unwittingly) hauled from Mexico to the Philippines, from which the insects were dispersed all over the world via trade routes. While -- throughout the entire book -- intriguing ant behaviors are mentioned, the final chapter collects together a group of particularly unlikely skills that are witnessed among ants. My favorites were ants that could glide back to tree trunks when knocked off a limb, as well as another species that could catapult themselves through the air.

The book is well-illustrated, employing both drawings and color photographs. The photographs are particularly useful for showing some of the stranger species and – in a few cases – behaviors that can be difficult to visualize. There is an extensive “further reading” section that is organized by chapter.

“Empire of Ants” provides a fascinating look at an underappreciated species. Just as Peter Wohlleben’s “The Hidden Life of Trees” changed the way I looked at trees, this book changed the way I see ants. I’d highly recommend the book for anyone interested in the natural world.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than I expected, and now armed with specific strategies to combat them both in my garden in the spring and in my home.

[Halina · Rating 5 out of 5]

flipping love ants

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great overview of what we know (and what we don’t) about ants, written for general public. This short book is full of surprises, even if some things left me with more questions than answers. I read it as a part of the monthly reading for November 2023 at Non Fiction Book Club group.

It is a common saying about a view from above that people are running around like ants. It is both true and false and in interesting ways. Like, the animation movie Antz from Pixar or multiple fictional books present most ants as males (esp. soldiers). The truth is that the only male ants are ones from unfertilized eggs. If an egg and a sperm cell merge, they will produce a female ant, if not, the larva will develop into a male. So all workers, soldiers, queens are female, the short life of a male is to give his sperm and die (a queen diligently collects all the sperm she requires for a lifetime of egg-laying. She preserves the semen in a special pouch between her ovaries where it miraculously remains viable for many years (an ant queen can live up to 30 years). Using this stock of semen, the queen can fertilize virtually every egg she lays.) Another fact that all ants have different personalities. E.g. Evelien Jongepier “interviewed” 3,842 workers from 102 colonies to ascertain their professional preferences. To do this, she placed each insect one by one in front of either a pupa in need of help—to draw out broodcare behavior—or dead ants from a foreign colony, to provoke a defensive response. If ants were the mindless robots we humans sometimes believe them to be, every worker would have reached out mechanically for either stimulus, tending to the pupa or attacking the insurgent ant. But the ants did not all respond according to Evelien’s predictions. Some did not even think about being roped into specific tasks. A few paid particular attention to the pupa but were not prepared to be drawn into a fight with the foreign ant worker. Others lunged at their enemy, paying no heed at all to the helpless pupa. Another subgroup ignored both the pupa and the enemy ant and simply did nothing. In all probability, different genetic activities predetermined which stimulus the ants would respond to.

These are only two facts of many discussed in the book. For some reviewers the fact that the ‘story’ is all over the place with no precise conclusions is a drawback, but I liked it. There is info not only about ants, but the environment they create (and are in turn created by it), from fungi the feed to flies and nematodes that fed on them.

[Cynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a young person considering the if the hard work of possibly traveling the world, collecting and studying ant specimens might be something you might enjoy, this book could be for you.

The joy of Foitzik takes in her work as a myrmecologist shines through in this book. She describes with controlled wonder at the variety and abilities of ants throughout the world.

The photographs included inform the text and communicate wonders of ant life. Among these photos we see what often beekeepers and myrmecologists see: queen bees. Among these photos we see the different nests ants build themselves. These and other photographs are informative and artistic.

Because the emphasis of the book is wonder and joy even more than the information contain here, this book might best serve young adults rather than already university-educated people.

Read with GR Non Fiction Book Club.

[Tokoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mix of immersion into the ant world and how they effect their ecosystems, their systems of living, and of reporting how the researchers do their jobs out in the field and in the lab, including methods and experiments used to test theories and prove science, to experiment with the behavior, systems, and abilities of ant species. How important ants are to our world and how old their evolutionary systems are, some impressive systemic behaviors predating the appearance of homo sapiens and their development of equivalent behaviors and systems before we got a hold of learning them. A short little section at the end describing how what we are leaning about how ants do things can help us to improve our tech and improve some of our own ways of doing things in the future. Recommended if you like learning about culture, behavior, animals, systems, research methods, ecosystems and our climate, and how things work and tick. The audio narration goes by quick and keeps interest. For those who love learning and can conceive of learning from the behavior of creatures and how to respect our unseen world a little more. They are all around us, ubiquitous to us all and all human geographies (except most ants don't like the cold), so learning about and from ants can be one of the most useful animals to gain some insight on.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely spellbinding read on what seems to be everything you could want to know about ants and antlife. In a constant bevy of ‘who knew’ and ‘who would have thought’ you will want to read on and digest the great morsels that Foitzik and Fritsche serve up. Their passion for the study of ants drives this most remarkable volume. I am so glad to have somehow stumbled on it and couldn’t recommend it enough!

The particularly engaging conversational style makes Empire of Ants so approachable and so full of the most fascinating aspects. This is life science presented in one of the most readable and enjoyable volumes I have experienced in a long time. Would certainly hope to hold the authors to the promise of a subsequent follow-up volume.

[Elentarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5

Empire of Ants is an easily digestible, fascinating introduction to the lives of different varieties of ants, from egg to colony, queen to worker, aphid and fungi farmer to slave raiders, acorn sized colonies to global colonies.  Some of the author anecdotes are amusing, like the occasion leaf-cutter ants escaped from their tank, started dismantling the laboratory, and carrying the pieces out the door.  A bit too much anthropomorphizing, but what the hell - it makes for entertaining reading.  

[Keeley Dennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

ants

[Ainsley Beaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent, probably one of the best non-fiction books I have read. There was the perfect balance between being complex enough to be interesting but simple enough to be easy to read. Ants are amazing!!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't realize how much I had retained from this book until my husband asked me what I was reading and I started talking about ants. Excitedly talking. And he was interested.

The surprises start in chapter 1. Ant colonies are made up of all sisters and these sisters are related to each other. Only the queen lays eggs. She doesn't need a male to fertilize the eggs because she holds all the sperm she needs for her life in a pouch after only one nuptial flight to find a male ant. Since some ant queens can live up to 30 years, this is a long time to hold on to some sperm!

Ant nests are complex and can be quite large. Once scientist thought to mix up a thin cement mixture in order to make a sort of cast of a leafcutter ant nest. Then workers cleared out the loose dirt carefully, like archaeologists, and exposed a HUGE nest. There's a picture in the book.

Speaking of leafcutter ants, these things cut leaves and carry them to their nest not for themselves, but for the fungus they want to grow in their nest. This fungus is their food source. The author tells a humorous story about leafcutter ants that escape their enclosure in the lab and start cutting up the closest thing they could find that was like a leaf.

I like that this book was written by a researcher because it gives some insight into what it is like out in the field and in the lab. Some scientists have neat ideas for really simple but effective experiments.

Here's some herbs and oils that are effective in deterring ants: basil, chili, grapefruit, coffee, lavender, orange, peppermint, rosemary, sage, tea tree, thyme, tomato, juniper, cinnamon and lemon.

I have a greater appreciation for ants after reading this book. But I still don't want them in my house!

[Ed Erwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many fascinating facts about many different types of ants, as well as about the life of an ant researcher. In some cases I was left wanting more information, but overall I'm glad that it skipped around from topic to topic. This only misses 5 stars for me because the writing was occasionally unclear. In many cases I had to re-read sentences and feel like they would have made more sense with the phrases re-arranged. Maybe this is a fault of translation from German, though it was shortlisted for a translation prize.

[freddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars, really, but rounding to 3 on here.

This is not a bad book but it does several things I am personally not a fan of with science nonfiction... hence the rating.

1) Anthropomorphizes the subject matter (in this case, ants).
2) Edges away from the subject matter (again, ants) and too far into memoir territory.
3) Has an overly hip/quirky/upbeat tone (usually in an attempt to appeal to a broader audience).

This would probably be great for younger readers or people wanting to dip their toe into science nonfic for the first time.

[Ryan Mauldin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a book about... ants…

Undeniably interesting, however the topic is ants…

[Stephanie W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolutely fascinating read, presented in easy to understand writing. Everything you would ever want to know about ants.

[Mark Macumber · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review of the natural world continues! Not exactly what I was looking for, but full of great stories, interesting tidbits, and expands my awe at the mind blowing complexity of this world

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Endlessly fascinating subject but the writing tone was difficult to stomach. I felt like I was being talked down to. She also never mentions E.O. Wilson, considered the world’s leading expert on ants. This is like writing a book on evolution and not mentioning Charles Darwin.

[Melanie’s reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazingly highlighted the variety of ants in this world. Very entertaining and interesting.

[Bill T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book -- clearly it contains recent findings in myrmecology -- but all the hip talk about being an ant researcher distracted terribly from the discussion of the ants themselves. It made it feel like I was reading a science book targeted at 6th-graders.

To be fair, Diana Gitig warned about this in her review of the book on Ars Technica. I was just hoping I'd get past it.

[Russell Buckley-Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept is interesting the execution of this book is poor. Even the most interesting parts somehow felt monotonous.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a child growing up in New Zealand, I vividly remember sometimes going out to feed the cats, Storm and Toastie, and on sunny days would occasionally see little black ants on the concrete ground, happily wandering along. Sometimes Mum and Dad would let me put out some food for them, just to let me watch the procession as an army of the little black house ants formed two lines, one going to the food source and one heading back to the nest. It was many moments of wonder I still have fond memories of.
Empire of Ants is a comprehensive overview of ants and their biology, physiology and society around the world. As eusocial creatures, you never stop and think about how similar their lives actually are to ours at times, building cities, organising a family structure albeit on a larger scale, and even having altruistic tendencies. Fitzik goes into great detail about this and many over things, creating a thought provoking book filled with facts and also bringing ants alive be they in the cheeky way escaping from a nest or the compassionate way and the sacrifices they make for the greater good. The story of the Argentine ant towards the end of this book is of particular fascination.
Highly recommended for anyone who loves insects or nature.

[Hazel Bright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent natural history non-fiction about ants, which comprise quite a large portion of the biosphere and do a tremendous amount of work. Their social world and biological function are quite alien to that of vertebrate life forms. The fact that females are diploid while males are haploid is one way that they differ. They also have a single hive mind that is described more eloquently in this book than I have ever read anywhere else. Most fascinating was the section about fungi that turn the ants into zombies. I look at ants differently now, after having read this book. I still kill them, though, if they are in my house. Because - ants.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative and engaging account of the activities of ants around the world. The first thing I learned was that an ant expert is called a myrmecologist. The scale and breadth of the myrmecologists’ research was impressive, and there were copious examples from across the world of how ants operate.

I listened to this on audiobook and feel that wasn’t necessarily the best medium for this book. I think I would have fared better with a physical book where I could follow the cross references across the chapters, and keep better track of all the different types of ants and their characteristics. I still found this very interesting and packed with facts and entertaining anecdotes.