Army Ants

"Army ants are the ultimate social hunters. They are preeminent arthropod predators in tropical rainforests around the world, and their nomadic colonies are the largest among the insect societies. Their troops collectively overwhelm the nests of termites, wasps, and other ants, and kill, dismember, and devour animals that are orders of magnitude larger than the individual army ant. Their massive swarm raids truly are one of nature's greatest spectacles. This book comprehensively synthesizes the literature on army ants, from natural history observations by early explorers of the 18th and 19th century, to modern molecular inquiries into the genetic underpinnings of army ant social life"--

What if green ants and army ants had a fight? Who do you think would win? This nonfiction reader compares and contrasts two ferocious insects. Readers will learn about each animal's anatomy, behavior, and more. Then compare and contrast the battling pair before finally discovering the winner!This nonfiction series is full of facts, photos, and realistic illustrations, and it includes a range of mammals, sea creatures, insects, and dinosaurs to satisfy all kinds of animal fans.

Cooperative predators, army ants in unison can attack stoutly defended social insect colonies and can hunt down and devour insects much larger than themselves. Yet from folktales to fieldnotes, the image of army ants has too often magnified their aggression and ignored their magnificent capacity for social cooperation. A veteran of thirty years of research on army ants in Africa, Malaysia, Australia, Mexico, and Trinidad, William H. Gotwald, Jr., offers the first comprehensive account of their behavioral ecology and evolution.

Africanized honeybees, also known as killer bees, and army ants are both tiny animals that really strike fear in many people. In this action-packed volume, readers will follow along with a battle of the insects and decide who they think would be the ultimate victor. Readers will learn about factors such as adaptations, size, and sting. They'll use the information to make an educated guess about which insect they think would win if such a battle were to really break out. This imaginative, high-interest book is loaded with eye-catching graphics and facts that support important elementary science concepts.

Intrepid international explorer, biologist, and photographer Mark W. Moffett, "the Indiana Jones of entomology," takes us around the globe on a strange and colorful journey in search of the hidden world of ants. In tales from Nigeria, Indonesia, the Amazon, Australia, California, and elsewhere, Moffett recounts his entomological exploits and provides fascinating details on how ants live and how they dominate their ecosystems through strikingly human behaviors, yet at a different scale and a faster tempo. Moffett’s spectacular close-up photographs shrink us down to size, so that we can observe ants in familiar roles; warriors, builders, big-game hunters, and slave owners. We find them creating marketplaces and assembly lines and dealing with issues we think of as uniquely human—including hygiene, recycling, and warfare. Adventures among Ants introduces some of the world’s most awe-inspiring species and offers a startling new perspective on the limits of our own perception. • Ants are world-class road builders, handling traffic problems on thoroughfares that dwarf our highway systems in their complexity • Ants with the largest societies often deploy complicated military tactics • Some ants have evolved from hunter-gatherers into farmers, domesticating other insects and growing crops for food

A richly illustrated, captivating study of army ants, nature’s preeminent social hunters. A swarm raid is one of nature’s great spectacles. In tropical rainforests around the world, army ants march in groups by the thousands to overwhelm large solitary invertebrates, along with nests of termites, wasps, and other ants. They kill and dismember their prey and carry it back to their nest, where their hungry brood devours it. They are the ultimate social hunters, demonstrating the most fascinating collective behavior. In Army Ants we see how these insects play a crucial role in promoting and sustaining the biodiversity of tropical ecosystems. The ants help keep prey communities in check while also providing nutrition for other animals. Many species depend on army ants for survival, including a multitude of social parasites, swarm-following birds, and flies. And while their hunting behavior, and the rules that govern it, are clearly impressive, army ants display collective behavior in other ways that are no less dazzling. They build living nests, called bivouacs, using their bodies to protect the queen and larvae. The ants can even construct bridges over open space or obstacles by linking to one another using their feet. These incredible feats happen without central coordination. They are the result of local interactions—self-organization that benefits the society at large. Through observations, stories, and stunning images, Daniel Kronauer brings these fascinating creatures to life. Army ants may be small, but their collective intelligence and impact on their environment are anything but.

Depicts an army of ants as it parades through the rain forest in search of a meal.