The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct

The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct

<p>From the Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of <em>The Ants</em> comes this dynamic and visually spectacular portrait of Earth's ultimate superorganism.</p><br><em>The Leafcutter Ants</em> is the most detailed and authoritative description of any ant species ever produced. With a text suitable for both a lay and a scientific audience, the book provides an unforgettable tour of Earth's most evolved animal societies. Each colony of leafcutters contains as many as five million workers, all the daughters of a single queen that can live over a decade. A gigantic nest can stretch thirty feet across, rise five feet or more above the ground, and consist of hundreds of chambers that reach twenty-five feet below the ground surface. Indeed, the leafcutters have parlayed their instinctive civilization into a virtual domination of forest, grassland, and cropland—from Louisiana to Patagonia. Inspired by a section of the authors' acclaimed <em>The Superorganism</em>, this brilliantly illustrated work provides the ultimate explanation of what a social order with a half-billion years of animal evolution has achieved.