WEAVER ants, marauder ants, army ants and slave-makers – Mark Moffett has studied, been bitten by and photographed them all. Moffett examines the idea of ants as superorganisms and looks at ways in which their colonies resemble, yet differ from, human societies. As superorganisms, they possess many advantages: a weaver ant colony weighs as much as a young leopard, but the ants can eat prey as small as mites or as large as scorpions. In the same environment, the leopard would starve because it needs much bigger meals.
Adventures Among Ants ends with an obvious parable. The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, is now found almost everywhere, from southern Europe to California, and it is the only ant species on Easter Island. In most countries, its colonies, billions strong and extending hundreds of kilometres, exterminate every other ant community they encounter. And like humans, they now travel by ship and airplane.
Adventures Among Ants: A global safari with a cast of trillions
University of California Press