Edward O. Wilson - Tales from the Ant World

Genesis: The Deep Origin of Societies (2019)

The Origins of Creativity (2017)

Half-Earth: Our Planets Fight for Life (2016)

A Window on Eternity:
A Biologists Walk Through Gorongosa National Park (2014)

The Meaning of Human Existence (2014)

Letters to a Young Scientist (2013)

The Social Conquest of Earth (2012)

Why We Are Here: Mobile and the Spirit of a Southern City,
with Alex Harris (2012)

The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct,
with Bert Hlldobler (2011)

Kingdom of Ants: Jos Celestino Mutis and the Dawn of Natural History
in the New World, with Jos M. Gmez Durn (2010)

Anthill: A Novel (2010)

The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of
Insect Societies , with Bert Hlldobler (2009)

The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth (2006)

Nature Revealed: Selected Writings, 19492006 (2006)

From So Simple a Beginning:
The Four Great Books of Darwin , edited with introductions (2005)

Pheidole in the New World: A Hyperdiverse Ant Genus (2003)

The Future of Life (2002)

Biological Diversity: The Oldest Human Heritage (1999)

Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (1998)

In Search of Nature (1996)

Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration ,
with Bert Hlldobler (1994)

Naturalist (1994; new edition, 2006)

The Diversity of Life (1992)

The Ants , with Bert Hlldobler
(1990; Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 1991)

Success and Dominance in Ecosystems:
The Case of the Social Insects (1990)

Biophilia (1984)

Promethean Fire: Reflections on the Origin of the Mind ,
with Charles J. Lumsden (1983)

Genes, Mind, and Culture, with Charles J. Lumsden (1981)

On Human Nature
(1978; Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 1979)

Caste and Ecology in the Social Insects,
with George F. Oster (1978)

Sociobiology: The New Synthesis
(1975; new edition, 2000)

A Primer of Population Biology ,
with William H. Bossert (1971)

The Insect Societies (1971)

The Theory of Island Biogeography,
with Robert H. MacArthur (1967; new edition 2001)

EDWARD O. WILSON

Frontispiece: An African warrior ant, or matabele ( Megaponera analis ), specialized for raids on mound-building termites. Its common name is that of the Zimbabwe warriors Long Shield. (Original painting by Timo Wuerz.)

Copyright 2020 by Edward O. Wilson

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EVERYONE LIVING OUTSIDE the polar ice sheets who has gazed around their own feet has seen ants, and inevitably, they have heard tales about these social creatures, especially concerning their relationship with humanity. Ants, it is said, are among the little creatures that run the world, perhaps for our benefit, or perhaps not. Ants form societies that rival roughly in form and variety those of human beings. Then, there is their awesome abundance. If Homo sapiens had not arisen as an accidental primate species on the grasslands of Africa, and spread worldwide, visitors from other star systems, when they come (and mark my word, they will eventually come), should be inclined to call Earth planet of the ants.

Ive written Tales from the Ant World from the experience of a lifetime, some eight decades, of studying fabulous insects. I began in grammar schools in Washington, DC, and Alabama, and continued, with the same emotions, to university research professor and curator of entomology at Harvard University. In these Tales, I convey some of the importance of what I have learned from my studies and those of others. Incidentally, I and my colleagues are called myrmecologists in the scientific academy. And even though I have now written over thirty books, most of them scholarly, I have not until this book told the amazing stories of myrmecology as a physical and intellectual adventureif you will, an adventure story.

I am especially hopeful that this account will reach studentseven ten years old is not too younginterested in the prospect of a scientific career. The subject at hand is wide open. The existing natural history and biology of ants covers only a tiny fraction of the more than 15,000 ant species discovered to date, given a name, and studied carefully. And beyond the ants, more than a million species of insects, spiders, and other arthropods await full attention. The more that this part of the biosphere is studied by future experts, the better off will be the world, ourselves included.

Meanwhile, the most frequent question I am casually asked about ants is, What do I do about the ones in my kitchen? My answer is, Watch where you step, be careful of little lives, consider becoming an amateur myrmecologist, and contribute to their scientific study. Further, why should these wondrous little insects not visit your kitchen? They carry no disease, and may help eliminate other insects that do carry disease. You are a million times larger than each one. You could hold an entire colony in your cupped hands. You inspire fear in them; they should not in you.

I recommend that you make use of your kitchen ants by feeding them and reflecting upon what you see, rather like an informal tour of a very foreign country. Place a few pieces of food the size of a thumbnail on the floor or sink. House ants are especially fond of honey, sugar water, chopped nuts, and canned tuna. A scout in close vicinity will soon find one of the baits and, to the degree the colony is hungry, run excitedly back to the nest. There will follow social behavior so alien to human experience that it might as well be on some other planet.

TALES FROM THE

ANT WORLD

ILL BEGIN THIS myrmecological tour with a word of caution. There is nothing I can even imagine in the lives of ants that we can or should emulate for our own moral betterment.

First, and most importantly, all ants active in the social life of colonies are females. I am an ardent feminist in all things human, but in ants one has to consider that during their 150 million years of existence, gender liberalism has run amok. Females are in total control. All ants you see at work, all that explore the environment, all that go to war (which is total and myrmicidal) are female. Adult male ants are pitiful creatures by comparison. They have wings and can fly, huge eyes and genitalia, and small brains. They do no work for their mother and sisters, and have only one function in life: to inseminate virgin queens from other colonies during nuptial flights.