Life among the ants
| Language | en |
|---|---|
| First published | 2026-01-07 |
| Rights | Public domain in the USA. |
| Gutenberg ID | #77638 |
Description
Life among the ants by Vance Randolph is a popular scientific publication written in the early 20th century. The book surveys ant biology and natural history, focusing on anatomy, reproduction, social organization, and the striking behaviors of notable ant groups. It opens with a brief guide to key ant literature, then explains the ant’s body, senses, and internal systems before outlining castes, mating flights, colony founding, and complete metamorphosis. The core chapters profile specialized societies: harvesting ants that store seeds (and how their activities disperse plants), fungus-growing Attini that cultivate a single domesticated fungus in leaf-fed gardens, honey ants whose “replete” workers hang as living honey stores, and legionary or driver ants that form marauding columns, bridge gaps with their bodies, and even suspend themselves in living clusters. It examines slave-making ants in two forms: the versatile Formica sanguinea, which raids neighbors for brood yet can live without slaves, and the highly specialized Polyergus “amazons,” utterly dependent on slaves for food and housekeeping despite their brilliant, rapid raids. The closing chapter details ant “dairying” of aphids, scale insects, and treehoppers for honeydew, the transport and sheltering of these herds, and a rich cast of ant-guests and parasites—from tolerated scavengers to true “pampered” beetle guests and mites that ride and feed during food exchanges—illustrating the breadth of ants’ mutualisms and symbioses. (This is an automatically generated summary.)