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A review by uhambe_nami
The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct by Edward O. Wilson, Bert Hölldobler
5.0
Farmers in Central America call them zompopos and consider them pests. Unstoppable are they, these leafcutter ants, carrying off little pieces of leaves by the millions, harming crops and ruining harvests.
In this book, Hölldobler and Wilson give us an insider view of the remarkable level of organisation of the leafcutter ants. They show us what happens to these leaf fragments: all bits of plant material are used to cultivate a species of fungus which in turn feeds the ants. That's right; these fungus-growing ants practice agriculture and have been doing so for the past 50 million years. With beautiful photos of the nest mounds, the mating swarms and the fungus gardens, this is a wonderful book for anyone who'd like to take a closer look at the marvellous world of leafcutter ants.
In this book, Hölldobler and Wilson give us an insider view of the remarkable level of organisation of the leafcutter ants. They show us what happens to these leaf fragments: all bits of plant material are used to cultivate a species of fungus which in turn feeds the ants. That's right; these fungus-growing ants practice agriculture and have been doing so for the past 50 million years. With beautiful photos of the nest mounds, the mating swarms and the fungus gardens, this is a wonderful book for anyone who'd like to take a closer look at the marvellous world of leafcutter ants.