Planet of the Ants by Susanne Foitzik

Planet of the Ants

The Hidden Worlds and Extraordinary Lives of Earth’s Tiny Conquerors

Susanne Foitzik, Olaf Fritsche

The Experiment · Print & ebook · March 29, 2022

This sweeping portrait of the world’s uncontested six-legged conquerors will open your eyes to the secret societies thriving right beneath your feet—and shift your perspective on humanity.

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Themes
Ant colony life, Ant behavior and ecology, Ants and human societies
Genres
Insect Biology, Insects & Spiders, Natural History
Published
The Experiment, March 29, 2022

Who it’s for

  • For readers curious about ant societies and colony behavior
  • For readers interested in ants’ lives in the field and lab

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For younger readers: Ants (national Geographic Kids Readers, Level 1), Unstoppable US, Volume 1: How Humans Took Over the World, The Book of Brilliant Bugs

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About this book

This sweeping portrait of the world’s uncontested six-legged conquerors will open your eyes to the secret societies thriving right beneath your feet—and shift your perspective on humanity. The closer you get to ants, the more human they look. Ants build megacities, tend gardens, wage wars, and farm livestock. Ants have flourished since the age of the dinosaurs. There are one million ants for every one of us.

Continue reading

Engineered by nature to fulfill their particular roles, ants flawlessly perform a complex symphony of tasks to sustain their colony—seemingly without a conductor—from fearsome army ants, who stage twelve-hour hunting raids where they devour thousands, to gentle leafcutters cooperatively gardening in their peaceful underground kingdoms. Acclaimed biologist Susanne Foitzik has traveled the globe to study these master architects of Earth. Joined by journalist Olaf Fritsche, Foitzik invites readers deep into her world in both the field and the lab. Exploring these insects’ tiny yet incredible lives will inspire new respect for ants as a global superpower. Publisher’s note: Planet of the Ants was previously published in hardcover as Empire of Ants.

Where it sits

Insect Biology74%
Insects & Spiders69%
Natural History38%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Insects & Spiders
  • Biology
  • Insect Biology
Authors
Susanne Foitzik, Olaf Fritsche
Publisher
The Experiment
Published
March 29, 2022
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Ant colony life · Ant behavior and ecology · Ants and human societies
Reading lane
Insects & Spiders