The Insect Societies

by Edward O. Wilson

This first comprehensive study of social insects since the 1930s includes more than 250 illustrations and covers all aspects of classification, evolution, anatomy, physiology, and behavior of the social insects―social wasps and bees, ants, termites. Since the publication of W. M. Wheeler’s The Social Insects in 1928 and Franz Maidl’s Die Lebensgewohnheiten und Instinkte der staatenbikdenden Insekten in 1934, the literature on social insects has increased enormously, and new ways of studying insect societies have developed. Edward O. Wilson reinterprets the knowledge of the subject through the concepts of modern biology―from IOC chemistry to evolutionary theory and population ecology. He reviews the evolution of parental care and other primitive forms of social behavior throughout the arthropods and includes full coverage of various forms of symbiosis between the social insects and other anthropods. He also compares insect and vertebrate societies in basic theoretical terms, showing how a unified sociobiology is possible if developed as a branch of population biology.

Genres: Science, Biology, Nonfiction, Evolution, Nature, Reference, Stem

562 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Edward Osborne Wilson, sometimes credited as E.O. Wilson, was an American biologist, researcher, theorist, and author. His biological specialty is myrmecology, a branch of entomology. A two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, Wilson is known for his career as a scientist, his advocacy for environmentalism, and his secular-humanist ideas pertaining to religious and ethical matters. He was the Pellegrino University Research Professor in Entomology for the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is a Humanist Laureate of the International Academy of Humanism.

Reviews

[Darin Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a studenf of Wilson and Hölldobler for many years. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in social insects. The intrepid reader who knows more insect than science, if you get my drift, will be amused and deeply edified by this volume, which can radically extend any feral understandings and relationships you may or should have already developed. Excellent. A treasure.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic of entomology, and for good reason. The writing is clear and full of interesting detail about the eusocial insects. Even though it was published in 1971, it is still an excellent resource for ants, bees, wasps, and termites. The fascinating formation of insect societies is presented in a well-written, concise, informative way. An enjoyable read if you love learning about ants, bees, wasps or termites.

[Haengbok92 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This text is clearly written and chock-full of useful information about social insects, with a focus on termites, ants and bees. Also discusses other insects in relationship to their social structures. It's a big, heavy book, but very good so far (I'm currently on chapter 3, but have skipped around a bit too). Really gives you a good feel for how insect societies function, at least for me as a pure layman.

[Paul Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Science writing doesn't get any better than this.

[Josef Schnider · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books ever published on science.

[Grazyna Nawrocka · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book had some equasions, which were of no interest to me, so I skipped them. There was a lot of fascinating facts, I still can't get over.

Eggs which haven't been fertilized result in life of male bees (I always thought there was necessity of sperm entering the egg for life to begin). The ant workers change their duties during span of their life. They start in nursing, but then can move to foraging or fixing nest, or defense. Social insects do not play.

Science that deals with animal communication is called zoosemiotics. The lack of personal recognition, or rich emotional potential in ants is supported by an anecdotal experiment. Scientists covered an ant with pheromone of death. The other ant picked it up and carried it to disposal grounds three times, before the first one was able to clean the scent from its body (no hard feelings).

Insects communicate by stroking, grasping, tasting, attenations, etc. Bee can learn as many as five turns in a maze, remembering distance, color of a marker and angle of a turn. Social insects are able to master associative and latent learning, but not insight or transfer learning.

There are many differences even inside one species. The book is very interesting, technical in some places.

[Charlotte]

definitaly not for everyone, but if entomolgy is your thing this is a GREAT book!!!

[Dave Peticolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A textbook on the social insects.