Caterina’s review of The Hidden Nations of Animals: A Grand Tour of Earth's Wild Civilizations > Likes and Comments
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This sounds brilliant. Thanks for writing such an in depth review, though you had me at watercolour illustrations and maps.
Cool book Caterina! I was leaning about the Argentine ants as well because I had some in our house. Something like this was probably in the book: they think all the Argentine ant colonies in NZ are related as they probably came from the same source and spread, and so they cooperate and treat each other as family, forming this massive super colony stretching across the whole of NZ! Real hazard for other native ants and insects and hard to eradicate.
Ashley wrote: "This sounds brilliant. Thanks for writing such an in depth review, though you had me at watercolour illustrations and maps."
Thank you for reading it! I hope you enjoy the book if you get your hands on it. I found it in the "new nonfiction" section at my library.
Clinton wrote: "Cool book Caterina! I was leaning about the Argentine ants as well because I had some in our house. Something like this was probably in the book: they think all the Argentine ant colonies in NZ are..."
Thanks, Clinton! Yes, I think they did mention the NZ Argentine ants supercolony as well as the ones in the Mediterranean, where the ants in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, various islands, and northern Africa *almost* all treated each other as one big family, except (IIRC) one group on one island (maybe Corsica?) that didn't -- no one knew why. They said the people of that island were very independent, and so, it turned out, were the ants ... (I assumed that was a joke) ...
I thought the fire ants also wreaking environmental havoc on native ants and other animals like ground-nesting birds in the U.S. would have been a great topic too (also originating off a ship from South America) -- but then he wouldn't have gotten to travel to the Mediterranean... the other chapters also made a person feel warm and fuzzy and supportive toward the animals, but for invasive ants -- not so much.
I like the way you describe this book, Caterina, for exactly what it is and what it is not. I'm also quite drawn to the idea behind it, as I'm currently reading Ray Macfarlane's Underland, which similarly blends poetic language with history, geology, and a wide range of concepts without approaching them in a strictly scientific way. Instead, it explores them through a more philosophical and existential lens. Thanks for the wonderful review!
Dolors wrote: "I like the way you describe this book, Caterina, for exactly what it is and what it is not. I'm also quite drawn to the idea behind it, as I'm currently reading Ray Macfarlane's Underland, which si..."
Thank you so much, Dolors, for the kind comment and the recommendation. Ray Mcfarlane's name has been popping up lately for me, and your description is very enticing!
Many thanks for taking the time to read and review my book, Caterina! I love your metaphor of a progressive dinner of unrepeatable meals. This journey was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. <3
Ryan, I thank YOU for the enormous amount of time and effort, not to mention logistics and near-misses in even getting to the places you visited, plus all the research and interviews. What an impressive undertaking! Congratulations on this fantastic accomplishment! It was a great pleasure to read it and even just to hold it and look at it.
I just added a word: "delectable" to the first sentence -- and I think I'll add a bit more about the travel adventures.
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Ashley
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Sep 16, 2026 02:03PM
This sounds brilliant. Thanks for writing such an in depth review, though you had me at watercolour illustrations and maps.
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Cool book Caterina! I was leaning about the Argentine ants as well because I had some in our house. Something like this was probably in the book: they think all the Argentine ant colonies in NZ are related as they probably came from the same source and spread, and so they cooperate and treat each other as family, forming this massive super colony stretching across the whole of NZ! Real hazard for other native ants and insects and hard to eradicate.
Ashley wrote: "This sounds brilliant. Thanks for writing such an in depth review, though you had me at watercolour illustrations and maps."Thank you for reading it! I hope you enjoy the book if you get your hands on it. I found it in the "new nonfiction" section at my library.
Clinton wrote: "Cool book Caterina! I was leaning about the Argentine ants as well because I had some in our house. Something like this was probably in the book: they think all the Argentine ant colonies in NZ are..."Thanks, Clinton! Yes, I think they did mention the NZ Argentine ants supercolony as well as the ones in the Mediterranean, where the ants in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, various islands, and northern Africa *almost* all treated each other as one big family, except (IIRC) one group on one island (maybe Corsica?) that didn't -- no one knew why. They said the people of that island were very independent, and so, it turned out, were the ants ... (I assumed that was a joke) ...
I thought the fire ants also wreaking environmental havoc on native ants and other animals like ground-nesting birds in the U.S. would have been a great topic too (also originating off a ship from South America) -- but then he wouldn't have gotten to travel to the Mediterranean... the other chapters also made a person feel warm and fuzzy and supportive toward the animals, but for invasive ants -- not so much.
I like the way you describe this book, Caterina, for exactly what it is and what it is not. I'm also quite drawn to the idea behind it, as I'm currently reading Ray Macfarlane's Underland, which similarly blends poetic language with history, geology, and a wide range of concepts without approaching them in a strictly scientific way. Instead, it explores them through a more philosophical and existential lens. Thanks for the wonderful review!
Dolors wrote: "I like the way you describe this book, Caterina, for exactly what it is and what it is not. I'm also quite drawn to the idea behind it, as I'm currently reading Ray Macfarlane's Underland, which si..."Thank you so much, Dolors, for the kind comment and the recommendation. Ray Mcfarlane's name has been popping up lately for me, and your description is very enticing!
Many thanks for taking the time to read and review my book, Caterina! I love your metaphor of a progressive dinner of unrepeatable meals. This journey was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. <3
Ryan, I thank YOU for the enormous amount of time and effort, not to mention logistics and near-misses in even getting to the places you visited, plus all the research and interviews. What an impressive undertaking! Congratulations on this fantastic accomplishment! It was a great pleasure to read it and even just to hold it and look at it. I just added a word: "delectable" to the first sentence -- and I think I'll add a bit more about the travel adventures.