The complex social world of ants has fascinated people since prehistoric times. Though comparisons are often drawn between the world of ants and humans, nothing could be further from the truth: defined by a rigid caste system, ants are anonymous, and like pre-programmed creatures they trawl preordained path till the end of their days. Misunderstanding their motivations is what makes ant society so difficult to fathom. Investigating ants on any individual level is irrelevant when it is the colony itself that acts as an intelligent, living, growing, thinking and decision-making superorganism.
This superorganism had conquered Earth’s land-based ecosystem tens of millions of years ago, and though this might be news to the planet’s upstart lords, the humans, ants still hold sway over the microcosm. Studying the world of ants uncovers the next step in evolution, that of the superorganism, where individuals are an integral part of the community and unable to survive separately.
Aliens of Earth offers us a view of colony life, the basics of ant language, and the secret way virgin queens recognize their time for the nuptial flight; as well as a cast of slave-keeping, thieving and drug-dealing ants.
Sándor Csősz offers an informative read to the general public. His book presents the latest in research and theory, tempered to be palatable to anyone without a background in biology.
Synopsis available
A fascinating book on ants, the lords of the microcosm
Product details
Publisher: Athenaeum
ISBN 978 963 29 3923 0
2019, hardback
208 pages, 4999 HUF
Magvető Rights 
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