Ant Architecture : : The Wonder, Beauty, and Science of Underground Nests / / Walter R. Tschinkel.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2021 English
• VerfasserIn: Tschinkel, Walter R.,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (248 p.) :; 105 color illus.
• Other title: Frontmatter --; CONTENTS --; PREFACE --; CHAPTER 1 Soil, Ants, and Life Underground --; CHAPTER 2 Revealing the Shape of Empty Spaces --; CHAPTER 3 Meet the Architects --; CHAPTER 4 An Inventory of Ant Nests --; CHAPTER 5 Moving House --; CHAPTER 6 A Diversity of Architectural Plans --; CHAPTER 7 Ants and Soils --; CHAPTER 8 Division of Labor and the Superorganism --; CHAPTER 9 The Evolution of Nest Building by Ants --; CHAPTER 10 Afterword: The Future --; SELECTED REFERENCES --; INDEX
• Format: Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
• ISBN: 9780691218496; 9783110754001; 9783110753776; 9783110754148; 9783110753912; 9783110739121
• DOI: 10.1515/9780691218496?locatt=mode:legacy
• Access: restricted access
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Walter R. Tschinkel.

An unprecedented look at the complex and beautiful world of underground ant architectureWalter Tschinkel has spent much of his career investigating the hidden subterranean realm of ant nests. This wonderfully illustrated book takes you inside an unseen world where thousands of ants build intricate homes in the soil beneath our feet.Tschinkel describes the ingenious methods he has devised to study ant nests, showing how he fills a nest with plaster, molten metal, or wax and painstakingly excavates the cast. He guides you through living ant nests chamber by chamber, revealing how nests are created and how colonies function. How does nest architecture vary across species? Do ants have "architectural plans"? How do nests affect our environment? As he delves into these and other questions, Tschinkel provides a one-of-a-kind natural history of the planet's most successful creatures and a compelling firsthand account of a life of scientific discovery.Offering a unique look at how simple methods can lead to pioneering science, Ant Architecture addresses the unsolved mysteries of underground ant nests while charting new directions for tomorrow’s research, and reflects on the role of beauty in nature and the joys of shoestring science.