Army Ants: The Biology of Social Predation (Cornell Series in Arthropod Biology)

Rating:
Summary: Lots of information, but a tough, fragmented, read
Review: Some scientists can write for other scientists and still produce a book laymen will enjoy. E.O. Wilson is a shining example. Unfortunately, Dr. Gotwald doesn't live up to Wilson's standard.

This book is written for other scientists. It never gives a clear view of the big picture for any of the numerous species of Army Ants discussed. Instead, it covers topics like "behavior" or "parasites" for all the numerous species of ants discussed. Ants are always referred to by their scientific names, and I found myself befuddled trying to keep track of which genus of ants was which, or even which genus lived where. Nowhere in the book is there a clear picture of "Species A behaves like this, it lives here, it makes a living by doing X, it's most common food items are Z, it is most commonly predated or parasitized by "B, D, and D, and the routine cycle of their existence is ______".

As an example, early on in the book, I learned that a great many army ants make their living by traveling and living underground, and preying primarily on other ant species' larva. This was mentioned very early in the book, yet after completing the book, I'm not sure which ants these are, where they live, or (most importantly) how do they find and attack other ant nests. The closest thing to a description of this activity described another ant species attacking a termite nest.

I'd rate it a "2", except that there just isn't any competition for a modern adult book on these ants. You will learn a lot from the book, you'll just have (if your experience is like mine) a tough time putting the pieces together.