Ants in my pants: tre aktuella böcker om småkryp

What to make of Anthill ? Part epic-inspired adventure story, part philosophy-of-life, part many-layered mid-century Alabama viewed in finely observed detail, part ant life up close, part lyrical hymn to the wonders of earth, part contribution to the growing genre of eco-lit: yes, all these. But hidden within Anthill is also a sort of instruction manual. Here's an effective way of saving the planet, one anthill at a time, as it were--preserving this metaphorical Ithaca as an \"island in a meaningless sea,\" a place of \"infinite knowledge and mystery.\"

Moffett's spectacular close-up photographs shrink us down to size, so\nthat we can observe ants in familiar roles; warriors, builders,\nbig-game hunters, and slave owners. We find them creating marketplaces\nand assembly lines and dealing with issues we think of as uniquely\nhuman--including hygiene, recycling, and warfare.

In 1926, P. A. Glick, a scientist from the federal Division of Cotton Insect Investigations, and colleagues from the Department of Agriculture, among others, counted about 25 million to 36 million insects, including a ballooning spider they found flying at 15,000 feet, \"probably the highest elevation at which any specimen has ever been taken.\" (A Boeing transatlantic passenger jet flies at an average of 35,000 to 40,000 feet.) We know how the Boeing gets up there, but the spider's launch is an aeronautical feat unequaled by aerospace engineers.