Secret Lives of Ants

183 Pages·2012·5.39 MB·English

by  Jae Choe

Secret Lives of Ants
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Secret Lives of Ants
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Jae Choe
foreword by JANE GOODALL
photographs by DAN PERLMAN
translated by DAN LEONARD
the johns hopkins university press
baltimore
This book has been brought to publication with the generous
support of Korea Literature Translation Institute (KLTI) for
the project “Books from Korea,” 2005.
Copyright © 1999 by Jae Chun Choe. All rights reserved.
English Translation Copyright © 2010 by ScienceBooks
Co., Ltd. English translation edition is published by agreement
with SCIENCEBOOKS CO., LTD., SEOUL.
© 2012 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2012
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Choe, Jae C.
Secret lives of ants / Jae Choe ; foreword by Jane Goodall ;
photographs by Dan Perlman ; translated by Dan Leonard.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4214-0428-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-4214-0428-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Ants—Behavior. 2. Social behavior in animals. I. Title.
QL568.F7C55 2012
595.79'6—dc23 2011021207
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Title page illustration: After her nuptial flight, the queen ant uses her
middle and hind legs to break off her wings, as she prepares to start
her new home.
Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more
information, please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or specialsales
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The Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly
book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at
least 30 percent post-consumer waste, whenever possible.
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To my mother, a queen who gave birth to four males
who never held a broom, who spent her whole life
working like a worker ant
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C O N T E N T S
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Foreword, by Jane Goodall ix
Preface xv
Introduction . My First Journey to the Ants xix
PART I THE ECONOMICS OF ANT SOCIETY
1. Ants Mean Business
How the Futuristic Economics of Ants Maximizes
Their Returns 3
2. Economies of Scale and Rational Business
Management
From Joint Ventures to Multinational Enterprises 10
3. A 50-Million-Year Tradition of Farming
The Massive Underground Mushroom Farms of the
Leaf-cutter Ants 17
4. Ant Ranchers
Masters of Dairy Farming Second Only to Mankind 28
5. The World’s First Bodyguards
Standing Watch for Room and Board 37
6. The Charge of the Ant Brigade
The Terrifying March of the Army Ants 47
PART II THE CULTURE OF ANT SOCIETY
7. Talking with the Ants
The Clever Designs of Ant Communication 57
8. The Ants Come Home
Sense of Direction and Biological Clocks 65
9. Ants at Work
Maids, Nannies, Laborers, Soldiers 72
10. Con Artists of the Ant World
Parasites That Have Cracked the Ants’ Secret Code 82
11. Villains and Monsters of the Ant World
Predators and Parasites 89
PART III THE POLITICS OF ANT SOCIETY
12. No Children of Their Own
Females in the Service of an Amazon Queen 101
13. Conflict in the Queendom
Divine Right of the Queen? Or the Will of the Masses? 110
14. Political Conflict and International Alliances
Yesterday’s Comrade, Today’s Enemy 119
15. The Foundation Myth of the Aztec Ant Queendom
The Queens’ Battle for the Throne 128
16. War and Slavery
From Full-Scale Slaughter to Bloodless Warfare 139
Epilogue . To Know Them Is to Love Them 149
FOREWORD
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I first met Jae Choe in 1996 when he interviewed me for
a science magazine during my first visit to South Korea. I
was immediately impressed by his warmth, his passion for
the natural world, and his conviction that it is important to
share scientific findings with the general public—a convic-
tion that I share. When the interview was over he showed
me an issue of National Geographic that, coincidentally, fea-
tured articles by each of us. We had a wonderful discussion
about our work and our shared love for the natural world.
Each time I’ve returned to Korea to lecture and speak with
young people, Jae has acted as my liaison and interpreter.
Of course, I cannot understand what he is saying when he
translates, yet the reactions of people listening prove that he
is able to convey not just my words but also—almost more
importantly—the spirit of my message to audiences all over
the country.
My own experience with ants is limited and very unsci-
entific. There were wood ants that piled up small twigs and
pine needles to form big, mound-shaped nests in the woods
where I and my friends played when we were children. Their
bite was painful and we used to avoid them. Then I decided
that a friendly approach was necessary and trustingly held
my finger toward one of them—whereupon she promptly
clamped her jaws into my flesh!
In Gombe National Park, the site of my ongoing research,
army, or driver, ants are commonly preyed upon by chim-
panzees. The chimpanzees choose long, straight sticks and,
by carefully peeling the bark and any projecting twigs, fash-
ion smooth tools. These are pushed into an underground
nest and withdrawn along with a mass of insects that have
bitten on in defense of their nest. The chimpanzee pulls the
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