{"title":"Bert Hölldobler","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBert Hölldobler\u003c\/strong\u003e offers a fascinating exploration into the intricate world of ants, blending meticulous research with engaging narrative. His books delve into the social structures, behaviour, and ecology of these remarkable insects, appealing to readers interested in natural science and biology.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith titles like \u003cem\u003eJourney to the Ants\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Ants\u003c\/em\u003e, Hölldobler presents complex scientific ideas in an accessible way, making the natural world come alive for both casual readers and dedicated enthusiasts of science and nature.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-guests-of-ants-by-bert-holldobler-9780674265516","title":"The Guests of Ants","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA fascinating examination of socially parasitic invaders, from butterflies to bacteria, that survive and thrive by exploiting the communication systems of ant colonies.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDown below, on sidewalks, in fallen leaves, and across the forest floor, a covert invasion is taking place. Ant colonies, revered and studied for their complex collective behaviours, are being infiltrated by tiny organisms called myrmecophiles. Using incredibly sophisticated tactics, various species of butterflies, beetles, crickets, spiders, fungi, and bacteria insert themselves into ant colonies and decode the colonies' communication system. Once able to \"speak the language,\" these outsiders can masquerade as ants. Suddenly colony members can no longer distinguish friend from foe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePulitzer Prize–winning author and biologist Bert Hölldobler and behavioural ecologist Christina L. Kwapich explore this remarkable phenomenon, showing how myrmecophiles manage their feat of code-breaking and go on to exploit colony resources. Some myrmecophiles slip themselves into a colony's food, stealing liquid nutrition normally shared between ant nestmates. Other intruders use specialised organs and glandular secretions to entice ants or calm their aggression. Guiding readers through key experiments and observations, Hölldobler and Kwapich reveal a universe of behavioural mechanisms by which myrmecophiles turn ants into unwilling servants.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs \u003ci\u003eThe Guests of Ants\u003c\/i\u003e makes clear, parasitism is both an essential evolutionary strategy and a highly complex one. Like other unwelcome guests, myrmecophiles both disrupt and depend on their host, making for an uneasy coexistence that nonetheless plays an important role in the balance of nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855002947820,"sku":"9780674265516","price":145.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/bdeda8a66b4511a6c569af621cf36e1c.jpg?v=1759262734"},{"product_id":"journey-to-the-ants-by-edward-o-wilson-9780674485266","title":"Journey to the Ants","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRichly illustrated and delightfully written, \u003cem\u003eJourney to the Ants\u003c\/em\u003e combines autobiography and scientific lore to convey the excitement and pleasure the study of ants can offer. Bert Hölldobler and E. O. Wilson interweave their personal adventures with the social lives of ants, building, from the first minute observations of childhood, a remarkable account of these abundant insects' evolutionary achievement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47932296397036,"sku":"9780674485266","price":90.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780674485266-journey-to-the-ants.jpg?v=1783858403"},{"product_id":"the-ants-by-edward-o-wilson-9780674040755","title":"The Ants","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis landmark work, the distillation of a lifetime of research by the world's leading myrmecologists, is a thoroughgoing survey of one of the largest and most diverse groups of animals on the planet. Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson review in exhaustive detail virtually all topics in the anatomy, physiology, social organisation, ecology, and natural history of the ants.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn large format, with almost a thousand line drawings, photographs, and paintings, it is one of the most visually rich and all-encompassing views of any group of organisms on earth. \u003cem\u003eThe Ants\u003c\/em\u003e will be welcomed both as an introduction to the subject and as an encyclopaedia reference for researchers in entomology, ecology, and sociobiology.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48147882311916,"sku":"9780674040755","price":381.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780674040755-the-ants.jpg?v=1786452293"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/bert-holldobler.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}