"Since Wilson's and Holldobler's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1990 volume, The Ants, much has been learned about the complexities of colony structure and evolutionary relationships within and among ant groups. In this new title, the authors have outdone themselves in synthesizing that disparate information, explaining how a complex colony self-organizes, self-regulates, and is able to function as smoothly as if it were a single, superorganism. In ten chapters, written in a style both accurate and accessible to lay readers, the authors cover 97 topics, including the origin and early radiation of ants, chemical and visual communication, superorganism structure, and how nest architecture is achieved. While the superorganism concept is not new, it has never been stated explicitly or explored on such a grand scale." —Library Journal
