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{{Short description|1990 book by Bert Hölldobler and E. O. Wilson}}
{{about|the E. O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler book|the Bernard Werber novel|Empire of the Ants (1991 novel)|26th sura of the Qurʾan|An-Naml}}
{{Infobox book| 
| name          = The Ants
| image         = The Ants (Wilson Hölldobler book).jpg
| authors       = [[Bert Hölldobler]]<br>[[E.O. Wilson]]
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| subject       = [[Zoology]]
| published     = March 28, 1990 ([[Belknap Press]])
| media_type    = Print ([[Hardcover]])
| pages         = 746 
| isbn          = 0-674-04075-9
| dewey         = 595.79/6 19
| congress      = QL568.F7 H57 1990
| oclc          = 19325464
| preceded_by   =
| followed_by   = [[Journey to the Ants]]
}}
'''''The Ants''''' is a zoology textbook by the German entomologist [[Bert Hölldobler]] and the American entomologist [[E. O. Wilson]], first published in 1990. It won the [[Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction]] in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674040755|title=The Ants — Bert Hölldobler, Edward O. Wilson {{!}} Harvard University Press|website=www.hup.harvard.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-02-11}}</ref>

==Contents==
This book is primarily aimed at academics as a reference work, detailing the [[ant]]s' [[anatomy]], [[physiology]], social organization including their [[caste (biology)|caste system]],  [[altruism (biology)|altruistic behaviour]], and chemical communication with [[pheromone]]s, their [[ecology]] (vital for turning the [[soil]] and controlling [[insect pest]]s), and [[natural history]].<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/DkqNqBZmnVk Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140121141313/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkqNqBZmnVk Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|last=The Drexel InterView - Archives|title=episode 75 - E. O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler - part 01|date=2011-06-15|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkqNqBZmnVk|access-date=2017-02-11}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/x1yzqWa6ZWY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160702213625/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1yzqWa6ZWY Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|last=The Drexel InterView - Archives|title=episode 75 - E. O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler - part 02|date=2011-06-15|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1yzqWa6ZWY|access-date=2017-02-11}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/o49-1i4Er14 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160702213626/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o49-1i4Er14 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|last=The Drexel InterView - Archives|title=episode 75 - E. O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler - part 03|date=2011-06-15|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o49-1i4Er14|access-date=2017-02-11}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ZnyD-xvoui0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160416154419/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnyD-xvoui0 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|last=The Drexel InterView - Archives|title=episode 75 - E. O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler - part 04|date=2011-06-15|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnyD-xvoui0|access-date=2017-02-11}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

An account of some of Hölldobler and Wilson's most interesting findings, popularized for the layman, can be found in their 1994 book ''[[Journey to the Ants]]''.

==Reception==

The ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' magazine reviewer described the book as a "mighty tome" and commented that it would "surely take its place among the greatest of all [[entomology]] books", as it was "a wonderful exploration of almost every ramification of [[evolutionary biology]], from developmental biology to the structure of ecological communities". The illustrations are praised as lavish and extremely detailed, with monochrome drawings and 24 colour plates. All the 297 extant genera are illustrated and identifiable with the supplied keys. But "''The Ants'', like every great book and every ant colony, is much more than the sum of its parts."<ref>{{cite journal|title=Book Reviews The Ants. Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson.|journal=Science|date=18 May 1990|volume=248|issue=4957|pages=897–898|doi=10.1126/science.248.4957.897|last1=Franks|first1=N. R.}}</ref>

Diana Wheeler, reviewing the book in ''[[The Quarterly Review of Biology]]'', comments that [[William Morton Wheeler]] thought his book not practical to revise as it would require too much work and would make the book too expensive, and that it was fortunate that the authors "did not flinch" at the challenge. They had produced a massive but affordable volume, and it was accessible to the public as well as to entomologists.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wheeler|first1=Diana|date=1991|title=The Ants. Bert Holldobler, Edward O. Wilson|journal=The Quarterly Review of Biology|volume=66|issue=2|pages=215–216|doi=10.1086/417191}}</ref>

==See also==
*''[[William Morton Wheeler#Bibliography|Ants: Their Structure, Development and Behavior]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{OL work}}
*[http://dannyreviews.com/h/Ants.html/ Review: "The only professional science work to have won a Pulitzer Prize -- for general nonfiction in 1991 – The Ants"]

{{Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction}}
{{Eusociality}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ants, The}}
[[Category:1990 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Encyclopedias of science]]
[[Category:English-language non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Zoology books]]
[[Category:Entomological literature]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction–winning works]]
[[Category:Myrmecology]]
[[Category:Works by Bert Hölldobler]]
[[Category:Works by E. O. Wilson]]
[[Category:Ants]]