The life of an ant colony, with a touch of poetic license

January 27, 2010 9:34 PM

Trailhead, the life of an ant colony, as dramatized by E.O. Wilson.
posted by shivohum (15 comments total)

Reminds me of Bernard Werber's Empire of the Ants, which tells a story from the perspective of an ant colony, and one drone in particular who is trying to discover what is killing his comrades. (Hint: They're very large and wear shoes.)
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 10:00 PM on January 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

I love eusocial insects and E. O. Wilson. I have his coffee-table book on ants not a yard away from me. I won't be able to read this for a little while, but I'm looking forward to it, so thanks for drawing my attention to it.
posted by painquale at 10:43 PM on January 27, 2010

It's Ant Fanfic!
posted by redbeard at 11:24 PM on January 27, 2010

This makes me want to play SimAnt...
posted by Spacelegoman at 12:13 AM on January 28, 2010

That was really, really good. Thanks.
posted by peppito at 3:52 AM on January 28, 2010

Thants.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:15 AM on January 28, 2010 [2 favorites]

What a compelling read. So tragic. Thanks for this.
posted by RussHy at 6:22 AM on January 28, 2010

_antastic read. Thanks!
posted by jonesor at 8:25 AM on January 28, 2010

E. O. Wilson adds a sweet little ant - or 2 or 3 -scurrying away at the end of his signature (if you get him to sign one of his wonderful books).
It is all most adorable.
posted by Jody Tresidder at 8:25 AM on January 28, 2010 [1 favorite]

That was a fascinating read. Thants!
posted by The Lurkers Support Me in Email at 9:34 AM on January 28, 2010

Before I moused over, I thought this would be a post about SimAnt. :(
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:15 AM on January 28, 2010

But, on reading, this is lovely. I adore ants.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:24 AM on January 28, 2010

Superb.
posted by Senator at 11:36 AM on January 28, 2010

YAYS. EO Wilson has long been my favourite (nonfictional, still-living) biologist. I also tend to wield his views on scientific humanism wildly about like a club in the hands of a drunken and overenthusiastic viking.
posted by elizardbits at 4:11 PM on January 28, 2010

Great article. It reminds me of a pop sci ant book of his I read ten or more years ago, but cannot find on Amazon. I thought it was called The Ants, but that's clearly not the right book. Maybe it was *about* E.O. Wilson. I lent it to a buddy and never got it back. Anyhow, it was very similar to this article.
posted by popechunk at 8:27 PM on January 28, 2010