Tales from the Ant World

By: Edward O. Wilson

Narrated by: Jonathan Hogan

Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Edward O. Wilson recalls his lifetime with ants - from his first boyhood encounters in the woods of Alabama to perilous journeys into the Brazilian rainforest.

"Ants are the most warlike of all animals, with colony pitted against colony.... Their clashes dwarf Waterloo and Gettysburg", writes Edward O. Wilson in his most finely observed work in decades. In a myrmecological tour to such far-flung destinations as Mozambique and New Guinea, the Gulf of Mexico's Dauphin Island and even his parents' overgrown yard back in Alabama, Wilson thrillingly evokes his nine-decade-long scientific obsession with more than 15,000 ant species. Wryly observing that "males are little more than flying sperm missiles" or that ants send their "little old ladies into battle", Wilson eloquently relays his brushes with fire, army, and leafcutter ants, as well as more exotic species: the Matabele, Africa's fiercest warrior ants; Costa Rica's Basiceros, the slowest ants in the world; and New Caledonia's Myrmecia apicalis, the most endangered of them all.

A personal account by one of our greatest scientists, Tales from the Ant World is an indispensable volume for any lover of the natural world.

©2020 Edward O. WIlson (P)2020 Recorded Books

Great book

Fascinating! Makes me want to become a naturalist at 80! Will read this author again.

Pretty decent

Despite what many reviewers have said I dont think the narrator is that bad, though his pronunciation of niche as nitch drives me crazy!!
The book itself is decent, though as information goes I would recommend people a different book by Olaf Fritsche and Susanne Foitzik, that I think went into much stronger detail. But definitely this is a pretty decent book

Great content, but I wasn't crazy about the reader

Wilson is more knowledgeable about ants than maybe any person in the world and he tells his story well. Many fascinating facts. But I would have chosen a different reader and had to speed it up 10%

Worth it & fun

I listen to this before I sleep. but this doesn’t make me fall asleep, it relaxes and educates me. Fun to learn about nature & take my mine off current events. I now look at ants in a different way- especially the ones in my kitchen

fANTastic 🐜

this was a short, quick, accessible entrance into any biology. Part coming-of-age naturalist mentor, part science storytelling, this book was fascinating and delightful. I have Wilson's coffee table book "Super organism" about social insects but it's been hard to make sense of. I feel much better prepared after listening to this short primer. Highly recommend.

Love me some ants only more so.

My friends, I don't always think about Ants; but, when I do, Mr. Wilson is an excellent guide.

poor narration, good book

EO Wilspnis a great writer and naturalist and this is worth a read. Unfortunately, the narrator sounds like he has cotton balls in his mouth and might fall asleep any second

Great story of ants and life as well

Great story of ants and life as well. Spanning over one human life and myriads of the ants ones multiplied the millions of years of evolution from wasp like ancestors.

Ants in vivo

What a fascinating tale ants have to tell. I learned so much while being entertained.

Poor narrator

I enjoyed the story. I love nature stories and have no expertise, so it was cool to learn about ants and EO Olson.

The narrator does sound drunk. If I did not like the story so much, or if it wet a longer book—I’d have to turn it off