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The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies
The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of The Ants render the extraordinary lives of the social insects in this visually spectacular volume. The Superorganism promises to be one of the most important scientific works published in this decade. Coming eighteen years after the publication of The Ants , this new volume expands our knowledge of the social insects (among them, ants, bees, wasps, and termites) and is based on remarkable research conducted mostly within the last two decades. These superorganisms―a tightly knit colony of individuals, formed by altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and division of labor―represent one of the basic stages of biological organization, midway between the organism and the entire species. The study of the superorganism, as the authors demonstrate, has led to important advances in our understanding of how the transitions between such levels have occurred in evolution and how life as a whole has progressed from simple to complex forms. Ultimately, this book provides a deep look into a part of the living world hitherto glimpsed by only a very few.110 color, 100 black-and-white
544 pages, Hardcover
First published November 10, 2008
About the author
Bert Hölldobler
18 books74 followersBert Hölldobler is Foundation Professor at Arizona State University and the recipient of numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize. He lives in Arizona and Germany.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
April 19, 2020
It´s not only the biological aspect of this still not fully understood megahives with perfect optimization and adaptability, but the social aspects like sociogenesis, eusociality, social algorithms, complex caste systems, labor division, etc. too that make state-building insects unique.
Evolution brought the functioning of those entities to a high level and something like mixing it with the feelings of a social animal like the human will be a large topic for the future. We already build superstructures, megacolonies, etc. ourselves, but they are dysfunctional, not in balance with the surrounding ecosystem and the residents are not so competent and much lazier. Both the organization and the individuals suck in comparison to insect societies.
At the momentary level of evolution, insects are just communicating using relatively primitive chemical ways, some kind of probability calculation via analyzing big data (bees searching the best places and communicating it) and primitive sign language, but with time or a little help from the friend biotechnology, the abilities may rise exponentially.
The only problem of superorganisms may be the unimportance of the single individual, the gruesomeness against anything that is not optimized and in the best interest of the whole colony. That limitates creativity and has been seen in human societies too.
Similar to human production circles and value chains everything is automated using the shortest way possible, the best growing conditions and most exploitation of labor. Combining the technical automatization and the biological machinery may be, like bionic and similar interdisciplinary fields that fuse biological and technical adaptations, be a key industry in the future. Symbiotic, bio-engineered ants, bees, wasps, termites, etc. that are integrated into a fully automated farming and factory complex, beginning with biological pest protection on the fields, building infrastructure to the factories, etc. that go hand in hand with renaturation, terraforming, building megastructures and space colonialization.
As I like to imagine and mention, we would be doomed if we were confronted with a supercolony building superorganism alien species. Just one single queen, able do clone, duplicate, modify, adapt, reproduce, hide, evolve, infiltrate, etc. could act as a kind of biological grey goo. The key element would be the ability to eat and transform each kind of element, mineral, biomass, matter, stone, etc. to reproduce and build own infrastructure. All of our fancy tech wouldn´t help and especially our ridiculously slow replication rate shows how chanceless the battle would be. They can lose many times our whole population without ever wasting thoughts or grieving about it and continue endlessly and undeterred for the hail of the queen and the honor of the swarm. So please be friendly to eusocial insects.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_H%...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusocia...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superor...
Evolution brought the functioning of those entities to a high level and something like mixing it with the feelings of a social animal like the human will be a large topic for the future. We already build superstructures, megacolonies, etc. ourselves, but they are dysfunctional, not in balance with the surrounding ecosystem and the residents are not so competent and much lazier. Both the organization and the individuals suck in comparison to insect societies.
At the momentary level of evolution, insects are just communicating using relatively primitive chemical ways, some kind of probability calculation via analyzing big data (bees searching the best places and communicating it) and primitive sign language, but with time or a little help from the friend biotechnology, the abilities may rise exponentially.
The only problem of superorganisms may be the unimportance of the single individual, the gruesomeness against anything that is not optimized and in the best interest of the whole colony. That limitates creativity and has been seen in human societies too.
Similar to human production circles and value chains everything is automated using the shortest way possible, the best growing conditions and most exploitation of labor. Combining the technical automatization and the biological machinery may be, like bionic and similar interdisciplinary fields that fuse biological and technical adaptations, be a key industry in the future. Symbiotic, bio-engineered ants, bees, wasps, termites, etc. that are integrated into a fully automated farming and factory complex, beginning with biological pest protection on the fields, building infrastructure to the factories, etc. that go hand in hand with renaturation, terraforming, building megastructures and space colonialization.
As I like to imagine and mention, we would be doomed if we were confronted with a supercolony building superorganism alien species. Just one single queen, able do clone, duplicate, modify, adapt, reproduce, hide, evolve, infiltrate, etc. could act as a kind of biological grey goo. The key element would be the ability to eat and transform each kind of element, mineral, biomass, matter, stone, etc. to reproduce and build own infrastructure. All of our fancy tech wouldn´t help and especially our ridiculously slow replication rate shows how chanceless the battle would be. They can lose many times our whole population without ever wasting thoughts or grieving about it and continue endlessly and undeterred for the hail of the queen and the honor of the swarm. So please be friendly to eusocial insects.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_H%...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusocia...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superor...
Want to read
December 5, 2008Heard about this on Science Friday today. E. O. Wilson said "Socialism does work. Marx had it right...He just had the wrong species."
April 21, 2015
This was a pretty good book. Ants and other social insects display a huge array of fascinating behaviors, and this book notes many of them. However, that is not primarily the purpose of this book like it was in Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration by the same authors. This book is about the way that simple insect behaviors lead to complex colony behaviors. There is considerable emphasis on how the colony structure changes the "calculus" of gene propagation and selective pressures. It is very thoroughly illustrated with diagrams and pictures.
The downside of this book is that it is a bit dense at times. In particular, chapters on communication and various reproductive systems get a bit bogged down in a long list of specifics and variations. This is probably why many other reviewers have commented that the authors seemed unsure of exactly what audience they were aiming for. Although the entire book can be understood by anyone, certain parts are probably only of genuine interest to a more specialized audience. For me, there were enough interesting parts to make me glad I stuck with it through the slow ones.
The downside of this book is that it is a bit dense at times. In particular, chapters on communication and various reproductive systems get a bit bogged down in a long list of specifics and variations. This is probably why many other reviewers have commented that the authors seemed unsure of exactly what audience they were aiming for. Although the entire book can be understood by anyone, certain parts are probably only of genuine interest to a more specialized audience. For me, there were enough interesting parts to make me glad I stuck with it through the slow ones.
February 17, 2018
Se si escludono le prime 150 pagine (su 444 più le note) che sono adatte ad evoluzionisti e genetisti, il libro è una vera bomba! Certi comportamenti sociali di molte specie di formiche e non solo, fanno impallidire quelli umani, quando li considera inferiori spesso solo per una questione di dimensioni o di classe. Parafrasando Alberto Sordi in "Detenuto in attesa di giudizio" noi siamo gli esseri superiori, ma superiori a chi?
December 19, 2021
This book is one of my favorite gifts that I ever received.
Not just the covers the bare essentials on the topics of the insects societies, their evolution, mechanisms and ways - but also provides substance for everyone that would like to get a deep dive in the world of ethology and research the complex lives of the social insects.
Not just the covers the bare essentials on the topics of the insects societies, their evolution, mechanisms and ways - but also provides substance for everyone that would like to get a deep dive in the world of ethology and research the complex lives of the social insects.
October 2, 2017
Readers can climb on the giant, sturdy shoulders of Dr. Wilson and take a refreshing view of the fascinating world of ants and other social insects. The detailed description of these species and their communal behaviors written in lucid and engaging tone is one thing, but what really thrilled me was Dr. Wilson's insight and philosophy about our own kind in relation to our surroundings and fellow living beings.
June 23, 2010
This was certainly over my head, but readable none the less. I now know how bees communicate food location and distance, the waggle dance, how antz communicate trails. I never imagined so many seperate phermone glands, each with its own unique chemistry for just that oh so special meaning. And above all else DO NOT give ants the bomb.
March 28, 2021
Interessante, mi è piaciuto conoscere alcuni aspetti della vita, comportamento ed evoluzione di formiche ed api.
Però, da neofita ho trovato impegnativo leggere varie parti del libro, contenenti informazioni adatte ad uno specialista
Però, da neofita ho trovato impegnativo leggere varie parti del libro, contenenti informazioni adatte ad uno specialista
March 4, 2013
A fantastic book about insect communities and how they interact and how they evolved, but it is not an easy read and not for someone with a casual interest.
April 6, 2013
Chapter 1 - The Construction of a Super-Organism
Eusocial insects are very successful. In one rain forest sample, social insects made up 80 % of the insects. Ants and termites made up 30 % of the animal biomass. Ants alone weighed four times as much as the mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.
Although ants are a million times smaller than humans, they are a million times more plentiful, and so the mass of humans is roughly equal to that of the ants.
Generally, social insects control the centre of the land environment, while solitary insects predominate in the margins.
Chapter 2 - Genetic Social Evolution
The target of natural selection is the family, not individuals such as worker casts. Haldane showed that altruism evolves when it increases the success of relatives - "kin selection". Hamilton expanded on this and developed the haplodiploid hypothesis - the unfertilized eggs are haploid and become males, while the fertilized eggs are diploid and become females. As a result, the female workers are 3/4 related to each other - more closely than the daughters. This will cause sisters to favour each other and allow societies to arise. Termites, however, have a diploidiploid mode of sex determination. These ideas are elaborated further - group selection, etc.
Eusociality has evolved where the behaviour protects a persistant defensible resource from predators. For example, among the parastoid wasps, eusocialty arose in 7 instances where the wasps construct nests and provision them with prey, while it is unknown where the species travels from prey to prey laying eggs. In these conditions, eusociality has evolved in bark beetles, aphids, and snapping shrimps.
Detail on the transition to eusociality.
Chapter 3 - Sociogenesis
Algorithms govern the behaviour of eusocial insects. Natural selection at the colony level creates algorithms that maximize efficient behaviour.
Behaviour of eusocial insects is governed by relatively simple decision rules. Examples are given of simple decision rules that generate complex cooperative behaviour.
Chapter 4 - The Genetic Evolution of Decision Rules
Examples of how gene modification leads to large changes in social behaviour. A change in a gene in American fire ants has lead them to large changes in social behaviour. In the original Brazilian population, there are one or few queens and the nests have well defended boundaries and are therefore well separated. In the U.S. a single genetic change resulted in multiple queen colonies without defended boundaries that spread out with new colonies being formed by fissioning.
Chapter 5 - The Division of Labor
More advanced species have larger colony sizes. Increased complexity shows in communication codes, the caste system, and division of labor.
The Attine ants are a complex group. They appear to have evolved from ants that cultivated fungi on inset feces and corpses. The shift to growing on fresh vegetation was a huge success, making them among the most abundant of all insects.
When some ants and bees are artificially forced together, they readily cooperate. Cooperative behaviour seems to be automatic with the ants, as is division of labor.
Adult colony members are separated into reproductive and non-reproductive castes.
A temporal division of labor exists where workers move from attending eggs and pupae to attending larvae to working outside the nest. When not working on a specific task, they "patrol" and are available for recruitment. This allows efficient allocation of labor. Detail on the physiology of division of labor is provided.
Individuals show good memory skills, remembering the details of surrounding terrain for a number of days. The individual experiences result in different memories and individual contributions to the work of the colony.
Task switching is important to the efficient allocation of labor.
Worker sub-castes have evolved in only the more complex ant societies. However, the specialization contributes to the efficiency of the colony.
Team work and task partitioning are important.
Chapter 6 - Communication
Details on the honey bee dance. Honey bees estimate the distance travelled by the rate at which they pass objects when in flight.
Ants use chemical communication as a primary form of communication. More than 40 glands have been found in the ants. Any species employs at least 10 - 20 signals made up of pheromone mixtures. The pheromones are a large array of chemicals that vary from species to species, almost at random.
A great deal of detail on communication is presented.
Chapter 7 - The Rise of the Ants
The ants arose during the Cretaceous, about 100 mya.
The Ponerine paradox is that although widespread and diverse, they are primitive ants. The colonies are small, the queens lay few eggs, and the workers forage alone.
Different families dominate each ecosystem - tropical forest litter, the trees, dry lands (Australia).
Chapter 8 - Ponerine Ants
Some Ponerines have distinct worker and queen castes; other species have little or no sexual dimorphism.
A number of species are examined in detail.
Chapter 9 - Attine Ants
The Attines are the most advanced of the ants.
The Attines are examined in detail.
Chapter 10 - Nest Architecture
Tschinkel and others have obtained casts of ant nests recently, which have resulted in improved knowledge of their construction.
It has been shown that colony level patterns result from simple rules in response to local clues. This is the idea of stigmergy - individual workers affect each other through by-products of their activity. Positive feedback exists in that the more rapidly growing structures act as the strongest stimuli. For example, in the weaver ants when any workers have individual success pulling leaves together, other workers join in.
In the bees, it has been shown that the scouts pace off prospective nests to determine their size and suitability.
In the ants, recruitment to a new nest is done through tandem running where a scout recruits another scout and takes it to the prospective site. Each new scout examines the nest, seeming as thoroughly as the original scout. If suitable, a cascade of scouts develops, moving to the new site.
Eusocial insects are very successful. In one rain forest sample, social insects made up 80 % of the insects. Ants and termites made up 30 % of the animal biomass. Ants alone weighed four times as much as the mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.
Although ants are a million times smaller than humans, they are a million times more plentiful, and so the mass of humans is roughly equal to that of the ants.
Generally, social insects control the centre of the land environment, while solitary insects predominate in the margins.
Chapter 2 - Genetic Social Evolution
The target of natural selection is the family, not individuals such as worker casts. Haldane showed that altruism evolves when it increases the success of relatives - "kin selection". Hamilton expanded on this and developed the haplodiploid hypothesis - the unfertilized eggs are haploid and become males, while the fertilized eggs are diploid and become females. As a result, the female workers are 3/4 related to each other - more closely than the daughters. This will cause sisters to favour each other and allow societies to arise. Termites, however, have a diploidiploid mode of sex determination. These ideas are elaborated further - group selection, etc.
Eusociality has evolved where the behaviour protects a persistant defensible resource from predators. For example, among the parastoid wasps, eusocialty arose in 7 instances where the wasps construct nests and provision them with prey, while it is unknown where the species travels from prey to prey laying eggs. In these conditions, eusociality has evolved in bark beetles, aphids, and snapping shrimps.
Detail on the transition to eusociality.
Chapter 3 - Sociogenesis
Algorithms govern the behaviour of eusocial insects. Natural selection at the colony level creates algorithms that maximize efficient behaviour.
Behaviour of eusocial insects is governed by relatively simple decision rules. Examples are given of simple decision rules that generate complex cooperative behaviour.
Chapter 4 - The Genetic Evolution of Decision Rules
Examples of how gene modification leads to large changes in social behaviour. A change in a gene in American fire ants has lead them to large changes in social behaviour. In the original Brazilian population, there are one or few queens and the nests have well defended boundaries and are therefore well separated. In the U.S. a single genetic change resulted in multiple queen colonies without defended boundaries that spread out with new colonies being formed by fissioning.
Chapter 5 - The Division of Labor
More advanced species have larger colony sizes. Increased complexity shows in communication codes, the caste system, and division of labor.
The Attine ants are a complex group. They appear to have evolved from ants that cultivated fungi on inset feces and corpses. The shift to growing on fresh vegetation was a huge success, making them among the most abundant of all insects.
When some ants and bees are artificially forced together, they readily cooperate. Cooperative behaviour seems to be automatic with the ants, as is division of labor.
Adult colony members are separated into reproductive and non-reproductive castes.
A temporal division of labor exists where workers move from attending eggs and pupae to attending larvae to working outside the nest. When not working on a specific task, they "patrol" and are available for recruitment. This allows efficient allocation of labor. Detail on the physiology of division of labor is provided.
Individuals show good memory skills, remembering the details of surrounding terrain for a number of days. The individual experiences result in different memories and individual contributions to the work of the colony.
Task switching is important to the efficient allocation of labor.
Worker sub-castes have evolved in only the more complex ant societies. However, the specialization contributes to the efficiency of the colony.
Team work and task partitioning are important.
Chapter 6 - Communication
Details on the honey bee dance. Honey bees estimate the distance travelled by the rate at which they pass objects when in flight.
Ants use chemical communication as a primary form of communication. More than 40 glands have been found in the ants. Any species employs at least 10 - 20 signals made up of pheromone mixtures. The pheromones are a large array of chemicals that vary from species to species, almost at random.
A great deal of detail on communication is presented.
Chapter 7 - The Rise of the Ants
The ants arose during the Cretaceous, about 100 mya.
The Ponerine paradox is that although widespread and diverse, they are primitive ants. The colonies are small, the queens lay few eggs, and the workers forage alone.
Different families dominate each ecosystem - tropical forest litter, the trees, dry lands (Australia).
Chapter 8 - Ponerine Ants
Some Ponerines have distinct worker and queen castes; other species have little or no sexual dimorphism.
A number of species are examined in detail.
Chapter 9 - Attine Ants
The Attines are the most advanced of the ants.
The Attines are examined in detail.
Chapter 10 - Nest Architecture
Tschinkel and others have obtained casts of ant nests recently, which have resulted in improved knowledge of their construction.
It has been shown that colony level patterns result from simple rules in response to local clues. This is the idea of stigmergy - individual workers affect each other through by-products of their activity. Positive feedback exists in that the more rapidly growing structures act as the strongest stimuli. For example, in the weaver ants when any workers have individual success pulling leaves together, other workers join in.
In the bees, it has been shown that the scouts pace off prospective nests to determine their size and suitability.
In the ants, recruitment to a new nest is done through tandem running where a scout recruits another scout and takes it to the prospective site. Each new scout examines the nest, seeming as thoroughly as the original scout. If suitable, a cascade of scouts develops, moving to the new site.
September 15, 2017
This book is actually for the bee or ants specialists to read, because it goes into really very details for different kinds of ants/bees colonies behaviors. The dances are different while finding flowers, need more process workers, the fighting gestures of different kinds of ants...etc.
It won't be fun to those who just want to understand overall the superorganism, since we don't actually know these many different types of ants or bees.
The big points of this kind of superorganism is they live according to the chemistry, chemistry is like their codes, they witch their roles while needing supports, their dance, their behaviors are like computer algorithm written in their genes.
The structure of their society seems to strict but actually could have some rebellions, the slaughters, the slavery, the colonization happens among them.
Again, if you want to be bee or ant expert this book if for you, otherwise, you will end up being bored and confused by all different kinds of bees and ants.
It won't be fun to those who just want to understand overall the superorganism, since we don't actually know these many different types of ants or bees.
The big points of this kind of superorganism is they live according to the chemistry, chemistry is like their codes, they witch their roles while needing supports, their dance, their behaviors are like computer algorithm written in their genes.
The structure of their society seems to strict but actually could have some rebellions, the slaughters, the slavery, the colonization happens among them.
Again, if you want to be bee or ant expert this book if for you, otherwise, you will end up being bored and confused by all different kinds of bees and ants.
August 21, 2017
Turns out this is more of a textbook than general nonfiction, but nevertheless there is an abundance of amazing information about eusocial insects and the unique ways they organize and thrive. How can ants move branches and reshape trees to host their nests? How does one termite know what to do and when so it's most useful to the colony? How do bees communicate? (Spoiler: By dancing.)
Holldobler and Wilson provide a compelling reminder that humanity is not the only accomplished species on this planet.
Holldobler and Wilson provide a compelling reminder that humanity is not the only accomplished species on this planet.
May 30, 2019
More of a 3.5 star rating.
Very interesting, but requires a fair bit of knowledge to parse the terms. They have a glossary, but many more words needed to be there.
But a good book to understand how colonies of insects work as one organism with its nervous system, circulation, reproduction, immunity etc - basically as a super organism. The tougher parts are when they try to go into how such behaviour could’ve evolved genetically and what could be the basis for many individuals giving up reproductive rights for one Queen to pass on her genes.
Very interesting, but requires a fair bit of knowledge to parse the terms. They have a glossary, but many more words needed to be there.
But a good book to understand how colonies of insects work as one organism with its nervous system, circulation, reproduction, immunity etc - basically as a super organism. The tougher parts are when they try to go into how such behaviour could’ve evolved genetically and what could be the basis for many individuals giving up reproductive rights for one Queen to pass on her genes.
July 8, 2022
This is not a book to be taken lightly! It is an intense dive into the world of ants (primarily). It was fascinating, although much of the ecological formulas went over my head. I was tempted to compare ants to humans, but really, they're more like aliens I think (if aliens exist). If you are wanting to know about ant societies, this is for you!
July 9, 2022
While dry and, at times, very focused on details that a lay reader (like myself) found too detailed, the book is amazingly educational and a wonderful view into the complexity of social organisms.
For designing of systems, the simple rules combined with self organization were particularly fascinating.
For designing of systems, the simple rules combined with self organization were particularly fascinating.
January 30, 2023
Es un libro muy técnico sobre hormigas. Muy interesante, pero solo apto para apasionados de la entomología, ya que se trata más de un libro académico que de un ensayo de divulgación.
Yo he aprendido muchísimo, aunque a veces se me ha hecho un pelín árido ante la enorme profusión de datos.
Yo he aprendido muchísimo, aunque a veces se me ha hecho un pelín árido ante la enorme profusión de datos.
April 16, 2023
The tome sat on an ottoman and was consumed over three years as the mood occurred and time was available. There is much to admire and desire from the models of these collective communities, especially in a time of greed, cruelty, and ignorance.
May 28, 2023
Wonderful textbook about the evolution, ecology, organisation and functioning of a superorganism ( insect colony).
Featuring many great pictures.
I was especially fascinated by the evolution of insect colonies and how ants came to be, and by the sophisticated way of communication.
Featuring many great pictures.
I was especially fascinated by the evolution of insect colonies and how ants came to be, and by the sophisticated way of communication.
April 9, 2024
Fascinating read, learned a lot about these amazing colony-forming insects.
One caveat is that this is not a light read, and probably not for people who don't already have an education in biological sciences.
One caveat is that this is not a light read, and probably not for people who don't already have an education in biological sciences.
October 19, 2019
It is very useful for knowing about superorganism
November 13, 2019
Honestly it has to be a 5 because there is no other book with this content nor does there need to be another book to replace it.
January 23, 2021
Ants might employ the Buffon's needle algorithm to size up nest sites.
July 11, 2019
Un libro di 350 pagine sulle formiche? Cosa c'è da dire sulle formiche? Questa è l'usuale reazione quando parlo di formiche ai miei studenti. Incredulità, stupore, imbarazzo (forse il prof. sta diventando matto, segnali ce ne sono da tempo) si dipingono sul volto dei giovani che volenti o nolenti stanno ad ascoltarmi. Ben presto la sorpresa lascia spazio all'interesse. Le categorie di riferimento della vita sociale di questi insetti sono ben diverse dalle nostre, ma in fondo l'uomo vive di storie e sentir parlare di società gigantesche dove il lavoro è coordinato come in una multinazionale, dove la sessualità della maggior parte dei membri è repressa, dove l'agricoltura è stata scoperta molto prima dell'origine dell'uomo, attira anche le menti più restie ad entrare in contatto con esseri viventi diversi da loro. Da quando le formiche sono entrate di diritto tra i miei argomenti oggetto di lezione il riferimento principale è sempre stato il libro "Formiche" di Bert Hölldobler e Edward O. Wilson che risale al 1994 (1997 nell'edizione italiana). Si tratta del riassunto della monografia del 1990 con cui gli autori vinsero il premio Pulitzer. Ad oltre 18 anni di distanza i due hanno edito un nuovo volume, "The Superorganism", un'opera monumentale per formato (522 pagine, 202 x 254 mm di pagina), per immagini e illustrazioni (110 a colori e 100 in bianco e nero, anche se a dire il vero molte delle fotografie sono già presenti in Formiche) e per comprensibilità. Stavolta non sono le formiche a monopolizzare la scena, ma i superorganismi, le società di insetti che possiedono un'organizzazione analoga ai singoli organismi. Una colonia di formiche o di api, per esempio, è suddivisa in regine ed operaie che sono l'equivalente dei genitali, le prime, e di tutti gli altri tessuti corporei, le seconde. Lo scambio di alimenti tra i vari membri di una colonia imita il sistema circolatorio mentre il sistema immunitario è costituito dalla casta dei soldati e i paragoni potrebbero continuare a lungo.
Il saggio parte dall'origine dei superorganismi. In seguito si scopre che l'organizzazione di un superorganismo si fonda su semplici comandi (regole, algoritmi? Chiamateli come volete) che guidano le azioni delle singole unità di una colonia nella vita quotidiana, che i superorganismi sono di vari tipi ed organizzazioni, che i più complessi sono quelli delle formiche tagliafoglie, che esistono conflitti continui tra le operaie...
Libro riuscito quindi? Qualche ombra c'è. A differenza del precedente volume, questo è di lettura più difficoltosa, soprattutto nelle prime 150 pagine. Questo è un libro specialistico, mentre Formiche era divulgativo, ma la mia difficoltà non sta tutta qui. Illuminante è stata la confessione di Wilson e Hölldobler a riguardo del disaccordo (se avete possibilità di leggere Science cliccate qua per collegarvi all'intervista-confessione dei due) che si è prodotto tra i due . I due dissentono tra loro per quanto riguarda l'origine della eusocialità. Wilson pensa che siano le condizioni ambientali a portare alcuni insetti alla cura dei giovani facendo così scattare uno dei requisiti per lo sviluppo della socialità (la presenza di più generazioni in un unico complesso). Hölldobler invece crede che responsabile dell'origine di un superorganismo sia la selezione di parentela. La selezione di parentela è una particolare forma di selezione naturale che si sviluppa tra individui imparentati che favorisce comportamenti dannosi per il singolo se portano beneficio agli altri membri del gruppo. Nel testo non si coglie apertamente questo disaccordo, ma a posteriori credo che il tentativo di far combaciare in qualche modo le due posizioni abbia contribuito ad appesantire la prima parte.
Interessanti, ma controversi sono i capitoli 7 (The Rise of the Ants) e 8 (Ponerine Ants: The Great Radiation) riguardanti l'evoluzione delle formiche entrambi redatti da Wilson. Controversi perché? Wilson sembra aver tralasciato gli sviluppi degli ultimi vent'anni al punto che alcuni mirmecologi lo hanno duramente criticato. Per esempio l'autore insiste nel considerare monofiletici alcuni gruppi di formiche poneromorfe, ma ormai sembra essere l'unico a insistere in questa ipotesi. Attenzione quindi a questi capitoli, andrebbero letti solo accompagnati da testi più recenti (eccone alcuni: Astruc et al 2004, Moreau et al 2006, Brady et al 2006, Ouellete et al 2006, Rabeling et al 2008).
Volete sapere se The Superorganism diventerà il mio prossimo testo di riferimento. Sicuramente! È ben scritto e tratta argomenti che il precedente non trattava. Va solo integrato, d'altronde il saggio scientifico perfetto non esiste!
Il saggio parte dall'origine dei superorganismi. In seguito si scopre che l'organizzazione di un superorganismo si fonda su semplici comandi (regole, algoritmi? Chiamateli come volete) che guidano le azioni delle singole unità di una colonia nella vita quotidiana, che i superorganismi sono di vari tipi ed organizzazioni, che i più complessi sono quelli delle formiche tagliafoglie, che esistono conflitti continui tra le operaie...
Libro riuscito quindi? Qualche ombra c'è. A differenza del precedente volume, questo è di lettura più difficoltosa, soprattutto nelle prime 150 pagine. Questo è un libro specialistico, mentre Formiche era divulgativo, ma la mia difficoltà non sta tutta qui. Illuminante è stata la confessione di Wilson e Hölldobler a riguardo del disaccordo (se avete possibilità di leggere Science cliccate qua per collegarvi all'intervista-confessione dei due) che si è prodotto tra i due . I due dissentono tra loro per quanto riguarda l'origine della eusocialità. Wilson pensa che siano le condizioni ambientali a portare alcuni insetti alla cura dei giovani facendo così scattare uno dei requisiti per lo sviluppo della socialità (la presenza di più generazioni in un unico complesso). Hölldobler invece crede che responsabile dell'origine di un superorganismo sia la selezione di parentela. La selezione di parentela è una particolare forma di selezione naturale che si sviluppa tra individui imparentati che favorisce comportamenti dannosi per il singolo se portano beneficio agli altri membri del gruppo. Nel testo non si coglie apertamente questo disaccordo, ma a posteriori credo che il tentativo di far combaciare in qualche modo le due posizioni abbia contribuito ad appesantire la prima parte.
Interessanti, ma controversi sono i capitoli 7 (The Rise of the Ants) e 8 (Ponerine Ants: The Great Radiation) riguardanti l'evoluzione delle formiche entrambi redatti da Wilson. Controversi perché? Wilson sembra aver tralasciato gli sviluppi degli ultimi vent'anni al punto che alcuni mirmecologi lo hanno duramente criticato. Per esempio l'autore insiste nel considerare monofiletici alcuni gruppi di formiche poneromorfe, ma ormai sembra essere l'unico a insistere in questa ipotesi. Attenzione quindi a questi capitoli, andrebbero letti solo accompagnati da testi più recenti (eccone alcuni: Astruc et al 2004, Moreau et al 2006, Brady et al 2006, Ouellete et al 2006, Rabeling et al 2008).
Volete sapere se The Superorganism diventerà il mio prossimo testo di riferimento. Sicuramente! È ben scritto e tratta argomenti che il precedente non trattava. Va solo integrato, d'altronde il saggio scientifico perfetto non esiste!
Read
January 3, 2009I have started reading. The subject is fascinating: the evolution of superorganisms of eusocial animals where division of labor is highly specialized and where individuals are not able to survive by themselves for extended periods of time.
Having read some tens of pages it is clear that as I continue I will be reading, by virtue of my intellectual and knowledge deficiencies, at a superficial level as opposed to a technical or critical one. I am sure that it will be instructive even at that level.
Ants have been evolving for 100 million years beginning in the Cretaceous period. I perceive from reading this book that they exploited the vast diversity of carbon chemistry for homeostatic control as well as identity recognition of friend/foe, castes, age discrimination, even the dead. Pheromones are also used for recruitming for foraging and nest protection.
I am impressed that nests of thousands of individuals exist in temperature controlled architectures in which highly diverse populations work in harmony with a common goal: the care, feeding, and survival of the nest. The fact that this is accomplished by individuals with tiny brains is a testimony to the power of Darwin's survival of the fittest - even at the level of superorganism.
Ant colonies engage in a wide variety of interesting ways including: tending the reproducing caste, nursing pupae, foraging, predation, colony defense, nest construction, ritual combat, raids, slavery, gardening, cattle tending (other insects, not cows!), sharing food, and of course intercourse and egg laying.
Ant colonies have varying means to achieve reproductive efficiency and flexibility. Queens produce females, mostly worker castes, although in some species workers can become fertilized and produce viable eggs (gamergates). Queen produced chemical signals inhibit worker reproduction. Workers also police unauthorized reproduction and eat such eggs although cryptic hiding of eggs in the colony pile occasionally goes undetected.
Unfertilized workers can produce eggs which are frequently eaten by the queen or other workers. However when brought to term they become males ... which in a society of females would be required if their dominant reproductive dies of loses fertility. Antagonistic behavior is frequent in female dominance conflicts. Whatever can happen does happen when the continuance of the colony is at stake.
What will not be found in the study of ants is any such individuals as Einstein, Mozart, Picasso, Shakespeare, or for that matter Bernie Madoff or Saddam Hussein.What ant colonies have that human societies don't: ants have specie and colony survival and propagation as their main goal, evolution driven,at the expense of individual self determination. One can wonder if the human specie will survive 100 million years.
At the end or the Epilogue it is mentioned that ants live "harmoniously" with their living environment and that humans don't. That has caused me to reflect on symbiosis, i.e. a relationship of mutual benefit or dependence. The authors do not elaborate on what is meant by harmonious. From my reading both humans and ants are dependent on the environment but neither are clearly beneficial. What separates humans and ants in the matter of symbiosis with their environment is that the ants, even though they are more numerous than humans, do not have the consequential footprint of human societies.
Having read some tens of pages it is clear that as I continue I will be reading, by virtue of my intellectual and knowledge deficiencies, at a superficial level as opposed to a technical or critical one. I am sure that it will be instructive even at that level.
Ants have been evolving for 100 million years beginning in the Cretaceous period. I perceive from reading this book that they exploited the vast diversity of carbon chemistry for homeostatic control as well as identity recognition of friend/foe, castes, age discrimination, even the dead. Pheromones are also used for recruitming for foraging and nest protection.
I am impressed that nests of thousands of individuals exist in temperature controlled architectures in which highly diverse populations work in harmony with a common goal: the care, feeding, and survival of the nest. The fact that this is accomplished by individuals with tiny brains is a testimony to the power of Darwin's survival of the fittest - even at the level of superorganism.
Ant colonies engage in a wide variety of interesting ways including: tending the reproducing caste, nursing pupae, foraging, predation, colony defense, nest construction, ritual combat, raids, slavery, gardening, cattle tending (other insects, not cows!), sharing food, and of course intercourse and egg laying.
Ant colonies have varying means to achieve reproductive efficiency and flexibility. Queens produce females, mostly worker castes, although in some species workers can become fertilized and produce viable eggs (gamergates). Queen produced chemical signals inhibit worker reproduction. Workers also police unauthorized reproduction and eat such eggs although cryptic hiding of eggs in the colony pile occasionally goes undetected.
Unfertilized workers can produce eggs which are frequently eaten by the queen or other workers. However when brought to term they become males ... which in a society of females would be required if their dominant reproductive dies of loses fertility. Antagonistic behavior is frequent in female dominance conflicts. Whatever can happen does happen when the continuance of the colony is at stake.
What will not be found in the study of ants is any such individuals as Einstein, Mozart, Picasso, Shakespeare, or for that matter Bernie Madoff or Saddam Hussein.What ant colonies have that human societies don't: ants have specie and colony survival and propagation as their main goal, evolution driven,at the expense of individual self determination. One can wonder if the human specie will survive 100 million years.
At the end or the Epilogue it is mentioned that ants live "harmoniously" with their living environment and that humans don't. That has caused me to reflect on symbiosis, i.e. a relationship of mutual benefit or dependence. The authors do not elaborate on what is meant by harmonious. From my reading both humans and ants are dependent on the environment but neither are clearly beneficial. What separates humans and ants in the matter of symbiosis with their environment is that the ants, even though they are more numerous than humans, do not have the consequential footprint of human societies.
June 10, 2016
Man, this was a majorly heavy book. I pulled a muscle lifting it -- I kid you not. Use both hands lifting this mammajamma and keep your knees bent.
Insects that live in colonies is such a fascinating subject. I do hope that someone who can write tackles this subject instead of E. O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler. Yes, they are acknowledged giants in their field, but cannot write their way out of a wet paper bag. Here's a sentence (just ONE sentence, mind) from page 200:
"The workers also employ a short-range alarm and recruitment trail substance that originates in yet another special sternal gland, this one located at the seventh abdominal sternite (See Figure 6-15.)"
Doesn't exactly sing, does it?
Every now and then a phrase will pop out that I'd never thought I'd read EVER such as "the master users of regurgitation." That kept my interest, I will admit. There was even a brief reference to some queen ants cutting off the head and thorax of the male they were currently locked in an intimate embrace with, keeping the only organ that matters for a few more hours. I wanted to know more about this. Fuck the chemicals of trail pheromones -- gimme details on how to chop off a guy's head and still have his penis work.
Sherlock Holmes often chided Dr. Watson for putting too much "colour and life" into his stories instead of detailing a logical step-by-step analysis of how to solve a crime. Sherlock Holmes would like this book. I didn't.
Okay, my vocabulary has declined since I joined the Internet, but I thought I could look up words I did not know in this book's glossary. Sadly, this glossary is incomplete. I came across the word "ivagination." As the owner of a vagina, I wanted immediately to know what this is and if I have to go to a gynecologist about it. I did not find this word in the glossary.
Anyway, here is the definition as presented to me by Google: "the action or process of being turned inside out or folded back on itself to form a cavity or pouch; a cavity or pouch so formed."
You're welcome.
Insects that live in colonies is such a fascinating subject. I do hope that someone who can write tackles this subject instead of E. O. Wilson and Bert Hölldobler. Yes, they are acknowledged giants in their field, but cannot write their way out of a wet paper bag. Here's a sentence (just ONE sentence, mind) from page 200:
"The workers also employ a short-range alarm and recruitment trail substance that originates in yet another special sternal gland, this one located at the seventh abdominal sternite (See Figure 6-15.)"
Doesn't exactly sing, does it?
Every now and then a phrase will pop out that I'd never thought I'd read EVER such as "the master users of regurgitation." That kept my interest, I will admit. There was even a brief reference to some queen ants cutting off the head and thorax of the male they were currently locked in an intimate embrace with, keeping the only organ that matters for a few more hours. I wanted to know more about this. Fuck the chemicals of trail pheromones -- gimme details on how to chop off a guy's head and still have his penis work.
Sherlock Holmes often chided Dr. Watson for putting too much "colour and life" into his stories instead of detailing a logical step-by-step analysis of how to solve a crime. Sherlock Holmes would like this book. I didn't.
Okay, my vocabulary has declined since I joined the Internet, but I thought I could look up words I did not know in this book's glossary. Sadly, this glossary is incomplete. I came across the word "ivagination." As the owner of a vagina, I wanted immediately to know what this is and if I have to go to a gynecologist about it. I did not find this word in the glossary.
Anyway, here is the definition as presented to me by Google: "the action or process of being turned inside out or folded back on itself to form a cavity or pouch; a cavity or pouch so formed."
You're welcome.
June 13, 2023
Excelente libro, muy útil para profundizar un poco en el mundo de las hormigas. Desarrolla mucho aspectos comportamentales y ecológicos.
Me gusto mucho su análisis sobre la selección a nivel de grupo concretamente a nivel de la colonia.
Me gusto mucho su análisis sobre la selección a nivel de grupo concretamente a nivel de la colonia.
August 28, 2011
Interesting but flawed book that goes into details of the organization of insect societies,
focusing on topics such as communication and labor division.
First, some good parts: the material is fascinating. The text is organized well, and the authors clearly have a deep knowledge of the topic. The book includes many pictures and diagrams that help clarify the text, and are also simply wonderful to look at.
Now, some negatives: the tone of the text seemed to be a little out-of-place. The authors have included a large number of footnotes, which I would normally consider a plus: it's good to have documentation of facts, and even if I'm just reading casually they wouldn't usually bother me. However, in this case, the format of the book begins with a relatively small amount of text on each page. It's almost organized like a cofee-table book, with wide margins and large, easy-to-read text. Once you take away a large fraction of the space for footnotes -- easily one-third to one-half of the text space, on many pages -- you're left with a format that breaks up the main body of the text, and has a much worse flow than it would have if the citations were simply moved to the end of the chapter. Also, some sections are written in a tone that would be more suitable for a scientific paper. Most of the time, the authors write in a detailed but still easily-understood style, but occasionally the text seems to aimed more towards completionism rather than simply being compelling reading.
Overall, the book was well worth reading if you find the topic interesting; I just wish there were more of the good parts, and less of the distracting parts.
focusing on topics such as communication and labor division.
First, some good parts: the material is fascinating. The text is organized well, and the authors clearly have a deep knowledge of the topic. The book includes many pictures and diagrams that help clarify the text, and are also simply wonderful to look at.
Now, some negatives: the tone of the text seemed to be a little out-of-place. The authors have included a large number of footnotes, which I would normally consider a plus: it's good to have documentation of facts, and even if I'm just reading casually they wouldn't usually bother me. However, in this case, the format of the book begins with a relatively small amount of text on each page. It's almost organized like a cofee-table book, with wide margins and large, easy-to-read text. Once you take away a large fraction of the space for footnotes -- easily one-third to one-half of the text space, on many pages -- you're left with a format that breaks up the main body of the text, and has a much worse flow than it would have if the citations were simply moved to the end of the chapter. Also, some sections are written in a tone that would be more suitable for a scientific paper. Most of the time, the authors write in a detailed but still easily-understood style, but occasionally the text seems to aimed more towards completionism rather than simply being compelling reading.
Overall, the book was well worth reading if you find the topic interesting; I just wish there were more of the good parts, and less of the distracting parts.
July 1, 2013
This amazing book by two prominent entomologists (insect biologists) takes us into the insect realm we’ve all had buzzing around us our whole lives but perhaps not truly understood. Did you know that honey bees exhibit a highly skilled form of dance communication? When they leave the nest honey bees disperse in all directions on their quest for flowers and pollen. If an individual honey bee finds a new pollen source then when they return to the nest they enter upon ‘the dance floor’ and perform a dance scientists call ‘the waggle dance’. The angle of the dance tells the watching bees the direction to fly (in relation to the sun) when leaving the hive and the length of the dance tells them the distance to fly. You can learn also about leaf cutter ants who invited organized farming millennia before humans did and lots more. The main idea here is that an individual social insect is only one part of the larger conscious entity that is the collective hive. When massed together and acting co-operatively these tiny creatures become a superorganism and can solve very complex problems. It's a kind of magic science can observe but not fully understand. Perhaps the future of humanity lies in our ability to co-ordinte, integrate and unleash a Superorganism too!! SIMON
January 30, 2010
They seemed to not really have a clear idea of who their intended audience was, and couldn't settle on what level of prior knowledge to address. Thusly, they never explained some basics, leaving me to wonder where the hell on the classification hierarchy a 'tribe' is, and yet reiterated other rather simple things over and over again. In fact, the decision of whether and when to define terms was completely at random. I love learning about ants, but it seemed rather undirected and even a little unedited. Many of the diagrams seemed outrageously unnecessary, and frankly I could have used more photographs, if they were going to go ahead and go all out and have a colorfully illustrated book. Don't tell me ink is too expensive, they had plenty of just plain black pages. It couldn't help but be fun and informative given the material, but in an ideal world it could have been a much better book.
June 18, 2011
This book is a slog. The authors claim it can be enjoyed by the "general reader," but it contains a great deal of jargon (with a glossary that often did not define the terms that confused me,) and the writing can be opaque: "Regular play of the recipient's palpi on the donor's labium keeps he liquid flowing until the food exchange is interuped by either one or both trophallaxis partners."
But it's worth the effort. The book is a review of new research that sheds light on the evolutionary origin of social insec species. Of course, the very thing that makes insect societies so fascinating and appalling to most people -- their chilling reproductive regimes and ndifference to the fates of individuals are designed, according to the authors, to make the colony the effective genetic unit when adaptation to changing situations occur. They even have some explanations of how insect societies might have originally evolved, and why they are relatively rare.
But it's worth the effort. The book is a review of new research that sheds light on the evolutionary origin of social insec species. Of course, the very thing that makes insect societies so fascinating and appalling to most people -- their chilling reproductive regimes and ndifference to the fates of individuals are designed, according to the authors, to make the colony the effective genetic unit when adaptation to changing situations occur. They even have some explanations of how insect societies might have originally evolved, and why they are relatively rare.
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