The Ant Guests – Insects Living with Ants

KOMATSU, TakashiSHIMADA, TakuMARUYAMA, Munetoshi

Publisher
KADOKAWA
Publication year
2025
Format
Hardcover
Illustrations
Full color photos
Language
Japanese, English
Length
216pp.
Dimensions
Modified A4

A photographic compendium by leading entomologists specializing in myrmecophilous insects. Bilingual (English and Japanese).

★Includes many brand-new discoveries published here for the first time★

Ant Guests — Meaning: “Guests” that live inside ant nests; organisms that live together with ants, such as certain lycaenid butterflies or rove beetles. Myrmecophiles.

  • Evading attacks and stealing food inside ant nests
  • Eavesdropping on the chemical signals that ants emit
  • Manipulating ants’ behavior with their own chemical substances

Begging for food, pilfering, sharing, predation, parasitism, perfect mimicry… The strange world of “ant guests” has evolved precisely because ants form complex societies. This book explains, with stunning photographs, more than 300 rare ant and myrmecophilous species collected over 15+ years of fieldwork around the world by the authors, who lead global research on ant-associated organisms. It is packed with new findings, new or undescribed species first announced here, and decisive moments never before captured on camera.

JPY 5,500

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