Customer Reviews

Ants of North America: A Guide to the Genera

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Ants are one of the groups of organisms that I found fascinating from an early age. I finally settled on spiders, but ants were always in the back of my mind on the numerous field trips on which I went to pursue my eight-legged quarry. However, guides to ants were few and far between and when I was given a copy of Creighton's "The Ants of North America" I was almost as confused as I was before. While the illustrations were good, the descriptions and keys were a bit difficult and of course even by the time I was given the book, it was quite dated.

We have long needed a book such as Brian Fisher and Stefan Cover have produced in "Ants of North America: A Guide to the Genera". Among other things the photos of actual specimens are a great help in determining the genera (and in some cases sub-genera) that anyone might encounter in a backyard or in the wild. The keys are both very good and well illustrated. A good hand lens will be sufficient with many, but the size of some requires a good binocular dissecting microscope (one reason that ants are less popular than butterflies, dragonflies or even moths). Still both professional entomologists and serious amateurs will find this book very useful as a first step in the identification of the ant fauna.

Because I am a professional biologist and an entomologist I found that, although I do not know the authors, I do know at least six of the people listed in the acknowledgements - such is the small size of the entomological community.

I recommend this book highly and only wish that something like it was available when I was becoming interested in the tiny life around us.

"Ants of North America: A Guide to the Genera" by Brian Fisher and Stefan Cover is quite simply the best identification guide (down to the genus level) available for these fascinating insects.

Combining straightforward identification keys that contain excellent line drawings of pertinent ant features with April Nobile's detailed automontage pictures, this publication functions both as a "working book" and a page-by-page display of the true beauty and diversity of these ants.

The alphabetical method of ordering the genera descriptions is also to be saluted. As the subfamily level gets re-shuffled over the years, the alphabet stays the same, and so provides a user-friendly way to thumb through the genera.

All of the genus listings contain both a head-on and lateral picture of the ant, along with diagnostic remarks and brief distribution and ecological information.

This book belongs on the bookshelf and lab workbench of every myrmecologist, and certainly any ecologist that works within the conservation field performing biodiversity surveys. It has been said that you cannot begin to understand the species you are trying to preserve if you cannot identify them, and so this book will allow any ecologist with basic entomology skills the ability to identify, as E.O. Wilson describes ants, the "little things that run the world."

This book provides a wonderful doorway into the art of ant identification. The keys are well tested and current. The photographs of a representative ant from each genus are stunning. The lists of North American genera and species are very useful as is the list of literature for identifying species. I wish I had had this book 30 years ago when I first started learning to identify ants! This is a must have book for everyone who studies North American ants. It should also be in the libraries of all field stations and any institution of higher learning that teaches classes in the natural sciences.

I am a myrmecologist, and this is definitely the most helpful (and portable) ant key I have come across.

It is full of excellent illustrations and intuitive couplets, but aving said that, this book deals only with genera found in the USA, not whole North America.

The first part of the book is the dichotomous key, whereas the second part describes each genus in detail (ecology, morphological characteristics, the most recent literature dealing with that genus, etc.)

The authors have even managed to squeeze in a couple of (ant) jokes and funny anecdotes into this part of the text.
The last part of the book contains the list of all known species in North America.

The authors have made one mistake that I am aware of, and that is on page 111, where they state that genus Monomorium has 11 antennal segmnents while they actually have 12.

This book fills a long-empty niche. There is a century-long collection of wonderful ant taxonomy books and books on ant biology and natural history. However many of the technical references are either out-of-date or too dense for all but the most serious myrmecologists. And many of the references are not as richly illustrated as Fisher and Cover's book. The keys in "Ants of North America" are fairly easy to dive into even without an advanced biology degree. When stuck, the glossary and index are useful. The only minor suggestion/criticism, book does not lay flat when open, making it difficult to read while working at a microscope.

The "Ants of North America" is an essential field/laboratory guide. It briefly describes distribution and ecology as well as the typical characteristics of representative species of 73 genera to be found in North America. The key to workers is quite useable because it is accompanied by concise line drawings showing characteristics used in the key. However, for the casual naturalist, the guide's largest audience, a brief, illustrated discussion of the external anatomy of the ants would be most helpful. For example, the opening couplets of the key assume the reader is familiar with such terms as "distal," "tergite," "scape," and "carina." While these are defined in the glossary at the back, they are not depicted on a body of a typical worker at the front, nearest the key. Since many ant species are likely to be encountered in homes and gardens, it would also be helpful if the guide described how an amateur can submit a specimen for identification by a specialist. These minor shortcomings aside, this small book will soon become tattered and grimy in the hands of anyone interested in the smaller things at their feet.

This book is an excellent on-the-go resource for identifying ants. However, some of the identification terminology is rather vexing, especially in the case of amateur myrmecologists, despite the glossary in the back of the book. Also, many, if not all of the images in this book, along with many of its species descriptions can be found at antweb.org.

I am ecstatic to have received my book in the mail. I expected it to be bigger but am delighted that I'll have no issue whatsoever carrying it around with me in the field. It's the perfect size and chalk full of good information.