Review:
I need to be better about looking at the physical measurements of books I buy online - I wasn't expecting this one to be so large, almost 12 inches tall and 11.5 inches long (although not particularly thick, at only 144 pages). This isn't really a complaint - the book's ant photographs are a huge part of its appeal, and I appreciate that they're all big and glossy. I was just taken aback by the size of the box on my porch.
I'm nowhere near an expert in ants, although I've read a couple books about them and was really interested in them for a period of time when I was younger. Information-wise, there's only enough here to whet a person's appetite. That said, it's still intriguing stuff, I learned a few things, and the author's appreciation for and fascination with ants was palpable.
There's a chapter on the relationship between plants and ants, a chapter on ant life cycles, a chapter on queens and female workers, and a chapter how form meets function in ant bodies. Each chapter includes full-page macrophotography of various species and genders of ants that illustrates information provided in the text.
My favorite chapters were probably the final two. The photographs of ant males were gorgeous and fascinating, especially since they were paired with photographs of workers or queens. Being able to directly compare the two really drove home how different ant males can look from females.
The final chapter, "Where Form Meets Function," was the longest and included quite a few close-up shots of the heads and abdomens of various ant species. I particularly liked the close-up of the head of a Cataulacus granulatus worker's head. Considering how good the photographs in that section were, I wish there had been even more text about the specific ant species pictured.
All in all, this is a beautiful book, even if it's a bit lighter on information than I'd have preferred.
No comments:
Post a Comment