The fire ants

Contents Note: I: ORIGIN AND SPREAD, PRESENT AND FUTURE RANGE: Prelude: And what do you do for a living? -- A quick tour of fire ant biology -- The species of fire ants and their biogeography -- An atlas of fire ant anatomy -- Getting here -- Interlude: Beachhead mobile -- La Conquista: spreading out -- Interlude: Another immigrant moves west -- Predicting future range limits -- II: BASIC NEEDS AND THE MONOGYNE COLONY CYCLE: An important note: Monogyne and polygyne social forms -- Shelter -- Interlude: There's nothing like getting plastered -- Space -- Food -- Interlude: Mundane methods -- Mating and colony founding -- Interlude: Spring among the fire ants -- The claustral period -- Interlude: Sharon's house of beauty -- The incipient phase and brood raiding -- Dependent colony founding -- Colony growth -- Relative growth and sociogenesis -- Interlude: The Porter Wedge micrometer -- Colony reproduction and the seasonal cycle -- III: FAMILY LIFE: Interlude: Debby discovers ants -- Nestmate and brood recognition -- Interlude: Ant ID systems -- Division of labor -- Interlude: Moving up in a Harvester Ant colony -- Adaptive demography -- Interlude: Driving to work with Odontomachus -- The organization of foraging -- Interlude: Who's in charge here? -- Food sharing within the colony -- Interlude: The Fire Ant on trial -- Venom and its uses -- Interlude: You call that pain? -- Social control of the Queen's egg-laying rate -- Interlude: Catching queens -- Necrophoric behavior -- IV: POLYGYNY: Discovery of polygyny -- Interlude: I want this to be accurate --The suppression of independent -- colony founding in polygyne colonies -- The nature and fate of polygyne alates -- Interlude: A useful tool --Polygyne mating, adoption, execution -- Biological consequences of polygyny -- V: POPULATIONS AND ECOLOGY: Hybridization between Solenopsis invicta and S. Richteri -- Populations of monogyne Fire Ants -- Interlude: Gang wars -- Territorial behavior and monogyne population regulation -- Ecological niche -- Solenopsis invicta and ant community ecology -- Interlude: Membership in a prestigious organization -- Solenopsis invicta and other communities -- Fire ants and vertebrates -- Interlude: a microsafari in antland -- Biological control -- Interlude: The heartbreak of parasitoids -- Some final words. Includes bibliographical references (p. 673-706) and index.