{"product_id":"the-fire-ants-9780674022072","title":"The Fire Ants","description":"\u003cp\u003eWalter Tschinkels passion for fire ants has been stoked by over thirty years of exploring the rhythm and drama of Solenopsis invictas biology. Since South American fire ants arrived in Mobile  Alabama  in the 1940s  they have spread to become one of the most reviled pests in the Sunbelt.  In Fire Ants Tschinkel provides not just an encyclopedic overview of S. invicta--how they found colonies  construct and defend their nests  forage and distribute food  struggle among themselves for primacy  and even relocate entire colonies--but a lively account of how research is done  how science establishes facts  and the pleasures and problems of a scientific career.  Between chapters detailed enough for experts but readily accessible to any educated reader  \"interludes\" provide vivid verbal images of the world of fire ants and the people who study them. Early chapters describe the several failed  and heavily politically influenced  eradication campaigns  and later ones the remarkable spread of S. invictas \"polygyne\" form  in which nests harbor multiple queens and colonies reproduce by \"budding.\" The reader learns much about ants  the practice of science  and humans role in the fire ants North American success.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45816127914037,"sku":"ByrdShop_0674022076","price":254.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780674022072.jpg?v=1785179884","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-fire-ants-9780674022072","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}