Originally published in German, this book is now available in a significantly expanded English version, describing more species (121 in the original versus 190 in the current version).
Furthermore, this book contains:
- an introduction to morphology, development, ecology, life cycle, feeding strategies and enemies of ants,
- comprehensive information on all important aspects of the special biology of the 180 outdoor species of Central and North Europe given in a standardized handbook format,
- a short description of the multidimensional niche space of all German ants,
- an illustrated determination key to 190 species recorded for the area and directly adjacent regions,
- the authors position to some fundamental questions of taxonomy and biodiversity research,
- 581 photos and line drawings of living or mounted ants.