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Lord of the Ants
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Program Overview
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NOVA profiles Edward O. Wilson, a
pioneering biologist whose study of ants led to the advent of sociobiology, a
discipline that seeks to explain the social behavior of all species through
genetics and natural selection.
The program:
reveals
how Wilson's love of nature began during his childhood as he explored the
woods in southern Alabama. explains
how he came to study ants. notes
that Wilson, during the three years he spent collecting specimens in the
tropics, was the same age Charles Darwin was when he made a similar journey. travels
with Wilson to the Dominican Republic, where he searches for ants of the genus Pheidole, which includes about 20 percent of all known ants
in the western hemisphere. reveals
detailed characteristics of the Pheidole
soldier ant, the type of ant that is often used to differentiate one species
from another because it offers the most traits for comparison. reports
that Wilson has spent more than two decades compiling his exhaustive reference
work, Pheidole in
the New World: A Dominant Hyperdiverse Ant Genus. explains
how Wilson discovered that ants communicate in a chemical language by releasing
their pheromones. follows
Wilson's odyssey from studying the behavior of ants to
trying to make sense of the genetic basis of all animal behavior—an
endeavor that led to the development of the field of sociobiology. reports
on the controversy brought about by Wilson's suggestion that genes may
play a role in the development of human social behavior. details a
1965 experiment in mass extinction that Wilson and a colleague conducted on a
small island in the Florida Keys. chronicles Wilson's efforts to protect the biodiversity of the
world's forests.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after program is recorded off the air.
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