ANT CITIES

Among the 10,000 kinds of ants, diggers and builders may be the most interesting, with theft ability to lift 50 times their weight, their labor divisions, and their communication links. Through four-color cartoons that smartly withhold personalities from the insects, readers peek inside tunnels created for varying weather conditions, Once they're hooked, there's information about food processing, caring for eggs, and the roles of harvester and queen ants, as well as sections on other types of ants and instructions for building an ant farm. All serve to trade fright for respect, perhaps fascination. This behind-the-scenes story of a deceptively simple hill should build interest in observing both city and country ants.