Arts Long Island Mark W. Moffett Brings World Of Ants To Gallery Ny Times.Com
1 like229 views
Mark W. Moffett is a naturalist and photographer who has extensively studied ants around the world. He is bringing photographs from his book "Adventures Among Ants" to an art gallery on Long Island. The exhibition will showcase his stunning photos and give Moffett a chance to discuss his fascinating research with visitors. As an expert on ant behavior, he has made surprising discoveries about their similarities to human societies, such as engaging in warfare and taking slaves. The show provides an opportunity for people to learn about the complex world of ants through Moffett's unique perspective.
![Arts - Long Island - Mark W. Moffett Brings World of Ants to Gallery - NYTimes.com 9/28/10 8:20 AM
TimesPeople
HOME PAGE TODAY'S PAPER VIDEO MOST POPULAR TIMES TOPICS Subscribe to The Times Log In Register Now TimesPeople
Search All NYTimes.com
N.Y. / Region
WORLD U.S. N.Y. / REGION BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE HEALTH SPORTS OPINION ARTS STYLE TRAVEL JOBS REAL ESTATE AUTOS
ARTS | LONG ISLAND
Exploring the Globe for the World of Ants Log in to see what your friends are
sharing on nytimes.com. Privacy Log In With Facebook
Policy | Whats This ?
Whats Popular Now
Owner of Segway Thriving in Harsh
Company Dies in Settings, Old
a Segway Trees May Soon
Accident Meet Their Match
Log in to see what your friends are
sharing on nytimes.com. Privacy Log In With Facebook
Policy | Whats This ?
Log in to see what your friends are
sharing on nytimes.com. Privacy Log In With Facebook
Policy | Whats This ?
Whats Popular Now
Kevin McCarthy, Mexican
Actor in Invasion Bicentennial
of the Body Falling Short on
Snatchers Dies Fervor
at 96
From "Advenutres Among Ants" by Mark W. Moffett [University of California Press], 2010
For the villose pitcher plant a carpenter ant digests insects in exchange for living space.
By KARIN LIPSON
Published: September 10, 2010 TicketWatch - Theater Offers by E-Mail
Sign up for ticket offers from Broadway shows and other advertisers.
Greenport, N.Y. RECOMMEND
See Sample | Privacy Policy
IVE looked at the world from the point of view of TWITTER
Related an ant, Mark W. Moffett said as he crouched on
RECOMMEND
Times Topics: Long Island Arts | Long Island his lawn on a blazingly hot day early this month.
Arts Listings
TWITTER
A naturalist, writer and photographer, Dr. Moffett
Enlarge This Image
has been called the Indiana Jones of entomology SIGN IN TO E-
by the National Geographic Society for his MAIL
adventures and discoveries in remote outposts PRINT
around the world.
REPRINTS
But on this day he was focusing on his home turf
for the benefit of a visitor, delicately moving aside SHARE
blades of grass and mounds of moss in search of SHARE
ants.
From "Advenutres Among Ants" by Mark W.
Moffett [University of California Press], 2010 Theres one! Dr. Moffett said, scooping up an ant
Weaver and tailor ants pulling an adjacent in the palm of his hand; magnified under a loupe,
leaf and stem together to make a nest.
the temporary captive which he identified as
file:///Users/carolinewaloski/Desktop/Mark%20Moffett%20PR/Arts%20-s%20World%20of%20Ants%20to%20Gallery%20-%20NYTimes.com.webarchive Page 1 of 3](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/artslongislandmarkwmoffettbringsworldofantstogallerynytimescom-12858609230235-phpapp01/85/Arts-Long-Island-Mark-W-Moffett-Brings-World-Of-Ants-To-Gallery-Ny-Times-Com-1-320.jpg)
![Arts - Long Island - Mark W. Moffett Brings World of Ants to Gallery - NYTimes.com 9/28/10 8:20 AM
Enlarge This Image Tetramorium caespitum struggled mightily to
emerge from the alien folds of Dr. Moffetts palm.
Such determination is one reason the 52-year-old naturalist, a research
associate at the Smithsonian Institution, retains the fascination he first felt for
these insects when he was barely a toddler.
Of course, neither the Tetramorium caespitum nor an evasive Lasius neoniger
hiding in the moss was a big deal to Dr. Moffett, who has encountered some of
the worlds most dangerous ants in his travels to places like Africa, Borneo,
From "Advenutres Among Ants" by Mark W. India, Latin America and Australia.
Moffett [University of California Press], 2010
The mandibles of driver ants can cut through In Ghana, he recalled, he once found himself in a swarm of driver ants 100
flesh. feet wide, its soldiers advancing like a Roman phalanx. With jaws like little
Enlarge This Image knife blades, he said, they do carve into your feet as youre running.
In Australia, bulldog ants they have stingers like big syringes leapt at
and pierced him multiple times, releasing a potentially fatal toxin. Exploits of
this kind fill his most recent book, Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari
With a Cast of Trillions (University of California Press, $29.95).
Some of the photos from the book, taken by Dr. Moffett, will be on view
starting Sept. 25 at the Sirens Song Gallery in Greenport. (An ant farm will
also be on hand for the shows duration.) Dr. Moffett will sign books at an
opening-day reception, from 6 to 8 p.m. And, of course, hell talk about ants
with visitors; as a speaker, hes entertaining enough to have appeared on both MOST POPULAR
Late Night With Conan OBrien and The Colbert Report.
E -MAILED BLOGGED SEARCHED VIEWED
Anything could come up, including why ants trump chimps in their similarities 1. Thomas L. Friedman: Were No. 1(1)!
with modern man, in Dr. Moffetts view. Only ants, a few kinds of termites and
2 . Mind: Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits
modern people have societies in the millions, he said. Living in smaller
3. Frank Rich: Time for This Big Dog to Bite Back
groups, chimpanzees dont have to build roads, they dont have to deal with
4 . Testing, the Chinese Way
sanitation issues, they dont have to deal with traffic and infrastructure but
5. Nicholas D. Kristof: Is This America?
ants do.
6 . Resale Fees That Only Developers Could Love
John Longino
Ants also share less appealing traits with humans, as Adventures Among Ants 7. Maureen Dowd: When Peggy Left Barry
IN PURSUIT Mark W. Moffett, a naturalist,
writer and photographer, has traveled the makes clear. The Amazon ant, for example, takes slaves. Only ants and people 8. Chinese Remake the Made in Italy Fashion Label
world in his study of insects, including in the engage in large-scale warfare (though other animals conduct raids). Some ants 9 . 36 Hours in Charleston, S.C.
rain forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica, above.
are suicide bombers, their bodies rupturing to release a toxic glue that kills 10. German Identity, Long Dormant, Reasserts Itself
both them and their enemy.
Go to Complete List 損
Most ants are violent, Dr. Moffett said. Also, despite the need to propagate, they dont have a lot of sex in their lives
maybe the queen, for one afternoon, early on. ...
Clearly of an unusual cast of mind, Dr. Moffett was a high school dropout (I was just focused on my own projects)
who nevertheless attended Beloit College in Wisconsin, where he began publishing scientific articles, before getting his
Ph.D. in ecology at Harvard. His doctoral adviser was the Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist Edward O. Wilson.
Within a few months of his arrival at Harvard, he had secured the grant money for an expedition, ultimately traveling
from New Guinea to Sri Lanka to document ant behavior for his dissertation. For his research, Dr. Moffett recalled, I
traveled for 29 months, apparently setting him on the path of explorer-scientist he still pursues.
In addition to ants, his other prime professional interest is the ecology of forest canopies. Most of the diversity of life is
in the treetops, said Dr. Moffett, whose book The High Frontier: Exploring the Tropical Rainforest Canopy was
published in 1993.
2010 iPods get high ratings
These days he is accompanied on his research trips by his wife, Melissa Wells, a consultant for health care systems; Ms. ALSO IN TECH 損
Wells, whom he married in 2008 on Easter Island in the Pacific, serves as the expeditions videographer. Google unveils tool to speed up searches
Though financing can be an issue in these recessionary times, life in the field beats being in a lab, Dr. Moffett said.
Finding a smartphone under $100
Luring him out are what he calls the sheer joy of exploring, and those trillions of ants organized, implacable,
ubiquitous. He is even wont to close his e-mails with the wry benediction May the ants be with you.
Adventures Among Ants, photos by Mark W. Moffett, Sept. 25 through Oct. 18 at the ADVERTISEMENTS
Sirens Song Gallery, 516 Main Street, Greenport. sirensongallery.com; (631) 477-1021.
Open Friday through Monday and by appointment. Find your dream home with
The New York Times Real Estate
A version of this article appeared in print on September 12, 2010, on page LI11 of Follow The New York Times on Twitter
the New York edition.
Get the full newspaper experience, and more, delivered to your Mac or PC. Times Reader 2.0: Try it
The new issue of T is here
FREE for 2 full weeks.
SIGN IN TO E-
MAIL See the news in the making. Watch
TimesCast, a daily news video.
PRINT
REPRINTS
file:///Users/carolinewaloski/Desktop/Mark%20Moffett%20PR/Arts%20-s%20World%20of%20Ants%20to%20Gallery%20-%20NYTimes.com.webarchive Page 2 of 3](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/artslongislandmarkwmoffettbringsworldofantstogallerynytimescom-12858609230235-phpapp01/85/Arts-Long-Island-Mark-W-Moffett-Brings-World-Of-Ants-To-Gallery-Ny-Times-Com-2-320.jpg)
Arts Long Island Mark W. Moffett Brings World Of Ants To Gallery Ny Times.Com
- 1. Arts - Long Island - Mark W. Moffett Brings World of Ants to Gallery - NYTimes.com 9/28/10 8:20 AM TimesPeople HOME PAGE TODAY'S PAPER VIDEO MOST POPULAR TIMES TOPICS Subscribe to The Times Log In Register Now TimesPeople Search All NYTimes.com N.Y. / Region WORLD U.S. N.Y. / REGION BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE HEALTH SPORTS OPINION ARTS STYLE TRAVEL JOBS REAL ESTATE AUTOS ARTS | LONG ISLAND Exploring the Globe for the World of Ants Log in to see what your friends are sharing on nytimes.com. Privacy Log In With Facebook Policy | Whats This ? Whats Popular Now Owner of Segway Thriving in Harsh Company Dies in Settings, Old a Segway Trees May Soon Accident Meet Their Match Log in to see what your friends are sharing on nytimes.com. Privacy Log In With Facebook Policy | Whats This ? Log in to see what your friends are sharing on nytimes.com. Privacy Log In With Facebook Policy | Whats This ? Whats Popular Now Kevin McCarthy, Mexican Actor in Invasion Bicentennial of the Body Falling Short on Snatchers Dies Fervor at 96 From "Advenutres Among Ants" by Mark W. Moffett [University of California Press], 2010 For the villose pitcher plant a carpenter ant digests insects in exchange for living space. By KARIN LIPSON Published: September 10, 2010 TicketWatch - Theater Offers by E-Mail Sign up for ticket offers from Broadway shows and other advertisers. Greenport, N.Y. RECOMMEND See Sample | Privacy Policy IVE looked at the world from the point of view of TWITTER Related an ant, Mark W. Moffett said as he crouched on RECOMMEND Times Topics: Long Island Arts | Long Island his lawn on a blazingly hot day early this month. Arts Listings TWITTER A naturalist, writer and photographer, Dr. Moffett Enlarge This Image has been called the Indiana Jones of entomology SIGN IN TO E- by the National Geographic Society for his MAIL adventures and discoveries in remote outposts PRINT around the world. REPRINTS But on this day he was focusing on his home turf for the benefit of a visitor, delicately moving aside SHARE blades of grass and mounds of moss in search of SHARE ants. From "Advenutres Among Ants" by Mark W. Moffett [University of California Press], 2010 Theres one! Dr. Moffett said, scooping up an ant Weaver and tailor ants pulling an adjacent in the palm of his hand; magnified under a loupe, leaf and stem together to make a nest. the temporary captive which he identified as file:///Users/carolinewaloski/Desktop/Mark%20Moffett%20PR/Arts%20-s%20World%20of%20Ants%20to%20Gallery%20-%20NYTimes.com.webarchive Page 1 of 3
- 2. Arts - Long Island - Mark W. Moffett Brings World of Ants to Gallery - NYTimes.com 9/28/10 8:20 AM Enlarge This Image Tetramorium caespitum struggled mightily to emerge from the alien folds of Dr. Moffetts palm. Such determination is one reason the 52-year-old naturalist, a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution, retains the fascination he first felt for these insects when he was barely a toddler. Of course, neither the Tetramorium caespitum nor an evasive Lasius neoniger hiding in the moss was a big deal to Dr. Moffett, who has encountered some of the worlds most dangerous ants in his travels to places like Africa, Borneo, From "Advenutres Among Ants" by Mark W. India, Latin America and Australia. Moffett [University of California Press], 2010 The mandibles of driver ants can cut through In Ghana, he recalled, he once found himself in a swarm of driver ants 100 flesh. feet wide, its soldiers advancing like a Roman phalanx. With jaws like little Enlarge This Image knife blades, he said, they do carve into your feet as youre running. In Australia, bulldog ants they have stingers like big syringes leapt at and pierced him multiple times, releasing a potentially fatal toxin. Exploits of this kind fill his most recent book, Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari With a Cast of Trillions (University of California Press, $29.95). Some of the photos from the book, taken by Dr. Moffett, will be on view starting Sept. 25 at the Sirens Song Gallery in Greenport. (An ant farm will also be on hand for the shows duration.) Dr. Moffett will sign books at an opening-day reception, from 6 to 8 p.m. And, of course, hell talk about ants with visitors; as a speaker, hes entertaining enough to have appeared on both MOST POPULAR Late Night With Conan OBrien and The Colbert Report. E -MAILED BLOGGED SEARCHED VIEWED Anything could come up, including why ants trump chimps in their similarities 1. Thomas L. Friedman: Were No. 1(1)! with modern man, in Dr. Moffetts view. Only ants, a few kinds of termites and 2 . Mind: Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits modern people have societies in the millions, he said. Living in smaller 3. Frank Rich: Time for This Big Dog to Bite Back groups, chimpanzees dont have to build roads, they dont have to deal with 4 . Testing, the Chinese Way sanitation issues, they dont have to deal with traffic and infrastructure but 5. Nicholas D. Kristof: Is This America? ants do. 6 . Resale Fees That Only Developers Could Love John Longino Ants also share less appealing traits with humans, as Adventures Among Ants 7. Maureen Dowd: When Peggy Left Barry IN PURSUIT Mark W. Moffett, a naturalist, writer and photographer, has traveled the makes clear. The Amazon ant, for example, takes slaves. Only ants and people 8. Chinese Remake the Made in Italy Fashion Label world in his study of insects, including in the engage in large-scale warfare (though other animals conduct raids). Some ants 9 . 36 Hours in Charleston, S.C. rain forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica, above. are suicide bombers, their bodies rupturing to release a toxic glue that kills 10. German Identity, Long Dormant, Reasserts Itself both them and their enemy. Go to Complete List 損 Most ants are violent, Dr. Moffett said. Also, despite the need to propagate, they dont have a lot of sex in their lives maybe the queen, for one afternoon, early on. ... Clearly of an unusual cast of mind, Dr. Moffett was a high school dropout (I was just focused on my own projects) who nevertheless attended Beloit College in Wisconsin, where he began publishing scientific articles, before getting his Ph.D. in ecology at Harvard. His doctoral adviser was the Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist Edward O. Wilson. Within a few months of his arrival at Harvard, he had secured the grant money for an expedition, ultimately traveling from New Guinea to Sri Lanka to document ant behavior for his dissertation. For his research, Dr. Moffett recalled, I traveled for 29 months, apparently setting him on the path of explorer-scientist he still pursues. In addition to ants, his other prime professional interest is the ecology of forest canopies. Most of the diversity of life is in the treetops, said Dr. Moffett, whose book The High Frontier: Exploring the Tropical Rainforest Canopy was published in 1993. 2010 iPods get high ratings These days he is accompanied on his research trips by his wife, Melissa Wells, a consultant for health care systems; Ms. ALSO IN TECH 損 Wells, whom he married in 2008 on Easter Island in the Pacific, serves as the expeditions videographer. Google unveils tool to speed up searches Though financing can be an issue in these recessionary times, life in the field beats being in a lab, Dr. Moffett said. Finding a smartphone under $100 Luring him out are what he calls the sheer joy of exploring, and those trillions of ants organized, implacable, ubiquitous. He is even wont to close his e-mails with the wry benediction May the ants be with you. Adventures Among Ants, photos by Mark W. Moffett, Sept. 25 through Oct. 18 at the ADVERTISEMENTS Sirens Song Gallery, 516 Main Street, Greenport. sirensongallery.com; (631) 477-1021. Open Friday through Monday and by appointment. Find your dream home with The New York Times Real Estate A version of this article appeared in print on September 12, 2010, on page LI11 of Follow The New York Times on Twitter the New York edition. Get the full newspaper experience, and more, delivered to your Mac or PC. Times Reader 2.0: Try it The new issue of T is here FREE for 2 full weeks. SIGN IN TO E- MAIL See the news in the making. Watch TimesCast, a daily news video. PRINT REPRINTS file:///Users/carolinewaloski/Desktop/Mark%20Moffett%20PR/Arts%20-s%20World%20of%20Ants%20to%20Gallery%20-%20NYTimes.com.webarchive Page 2 of 3
- 3. Arts - Long Island - Mark W. Moffett Brings World of Ants to Gallery - NYTimes.com 9/28/10 8:20 AM Ads by Google what's this? Treating Carpenter Ants Remove Ants in Your Home & Business Contact Us & Wipe Out the Nuisance! www.LongIslandAnts.com Ads by Google what's this? Etihad Airways Career Related Searches Managers needed in USA Apply for Etihad Airways Photography Get E -Mail Alerts Career Ants Get E -Mail Alerts Greenport (NY) Get E -Mail Alerts www.Careers.EtihadAirways.com INSIDE NYTIMES.COM STYLE 損 WEEK IN REVIEW 損 OPINION 損 ARTS 損 OPINION 損 WORLD 損 Home Fires, War and the City: Of Arms and the Pen An Iraq war veterans final installment of his passage from youth to soldier to civilian writer. T Mens Fashion Fall 2010 As Time Passes, the Goals in Looking for Luck in Texas Poet With a Kodak and a Restless Mexican Bicentennial Falls Short on Afghanistan Shrink Eye Fervor Home World U.S. N.Y. / Region Business Technology Science Health Sports Opinion Arts Style Travel Jobs Real Estate Autos Back to Top Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company Privacy Terms of Service Search Corrections RSS First Look Help Contact Us Work for Us Advertise Site Map MORE IN N.Y. / REGION (1 OF 27 ARTIC MORE IN N.Y. / REGION (1 OF 28 ARTICLES) U.S. Cleanup Is Set for Newtow by Industry A Fiery Unknown Ruffles New Yorks R Read More 損 Read More 損 file:///Users/carolinewaloski/Desktop/Mark%20Moffett%20PR/Arts%20-s%20World%20of%20Ants%20to%20Gallery%20-%20NYTimes.com.webarchive Page 3 of 3