The fascination of nature: the colony-forming and stinging hymenoptera
Bees, wasps and ants: We praise their benefits as fruit tree pollinators, forest police and insect exterminators. And yet we are afraid of them and their painful sting. The sting is their most important invention and the basis for the enormous diversity of species and life strategies.

This book, lavishly illustrated with many historical illustrations and brilliant macro photographs, explores the contradictory sides of wasps, bees and ants. It explains how and why the sting is used, what role pain plays in the evolution of these insects and how the complex colonies of stinging insects came into being.