The 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 author‘s position to some fundamental questions of taxonomy and biodiversity research, - 581 photos and line drawings of living or mounted ants.