The Mackay's scholarly book has been found to be one of the best regional
insect guides available. This book stands out from the rest in that it is
student friendly. Most regional entomological books are written for the
specialist. It is equally useful to a myrmecologist, an entomologist and the
entomology or ecology student. Most of the other ant books available are too
technical or written in such a way that they are useless for a student or a
non-specialist. This work includes keys, illustrations, descriptions and distribution maps
of all the ant species found in New Mexico, a total of 227 species and
subspecies, with a listing of another 66 that probably occur in the state. It
is designed to aid the determination of the identity of ants in the state.
