The most important books that deal only with ants (in general!):
01) Hölldobler, B., Wilson, E. O., 1994, “Journey to the Ants : A Story of Scientific Exploration.”
02) Hölldobler, B., Wilson, E. O., 1990, “The Ants.”
03) Hölldobler, B., Wilson, E. O., 2011, “The Leafcutter Ants. Civilisation by Instinct.”
04) Bolton, B., 1994, “Identification Guide to the Ant Genera of the World.”
05) Bolton, B., 2003, “Synopsis and Classification of Formicidae.”
06) Wheeler, W. M., 1910, “Ants: Their Structure, Development and Behavior.”
07) Agosti, D., Majer, J. D., Alonso, L. E., Schultz, T. R., 2000, “Ants: Standard Methods for Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity.”
08) Bourke, A. F. G., Franks, N. R., 1995, “Social Evolution in Ants.”
09) Dumpert, K., 1978, “Das Sozialleben der Ameisen, 1. Auflage.” (First edition.).
10) Dumpert, K., 1994, “Das Sozialleben der Ameisen, 2. Auflage.” (Second edition.).
This second edition is very good as a supplement to H. & W. "The Ants" on ants in relation to ant-plants or to butterflies, at that moment unpublished German material!
A small selection of books on social insects that are also very good on ants:
01) Wilson, E. O., 1971, “The Insect Societies.”
02) Hermann, H. R. (Editor.), 1979, “Social Insects, Vol. 1.”
03) Hermann, H. R. (Editor.), 1981, “Social Insects, Vol. 2.”
04) Hermann, H. R. (Editor.), 1982, “Social Insects, Vol. 3.”
05) Hermann, H. R. (Editor.), 1982, “Social Insects, Vol. 4.”
06) Hermann, H. R. (Editor.), 1984, “Defensive Mechanisms in Social Insects.”
07) Wilson, E. O., 1990, “Excellence in Ecology, Vol. 2: Success and Dominance in Ecosystems: The Case of the Social Insects.”
08) Hölldobler, B., Wilson, E. O., 2008 (2009.), “The Superorganism. The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies.”
There are still a lot more important books like e.g. for ants:
01) Passera, L., 1984, “L'Organisation Sociale des Fourmis.” (In French!).
02) Gösswald, K., 1985, “Organisation und Leben der Ameisen.” (In German!).
03) Gösswald, K., 1989, “Die Waldameise, Band 1: Biologische Grundlagen, Ökologie und Verhalten.” (In German!).
04) Gösswald, K., 1990, “Die Waldameise, Band 2: Die Waldameise im Ökosystem Wald, ihr Nutzen und ihre Hege.” (In German!).
And many more...
But like you can see they are old, difficult to get and/or in other languages. But all of these are also worth to be mentioned.
Passera's book, if you understand French, is, according to some people like me, important because, when reviewing ants in general, he tries to give everything with a big Pheidole-inclination! This means that most of the examples he gives (When talking about cast-determination, communication, ...) are from studies of Pheidole species (He himself studies/studied mostly Plagiolepis sp., Pheidole pallidula and "Iridomyrmex" humilis!).
K. Gösswald's books from 1989 and 1990 are very important for those who work with Formica in Europe! The most discussed species is F. polyctena, its life, behavior, ecology, employment as a pest control species, cultivation and propagation of colonies, ..., and it's systematic position in the F. rufa group (And its determination in that group.). It also gives a comparison between the European F. rufa group species.
P.S. European in this reply is restricted to Central Europe!
A few determination books from one author…
01) Seifert, B., 1996, “Ameisen: beobachten, bestimmen.” Naturbuch Verlag, Augsburg, 351 pp.
02) Seifert, B., 2007, “Die Ameisen Mittel- und Nordeuropas.” Lutra Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Tauer/Klitten, 368 pp.
03) Seifert, B., 2018, “The ants of Central and North Europe.” Lutra Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Tauer, 407 pp.
And one of the many important articles:
Joshua Blu Buhs, 2000, "Building on Bedrock: William Steel Creighton and the Reformation of Ant Systematics, 1925-1970." Journal of the History of Biology, vol. 33, issue 1: 27-70.
25 books and 1 article.
