The latest edition of the Animal Studies Journal was initially conceived by associate editor Sally Borrell who framed the call for papers with a quote from Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake: Can a single ant be said to be alive in any meaningful sense of the word or does it only have relevance in terms of its anthill?

Focusing on the theme of understanding invertebrates, with a particular emphasis on invertebrate communities animal studies scholars and artists present work on insects – who, according to scientific data, comprise 75% of all animal species on planet Earth.