This gorgeous new offering from the Welcome to the Museum series introduces readers to some of the most essential creatures in the natural world: insects. Making up over 80 percent of living species on Earth, at least one million insect species dwell and thrive in a world right below our feet. In the galleries of Insectarium, readers will meet creatures such as the beautiful demoiselle and the gigantic goliath beetle, learning why and how these small creatures have such a huge impact on the world around us.

A FACINATING TRAVEL MEMOIR THAT WILL ALTER THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT THE BUMBLEBEE

Dave Goulson became obsessed with wildlife as a small boy growing up in rural Shropshire, starting with an increasingly exotic menagerie of pets. When his interest turned to the anatomical, there were even some ill-fated experiments with taxidermy. But bumblebees are where Goulson's true passion lies.
His passionate quest to reintroduce the bumblebee to its native land is one of the highlights of a book that includes exclusive research into these mysterious creatures, history's relationship with the bumblebee, and advice on how to protect the bumblebee for future generations.
One of the United Kingdom's most respected conservationists and the founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Goulson combines light-hearted tales of a child's growing passion for nature with a deep insight into the crucial importance of the bumblebee. He details the minutiae of life in the nest, sharing fascinating research into the effects intensive farming has had on our bee population and the potential dangers if we are to continue down this path.

A terrific book...A thoughtful explanation of how the dramatic decline of insect species and numbers poses a dire threat to all life on earth. (Booklist, Starred Review)

In the tradition of Rachel Carson's groundbreaking environmental classic Silent Spring, an award-winning entomologist and conservationist explains the importance of insects to our survival, and offers a clarion call to avoid a looming ecological disaster of our own making.

Drawing on thirty years of research, Goulson has written an accessible, fascinating, and important book that examines the evidence of an alarming drop in insect numbers around the world. If we lose the insects, then everything is going to collapse, he warned in a recent interview in the New York Times--beginning with humans' food supply. The main cause of this decrease in insect populations is the indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides. Hence, Silent Earth's nod to Rachel Carson's classic Silent Spring which, when published in 1962, led to the global banning of DDT. This was a huge victory for science and ecological health at the time.

Yet before long, new pesticides just as lethal as DDT were introduced, and today, humanity finds itself on the brink of a new crisis. What will happen when the bugs are all gone? Goulson explores the intrinsic connection between climate change, nature, wildlife, and the shrinking biodiversity and analyzes the harmful impact for the earth and its inhabitants.

Meanwhile we have all read stories about hive collapse syndrome affecting honeybee colonies and the tragic decline of monarch butterflies in North America, and more. But it is not too late to arrest this decline, and Silent Earth should be the clarion call. Smart, eye-opening, and essential, Silent Earth is a forceful call to action to save our world, and ultimately, ourselves.

Silent Earth includes approximately 20 black-and-white illustrations and charts and graphs.