From entomologist Barrett Klein comes a buzz-worthy exploration of the many ways insects have affected human society, history, and culture

As heard on Science Friday.

Insects surround us. They fuel life on Earth through their roles as pollinators, predators, and prey, but rarely do we consider the outsize influence they have had on our culture and civilization. Their anatomy and habits inform how we live, work, create art, and innovate. Featuring nearly 250 color images--from ancient etchings to avant-garde art, from bug-based meals to haute couture--The Insect Epiphany proves that our world would look very different without insects, not just because they are crucial to our ecosystems, but because they have shaped and inspired so many aspects of what makes us human.

In nature, as in society, the parasites outnumber the hosts. John Janovy Jr. offers the parasites' view of this situation. The result is smart, funny, and all too revealing. - Elizabeth Kolbert, staff writer for The New Yorker and New York Times bestselling author of The Sixth Extinction

The answers to life's biggest questions can be found by looking at the little things...

Though you may not be able to see them with the naked eye, parasites--minuscule life forms that live inside other organisms--inhabit our everyday lives. From headlice to bird droppings, litterboxes to unfiltered water, you have brushed up against the most common way of life on our planet.

In this unique book, John Janovy Jr., one of the world's preeminent experts on parasites, reveals what humans can learn from the most reviled yet misunderstood animals on Earth: lice, tapeworms, flukes, and maggots that can eat a lizard from the inside, and how these lessons help us negotiate our own complicated world. Whether we're learning to adapt to adverse conditions, accept our own limitations, or process new information in an ever-changing landscape--we can be sure a parasite did it first.

At once peculiar and profound, Life Lessons from a Parasite makes a case for using knowledge of the natural world, with all its wonderful mysteries and quirks, to tackle our worst problems.

How honeybees make collective decisions--and what we can learn from this amazing democratic process

Honeybees make decisions collectively--and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honeybees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. In fact, as world-renowned animal behaviorist Thomas Seeley reveals, these incredible insects have much to teach us when it comes to collective wisdom and effective decision making. A remarkable and richly illustrated account of scientific discovery, Honeybee Democracy brings together, for the first time, decades of Seeley's pioneering research to tell the amazing story of house hunting and democratic debate among the honeybees.

In the late spring and early summer, as a bee colony becomes overcrowded, a third of the hive stays behind and rears a new queen, while a swarm of thousands departs with the old queen to produce a daughter colony. Seeley describes how these bees evaluate potential nest sites, advertise their discoveries to one another, engage in open deliberation, choose a final site, and navigate together--as a swirling cloud of bees--to their new home. Seeley investigates how evolution has honed the decision-making methods of honeybees over millions of years, and he considers similarities between the ways that bee swarms and primate brains process information. He concludes that what works well for bees can also work well for people: any decision-making group should consist of individuals with shared interests and mutual respect, a leader's influence should be minimized, debate should be relied upon, diverse solutions should be sought, and the majority should be counted on for a dependable resolution.

An impressive exploration of animal behavior, Honeybee Democracy shows that decision-making groups, whether honeybee or human, can be smarter than even the smartest individuals in them.

Zombies aren't just the stuff of nightmares. Explore the fascinating world of real-life insect zombification.

Zombies are all around us--insect zombies, that is. In Rise of the Zombie Bugs, Mindy Weisberger explores the eerie yet fascinating phenomenon of real-life zombification in the insect class and among other invertebrates. Zombifying parasites reproduce by rewriting their victims' neurochemistry, transforming them into the walking dead armies of cicadas, spiders, and other hosts that helplessly follow a zombifier's commands, living only to serve the parasite's needs until death's sweet release (and often beyond).

Through vivid descriptions and captivating storytelling, Weisberger explains the sinister mechanics of nature's most cunning survival strategies, including the biological marvels and evolutionary intricacies behind zombie ants, mind-controlled beetles, and the fungi and viruses that reprogram their hosts' behavior. Blending scientific rigor with a flair for the macabre, Weisberger takes readers on a global journey--from Brazilian rainforests to European meadows--to uncover the dark secrets of parasitic manipulation.

Her examination of these creatures seeks to answer fundamental questions of their existence: why is a bug's world full of zombies, why are arthropods so susceptible to this zombification, and could the creators of zombie bugs ever evolve to do the same to people? Perfect for fans of horror and science alike, Rise of the Zombie Bugs offers a chilling yet enlightening look at the hidden world of parasites. It's a must-read for anyone curious about the true terrors lurking in nature's undergrowth and the unnerving beauty of evolution's darker side.

The best-selling Hello, World! board book series expands into picture books, for science and nonfiction fans who are ready for the next step.

In Exploring Insects, readers can learn all about bugs, with pollinators like bees and butterflies, incredible rainforest insects, and even an insect that uses its butt to warn off predators! Insect fans will find:

• Fascinating details about bugs and how they help the environment.

• Panels of stats for kids who love data, with information about body parts, diet, location, and more.

• Questions that ask the reader to think about insects in relation to themselves, such as If you had wings, where would you fly to?

Loyal Hello, World! fans who are reading on their own, as well as any kid who loves nonfiction, will find many captivating hours of learning and inspiration.

From ants scurrying under leaf litter to bees able to fly higher than Mount Kilimanjaro, insects are everywhere. Three out of every four of our planet's known animal species are insects. In The Insect Crisis, acclaimed journalist Oliver Milman dives into the torrent of recent evidence that suggests this kaleidoscopic group of creatures is suffering the greatest existential crisis in its remarkable 400-million-year history. What is causing the collapse of the insect world? Why does this alarming decline pose such a threat to us? And what can be done to stem the loss of the miniature empires that hold aloft life as we know it?

With urgency and great clarity, Milman explores this hidden emergency, arguing that its consequences could even rival climate change. He joins the scientists tracking the decline of insect populations across the globe, including the soaring mountains of Mexico that host an epic, yet dwindling, migration of monarch butterflies; the verdant countryside of England that has been emptied of insect life; the gargantuan fields of U.S. agriculture that have proved a killing ground for bees; and an offbeat experiment in Denmark that shows there aren't that many bugs splattering into your car windshield these days. These losses not only further tear at the tapestry of life on our degraded planet; they imperil everything we hold dear, from the food on our supermarket shelves to the medicines in our cabinets to the riot of nature that thrills and enlivens us. Even insects we may dread, including the hated cockroach, or the stinging wasp, play crucial ecological roles, and their decline would profoundly shape our own story.

By connecting butterfly and bee, moth and beetle from across the globe, the full scope of loss renders a portrait of a crisis that threatens to upend the workings of our collective history. Part warning, part celebration of the incredible variety of insects, The Insect Crisis is a wake-up call for us all.

This lavishly illustrated guide will enable you to identify the caterpillars of nearly 700 butterflies and moths found east of the Mississippi. The more than 1,200 color photographs and two dozen line drawings include numerous exceptionally striking images. The giant silk moths, tiger moths, and many other species covered include forest pests, common garden guests, economically important species, and of course, the Mescal Worm and Mexican Jumping Bean caterpillars. Full-page species accounts cover almost 400 species, with up to six images per species including an image of the adult plus succinct text with information on distribution, seasonal activity, foodplants, and life history. These accounts are generously complemented with additional images of earlier instars, closely related species, noteworthy behaviors, and other intriguing aspects of caterpillar biology.

Many caterpillars are illustrated here for the first time. Dozens of new foodplant records are presented and erroneous records are corrected. The book provides considerable information on the distribution, biology, and taxonomy of caterpillars beyond that available in other popular works on Eastern butterflies and moths. The introductory chapter covers caterpillar structure, life cycles, rearing, natural enemies, photography, and conservation. The section titled Caterpillar Projects will be of special interest to educators.

Given the dearth of accessible guides on the identification and natural history of caterpillars, Caterpillars of Eastern North America is a must for entomologists and museum curators, forest managers, conservation biologists and others who seek a compact, easy-to-use guide to the caterpillars of this vast region.

• A compact guide to nearly 700 caterpillars east of the Mississippi, from forest pests to garden guests and economically important species


• 1,200 color photos and 24 line drawings enable easy identification


• Full-page species accounts with image of adult insect for almost 400 species, plus succinct text on distribution and other vital information


• Many caterpillars illustrated here for the first time


• Current information on distribution, biology, and taxonomy not found in other popular works


• A section geared toward educators, Caterpillar Projects


• An indispensable resource for all who seek an easy-to-use guide to the caterpillars of this vast region

Hailed by Darwin as The Homer of Insects, famed French entomologist Jean Henri Fabre (1823-1915) devoted hours of rapt attention to insects while they hunted, built nests, and fed their families. Working in Provence, in barren, sun-scorched fields inhabited by countless wasps and bees, he observed their intricate and fascinating world, recounting their activities in simple, beautifully written essays.
This volume, based on translations of Fabre's Souvenirs Entomologiques, blends folklore and mythology with factual explanation. Fabre's absorbing account of the scarab beetle's existence, for example, begins with the ancient Egyptians' symbolic view of this busy creature, eventually leading to a careful discussion of its characteristic method of rolling a carefully sculpted ball of food to its den. Elsewhere, he discusses with infectious enthusiasm the physiologic secrets behind the luminosity of fireflies, the musical talents of the locust, the comfortable home of the field cricket, and the cannibalism of the pious-looking praying mantis, among other topics.
These charmingly related stories of insect life are a rare combination of scientific study and literary classic that will delight entomologists, naturalists, and nature lovers alike.

A treasure. Hymenoptera highlights these insects in an incredibly rich selection of color photographs and text, that serve both in identification and to illuminate their lives and strategies. It is hugely pleasing. Superb.
-- Bernd Heinrich, biologist and author

Winner of the 2024 Dartmouth Medal for most outstanding reference work, an annual award presented by the expert reference and collection development librarians of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).

Stephen A. Marshall's natural history titles -- Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity, Beetles: The Natural History and Diversity of Coleoptera and Flies: The Natural History and Diversity of Diptera -- are among the most respected books on the insect world published in the last 20 years. More admirable than the books' rigorous science, however, is that they are wholly suitable for a lay audience, including high school students interested in entomology. The books have been adopted as classroom texts at the university level and are on the reference shelves of many practicing entomologists.

In Hymenoptera, Marshall has applied his broad knowledge of insects to the world of wasps, bees and ants. The subject of this book is an enormous one, since Hymenoptera is arguably the largest order of living things. Comprehensive and packed with richly illustrated keys and thousands of color photographs identified with help from many of the world's best hymenopterists, this volume provides the reader with a colorful and enjoyable introduction to a huge group of organisms, along with an overview of the diversity of fascinating families included in the group.

Marshall opens with a description of what makes a wasp a wasp, and then introduces the diversity, importance and natural history of the order with copious examples and explanations. Topics include the life histories of wasps, Hymenoptera and plants, Hymenoptera in history, culture and fiction, kleptoparasitism, and many more.

Part two of Hymenoptera is a guided tour of the diversity of the order, with fascinating stops for almost all of the world's 100 or so families of wasps as well as most of the significant subfamilies. Thousands of photos, almost all taken in the field by the author, are used to capture the range of form and function in each family, with pages of photographs of the popular groups -- such as bees, hornets and ants -- but also with little-known groups ranging from pincer wasps to fairyflies. Essential information about importance, range, behavior and biology is provided for each group, and easy-to-use photographic keys to most families are provided for those wishing to use the book as an identification guide.

Like Marshall's companion titles, Hymenoptera will be welcomed by the scientific, academic and naturalist communities, as well as the next generation of entomologists.

Combining the literary sensibility of David Quammen with the scientific rigor of Stephen Jay Gould, Carl Zimmer reveals the power, danger, and beauty of the surprising creatures who dominate the earth: parasites.

For centuries, parasites have lived in nightmares, horror stories, and the darkest shadows of science. In Parasite Rex, Carl Zimmer takes readers on a fantastic voyage into the secret universe of these extraordinary life-forms--which are not only among the most highly evolved on Earth, but make up the majority of life's diversity. Traveling from the steamy jungles of Costa Rica to the parasite-riddled war zone of southern Sudan, Zimmer introduces an array of amazing creatures that invade their hosts, prey on them from within, and control their behavior. He also vividly describes parasites that can change DNA, rewire the brain, make men more distrustful and women more outgoing, and turn hosts into the living dead. This comprehensive, gracefully written book brings parasites out into the open and uncovers what they can teach us all about the most fundamental survival tactics in the universe--the laws of Parasite Rex.

The King of Sting describes his adventures with insects and the pain scale that's made him a scientific celebrity.

Silver, Science (Adult Non-Fiction) Foreword INDIES Award 2017

Entomologist Justin O. Schmidt is on a mission. Some say it's a brave exploration, others shake their heads in disbelief. His goal? To compare the impacts of stinging insects on humans, mainly using himself as the test case.

In The Sting of the Wild, the colorful Dr. Schmidt takes us on a journey inside the lives of stinging insects. He explains how and why they attack and reveals the powerful punch they can deliver with a small venom gland and a sting, the name for the apparatus that delivers the venom. We learn which insects are the worst to encounter and why some are barely worth considering.

The Sting of the Wild includes the complete Schmidt Sting Pain Index, published here for the first time. In addition to a numerical ranking of the agony of each of the eighty-three stings he's sampled so far, Schmidt describes them in prose worthy of a professional wine critic: Looks deceive. Rich and full-bodied in appearance, but flavorless and Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your heel.

Schmidt explains that, for some insects, stinging is used for hunting: small wasps, for example, can paralyze huge caterpillars for long enough to lay eggs inside them, so that their larvae emerge within a living feast. Others are used to kill competing insects, even members of their own species. Humans usually experience stings as defensive maneuvers used by insects to protect their nest mates. With colorful descriptions of each venom's sensation and a story that leaves you tingling with awe, The Sting of the Wild's one-of-a-kind style will fire your imagination.

Sometimes, small predators are the most vicious. Praying mantises and black widow spiders have unique weapons to take down their prey. Readers will discover how these two animals use their secret weapons to get their next meal. Profiles and other features highlight special information about each animal. A final narrative puts a praying mantis and black widow spider up against each other. Which creature will remain standing?

Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs is the first-ever comprehensive firefly guide for eastern and central North America. It is written for all those who want to know more about the amazing world of lightning bugs and learn the secrets hidden in the flash patterns of the 75+ species found in the eastern and central United States and Canada. As an independent researcher working with numerous university teams, naturalist Lynn Frierson Faust, The Lightning Bug Lady, has spent decades tracking the behavior and researching the habitats of these fascinating creatures.

Based on her twenty-five years of fieldwork, this book is intended to increase understanding and appreciation of bioluminescent insects while igniting enthusiasm in a fun and informative way. Species accounts are coupled with historical backgrounds and literary epigraphs to engage and draw readers young and old into the world of these tiny sparklers. A chart documenting the flash patterns of the various species will aid in identification.

Clear photos illustrate the insects' distinguishing physical characteristics, while habitats, seasonality, and common names are provided in easy-to-understand yet scientifically accurate language. The guide will be welcomed by everyone who wants to learn more about fireflies' and glow-worms' unique traits and fragile niche in the ecosystem.

Features:

Over 600 color photographs

Detailed accounts and anatomical diagrams of 75+ species, as well as aids in distinguishing between similar species

A first-of-its-kind flash-pattern chart that folds out on heavy-weight paper

Extensive scientific details written in an understandable and engaging way

Colorful common names--Twilight Bush Baby, Shadow Ghosts, Snappy Syncs, and more--for easy species identification based on flash patterns

Tips on ideal sites and times of year for firefly watching

Conservation-oriented approach

This enthusiastic, witty, and informative introduction to the world of insects and why we could not survive without them is a joy (The Times, London) and charming...Highlighting them in all their buzzing, stinging, biting glory (The New York Times Book Review).

Insects comprise roughly half of the animal kingdom. They live everywhere--deep inside caves, 18,000 feet high in the Himalayas, inside computers, in Yellowstone's hot springs, and in the ears and nostrils of much larger creatures. There are insects that have ears on their knees, eyes on their penises, and tongues under their feet. Most of us think life would be better without bugs. In fact, life would be impossible without them.

Most of us know that we would not have honey without honeybees, but without the pinhead-sized chocolate midge, cocoa flowers would not pollinate. No cocoa, no chocolate. The ink that was used to write the Declaration of Independence was derived from galls on oak trees, which are induced by a small wasp. The fruit fly was essential to medical and biological research experiments that resulted in six Nobel prizes. Blowfly larva can clean difficult wounds; flour beetle larva can digest plastic; several species of insects have been essential to the development of antibiotics. Insects turn dead plants and animals into soil. They pollinate flowers, including crops that we depend on. They provide food for other animals, such as birds and bats. They control organisms that are harmful to humans. Life as we know it depends on these small creatures.

Delivering a hail of facts with brio and precision (Nature) Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson shows us that there is more variety among insects than we thought possible and the more you learn about insects, the more fascinating they become. Extraordinary Insects is a very enthusiastic look at the flying, crawling, stinging bug universe world, and why we should cherish it (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

**Note: This book was previously published under the title Buzz, Sting, Bite.

Reviews of the first edition of Insects [starred review]This book is simply bigger, prettier, and more comprehensive than any previous publication on insects. --Library Journal

An incredibly important, masterfully written and profusely illustrated work that belongs in the library of every field biologist, educator, student and naturalist . . . a book that is destined to become a natural history classic. --Arthur V Evans, Research Collaborator, Dept. of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution

Called a milestone in insect photography and simply bigger, prettier and more comprehensive than any previous publication on insects, Professor Stephen Marshall's Insects is now in a new edition, with more than 500 changes to reflect the latest scientific findings since it was first published in 2006.

It is a comprehensive reference on insects featuring an easy identification guide using 28 picture keys, 4000 color photographs taken in the field (not pinned specimens), expert advice on observing insects, and more.

Insects enables readers and starting entomologists to identify most insects quickly and accurately. More than 50 pages of picture keys lead to appropriate chapters and specific photos, to confirm identification. The keys are surprisingly comprehensive and easy for non-specialists to use.

Features include:

detailed chapters covering insect orders and insect families

a brief examination of common families of related terrestrial arthropods

4000+ color photographs showing typical behaviors and key characteristics

three indexes--common family names, photographs, general index

expert guidance on observing, collecting and photographing insects

new remarks on declining habitat and threats to biodiversity.

This book has been widely and thoroughly praised. It is now ready for a new generation of new, and lifetime students of entomology.

Butterflies of Maine and the Canadian Maritime Provinces introduces readers to over one hundred and twenty butterfly species documented in the Acadian region. Including contributions from researchers and community scientists, this volume is indispensable for anyone interested in the study and conservation of these ecologically important insects.

This user-friendly guide features:
- The first annotated checklist of the species and subspecies of Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island
- Species accounts covering habitat, behavior, threats, and more
- Color photographs, flight histograms, and distribution maps

Explore the mind of a bee and learn what drives its behavior.

Have you ever observed a bee up close and wondered what was going on inside its head? Like ours, insects' brains take up most of the space in their heads, but their brains are smaller than a grain of rice, only 0.0002% as large as ours. But what purpose does the insect brain serve, and how does that drive their creativity, morality, and emotions?

Bees in particular exhibit unexpected and fascinating cognitive skills. In What Do Bees Think About? animal cognition researcher Mathieu Lihoreau examines a century of research into insect evolution and behavior. He explains recent scientific discoveries, recounts researchers' anecdotes, and reflects on the cognition of these fascinating creatures. Lihoreau's and others scientist's research on insects reinforces the importance of protecting and preserving insects such as bees: after all, our survival on the planet is deeply dependent on theirs. This book provides an eye-opening window into the world of insect cognition and echoes an important ecological message about bees--they are intelligent creatures sharing the same fragile ecosystem as us.

To date, more than a million insect species have been described, with probably at least another 5-8 million species waiting in the wings for a name. Insects are a fascinatingly diverse and beautiful spectrum of animals. They range in size from the tiny parasitic wasp, measuring a mere 139 m, to the aptly named Titan beetle, which can reach lengths of up to 17cm. They can be found on all continents of the world, from the Sahara Desert to the frozen wastes of Antarctica; in caves, under the ground, inside plants, other insects and vertebrates, in rivers, streams, lakes and ponds, in puddles, in the watery interiors of pitcher plants; and in our houses. While no insects live beneath the waves, the intrepid sea skaters skim the surface of some of the world's oceans.

This Very Short Introduction explores the extraordinary world of insects. It analyses insect evolution, taxonomy and development, and describes their behaviour, their life styles, and the interactions they have with other insects and other animals. As Simon Leather shows, insects are the bedrock on which human civilisation rests; without them we would almost certainly not exist. Although they can be seen as pests of our crops plants, they are also invaluable for pollinating our flowering plants and are an invaluable link in all land ecosystems. As they face challenges from climate change and pesticides it has never been more important to understand these oft-dismissed creatures.

bVery Short Introductionsb: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring /b

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

In Tales from the Ant World, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O. Wilson takes us on a thrilling myrmecological tour across continents and through time, inviting us into his decades-long scientific obsession with ants. Animating his observations with personal stories, Wilson hones in on twenty-five ant species to explain how these creatures talk, smell, taste, and crucially, how they fight to determine dominance. Richly illustrated throughout with depictions of ant species and photos from Wilson's own expeditions, Tales from the Ant World is a fascinating personal account from one of our greatest scientists--and a necessary volume for any lover of the natural world.