Evolution of the Insects

by David A. Grimaldi, Michael S. Engel

This book chronicles the complete evolutionary history of insects--their living diversity and relationships as well as 400 million years of fossils. Introductory sections cover the living species diversity of insects, methods of reconstructing evolutionary relationships, basic insect structure, and the diverse modes of insect fossilization and major fossil deposits. Major sections then explore the relationships and evolution of each order of hexapods. The volume also chronicles major episodes in the evolutionary history of insects from their modest beginnings in the Devonian and the origin of wings hundreds of millions of years before pterosaurs and birds to the impact of mass extinctions and the explosive radiation of angiosperms on insects, and how they evolved into the most complex societies in nature. Whereas other volumes focus on either living species or fossils, this is the first comprehensive synthesis of all aspects of insect evolution. Illustrated with 955 photo- and electron- micrographs, drawings, diagrams, and field photos, many in full color and virtually all of them original, this reference will appeal to anyone engaged with insect diversity--professional entomologists and students, insect and fossil collectors, and naturalists. David Grimaldi and Michael S. Engel have collectively published over 200 scientific articles and monographs on the relationships and fossil record of insects, including 10 articles in the journals Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. David Grimaldi is curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History and adjunct professor at Cornell University, Columbia University, and the City University of New York. David Grimaldi has traveled in 40 countries on 6 continents, collecting and studying recent species of insects and conducting fossil excavations. He is the author of Amber: Window to the Past (Abrams, 2003). Michael S. Engel is an assistant professor in the Division of Entomology at the University of Kansas; assistant curator at the Natural History Museum, University of Kansas; research associate of the American Museum of Natural History; and fellow of the Linnean Society of London. Engel has visited numerous countries for entomological and paleontological studies, doing most of his fieldwork in Central Asia, Asia Minor, and the Western Hemisphere.

Genres: Science, Biology, Textbooks, Nature, Evolution

772 pages, Hardcover

First published May 16, 2005

About the author

David A. Grimaldi is an entomologist with research interests in the evolution of insects and insect sociality, insect pollination and its evolutionary history, fossilization in amber, and systematics of Drosophilidae and other Diptera.

He is Professor at the Richard Gilder Graduate School, American Museum of Natural History, and Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the same institution. He is also an adjunct professor at Cornell University, Columbia University, and the City University of New York.

Reviews

[Bria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit more focus on just listing species, genera, families, orders, and fossils than I may have wanted or expected, when I was mostly interesting in the interplay of environmental factors leading to particular features and speciation, but that's probably more the fault of my expectations and desires than what's appropriate for this kind of (text)book. It's definitely a great resource to have around, if only to see endless pictures of all the many different kinds of insects and learn all the wildly varying lifestyles - it certainly made me crave more information about the particulars, since with so damn many species everything had to be passed over so quickly in order to keep it down to a mere 700 pages. Also always a bit fun to see subtle references to raging debates in entomology, dismissing the mistakes and common logical errors of other scientists.

[H V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evolution of the Insects primarily focuses on insect anatomy and how to distinguish differences between species, so the going can get kind of tough for the casual reader. Of course, this is an actual scientific textbook with no interest in making things entertaining. I was hoping for more exploration, even speculation, on early insect evolution, particularly during the Devonian and Carboniferous. As it turns out, those periods are shrouded in mystery - even how insects developed their wings has competing hypotheses. I enjoyed the book most when it deviated from its focus on anatomy - nevertheless, this is richly illustrated and very important.

[Mark Isaak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grimaldi and Engel set themselves the task of reporting on a million species and more than 400 million years, and their product is admirable.

Most of the book concerns systematics -- the relationships among insects (and their relatives) -- and fossil indications of when certain groups are known first to occur. How and why questions get much less coverage, but there are significant treatments of important innovations such as wings and holometabolism. Chapter 2 is devoted to fossils in general, and the penultimate chapter (last but for an epilogue) covers issues of coevolution with flowering plants and with mammals, and issues related to biogeography. In addition, the book is rich with general background on entomology, plus it has occasional tidbits of unusual species and habits which make entomology endlessly interesting. The illustrations are plentiful and outstanding.

This is a heavy book, both literally and figuratively. The authors assume the reader has a good basic knowledge of entomology, and although there is a glossary, it is probably not adequate on its own. Most names for groups of insects are defined (or at least described) in the text, but then you need to remember them when they get referred to again in later chapters, and the early chapters frequently mentioned names I had never heard of.

I have not kept up with the field to comment on how well the material has held up during the ten years that my copy has been sitting on my desk, but it was up-to-date when it was published. Though there are a few copy-editing errors near the end (most seriously, Fig. 12.61 does not match the text which describes it), the book is very high quality.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a tome. Not for reading on public transportation. It lays out the foundation of biological taxonomy, brings in plate tectonics, geology, identifies what the ecosystem was like going back to the Carbonifera when insects first crawled out on land. And it discusses what the various major contributors to insect taxonomy added to the body of the science. The language is technical, but there's a glossary. I have a hard time keeping track of all the insect body parts, but the illustrations are extremely helpful. It turns out those icky silverfish I find in all the damp houses I move into are one of the first insects to appear in the fossil record. I hope to have a clearer idea of the various orders of insects when I'm done with the book - including the most recently discovered Mantophasmotodea from South Africa that looks like a cross between a preying mantis and some strange cricket. The stunningly beautiful illustrations, photographs and scanning electron micrographs feed my love for illustrating insects and plants. The book is a crown jewel. And I'm just at the beginning chapters.

[Michel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uitgebreid, en boeiend. Ik had er eigenlijk méér van verwacht, als ik heel eerlijk ben: naar het einde toe had ik de indruk dat het meer sketchy werd. Of misschien is het gewoon omdat de antecedenten me meer interesseren dan de beesten-van-nu?

In alle geval: een boek om te hebben, voor al wie ook maar ergens geïnteresseerd is in insecten.

[Richard Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. This is my second time through it.