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Insects: Their Ways and Means of Living
Originally published by the U.S. Bureau of Entomology, this book was written by a specialist in insect anatomy. Rich in fascinating facts, the treatment is completely nontechnical in its approach and illustrated with hundreds of drawings, each rendered in fascinating detail.
Readers receive an overview of insect life — metamorphosis, digestion, reproduction, and other areas — as well as particulars of dozens of different species. Subjects include grasshoppers and their relatives, roaches and other ancient insects, termites, plant lice, cicadas, caterpillars, moths, mosquitoes, and flies. In addition to its value as a reference, this study and its first-rate illustrations provide a splendid source of browsing for professionals and amateurs alike.
Readers receive an overview of insect life — metamorphosis, digestion, reproduction, and other areas — as well as particulars of dozens of different species. Subjects include grasshoppers and their relatives, roaches and other ancient insects, termites, plant lice, cicadas, caterpillars, moths, mosquitoes, and flies. In addition to its value as a reference, this study and its first-rate illustrations provide a splendid source of browsing for professionals and amateurs alike.
- GenresScience
362 pages, Hardcover
First published August 17, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 14, 2018
A wonderful book for anyone who likes nature in all its variety
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How would your life be different if your muscles attached not to your skeleton, but to your skin? What's inside the 'beak' of some insects? What's the point of having a larva so different than the adult and how did this situation come about? What's the best arrangement of wings? - the book explores these questions in a very loving way, providing reader with many illustrations.
It's a reprint of 1939 book, so the style is a bit old-timey, which is not at all a disadvantage. At the beginning I was a little bit put off by the occasional personification of nature ("Mother Nature" etc), but even after using such metaphors, the author reminds us about the indifference of natural processes and that we shouldn't attribute human qualities to insects or 'nature'.
The insects are described lovingly, with many vivid details and most importantly - with plenty of information about their anatomy and behavior. I'm not an entomologist, but the topic of insects is not completely foreign to me - however, this book provided me with a lot of new information.
Did you know that caterpillar has bases of the wings growing, but they are growing INSIDE it, and turn inside out later? Also, adult insect may need different organs than its larva, but in larval stage the future organs of the adult are kept as collections of cells (called 'imaginal discs') that come into effect later - and while developing, these cells consume tissues from larval stage that are not needed anymore?
Ok, not gonna spoil the book anymore. It's definitely worth reading if you want to know how much you don't know about insects (might not be very interesting to actual entomologists, though).
The only way this book could have been better, is that it could have included the current phylogenetic tree of the insects. But it's alright, you can just google it while reading!
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How would your life be different if your muscles attached not to your skeleton, but to your skin? What's inside the 'beak' of some insects? What's the point of having a larva so different than the adult and how did this situation come about? What's the best arrangement of wings? - the book explores these questions in a very loving way, providing reader with many illustrations.
It's a reprint of 1939 book, so the style is a bit old-timey, which is not at all a disadvantage. At the beginning I was a little bit put off by the occasional personification of nature ("Mother Nature" etc), but even after using such metaphors, the author reminds us about the indifference of natural processes and that we shouldn't attribute human qualities to insects or 'nature'.
The insects are described lovingly, with many vivid details and most importantly - with plenty of information about their anatomy and behavior. I'm not an entomologist, but the topic of insects is not completely foreign to me - however, this book provided me with a lot of new information.
Did you know that caterpillar has bases of the wings growing, but they are growing INSIDE it, and turn inside out later? Also, adult insect may need different organs than its larva, but in larval stage the future organs of the adult are kept as collections of cells (called 'imaginal discs') that come into effect later - and while developing, these cells consume tissues from larval stage that are not needed anymore?
Ok, not gonna spoil the book anymore. It's definitely worth reading if you want to know how much you don't know about insects (might not be very interesting to actual entomologists, though).
The only way this book could have been better, is that it could have included the current phylogenetic tree of the insects. But it's alright, you can just google it while reading!
January 8, 2025
Supremely delightful, I've recommended it to countless people, and forcibly narrated the opening paragraph to several. It is available for free online, I'd recommend anyone to at least browse the chapter titles for personal or timely interests. For example, I deeply enjoyed reading the chapter about cicadas as they appeared this summer.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews