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What Insects Do, and Why
A beautifully illustrated look at the lives and mind-boggling behaviors of insects
What Insects Do, and Why takes you on an unforgettable tour of the insect world, presenting these amazing creatures as you have never seen them before. This stunningly illustrated guide explores how insects live, ranging from elegant displays of courtship to brutal acts of predation, and provides insights into the marvelous diversity of insects all around us. Along the way, Ross Piper discusses insect evolution, reproduction and life cycles, feeding strategies, defenses, sociality, parasite-host interactions, human impacts on insects, and more.
What Insects Do, and Why takes you on an unforgettable tour of the insect world, presenting these amazing creatures as you have never seen them before. This stunningly illustrated guide explores how insects live, ranging from elegant displays of courtship to brutal acts of predation, and provides insights into the marvelous diversity of insects all around us. Along the way, Ross Piper discusses insect evolution, reproduction and life cycles, feeding strategies, defenses, sociality, parasite-host interactions, human impacts on insects, and more.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published August 10, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 25, 2022
Visually stunning survey of the range of strange habits, relationships, physiological adaptations across class Insecta. Where wasps are involved, it overlaps with another beautiful, recent volume from Princeton University Press, Eric R. Eaton’s, Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunderstood Insect. Both are entirely worthwhile, but of course the present volume also treats other hymenopterans, as well as beetles, true bugs, flies, and others.
Don’t expect too deep a dive into any one topic. This fast-paced primer is intended to dazzle, and that it does, thanks to the gorgeous high-resolution photos and pithy bite-sized examples of bizarre insect behaviors. This book will get you excited to learn more, and especially, to go outside and watch insects be insects.
Don’t expect too deep a dive into any one topic. This fast-paced primer is intended to dazzle, and that it does, thanks to the gorgeous high-resolution photos and pithy bite-sized examples of bizarre insect behaviors. This book will get you excited to learn more, and especially, to go outside and watch insects be insects.
March 26, 2025
I'm reluctantly marking this as DNF. The book is filled with extremely interesting, delightful, and eye-opening facts, and the photos are wonderful. But as I've read on I've found the writing difficult to get through; frequently I have to double back to reread confusing sentences. Overall I'd say this is a great book to flip through and read sections that catch your eye, but reading it cover to cover hasn't worked out for me.
April 7, 2025
A most extraordinary book featuring brilliant photographs, illustrations, and current research. Dr. Piper's selected group of insects will amaze readers with their adaptations, defense mechanisms, and beauty.
February 26, 2025
Super informative and engaging. It wasn’t that kind of science writing that’s so dry!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews