When the first birds appeared on earth about 150 million years ago, the insects were here to greet them. Inevitably the two groups came to exploit each other, and as the eons passed, they became increasingly enmeshed in a complex web of interrelationships: birds eating bugs; blood-sucking insects feeding on birds; parasitic insects infesting birds; and birds struggling to rid themselves of the parasites.
When the first birds appeared on earth about 150 million years ago, the insects were here to greet them. Inevitably the two groups came to exploit eac...
A water strider darts across a pond, its feet dimpling the surface tension; a giant water bug dives below, carrying his mate's eggs on his back; hidden among plant roots on the silty bottom, a dragonfly larva stalks unwary minnows. Barely skimming the surface, in the air above the pond, swarm mayflies with diaphanous wings. Take this walk around the pond with Gilbert Waldbauer and discover the most amazingly diverse inhabitants of the freshwater world.
In his hallmark companionable style, Waldbauer introduces us to the aquatic insects that have colonized ponds, lakes, streams, and...
A water strider darts across a pond, its feet dimpling the surface tension; a giant water bug dives below, carrying his mate's eggs on his back; hi...
We shriek about them, slap and spray them, and generally think of insects (when we think of them at all) as pests. Yet, if all insects, or even a critical few, were to disappear--if there were none to pollinate plants, serve as food for other animals, dispose of dead organisms, and perform other ecologically essential tasks--virtually all the ecosystems on earth, the webs of life, would unravel. This book, the first to catalogue ecologically important insects by their roles, gives us an enlightening look at how insects work in ecosystems--what they do, how they live, and how they make life...
We shriek about them, slap and spray them, and generally think of insects (when we think of them at all) as pests. Yet, if all insects, or even a c...
Insects that are social may gather in groups, like the sawfly larvae feeding on a pine needle. Why these insects get together and what they get out of their associations are considered in this look at group behaviour and social lives of various bugs.
Insects that are social may gather in groups, like the sawfly larvae feeding on a pine needle. Why these insects get together and what they get out of...
They appeared on earth 400 million years ago, long before the first reptile, bird or mammal. They make up about 75 percent of the 1.2 million currently known species of animal. As many as 30,000 of them coexist and interact in one square yard of the top inch of a forest's soil. The success of insects is the story told in this work. Gilbert Waldbauer pursues this question from hot springs and Himilayan slopes to roadsides and forests, scrutinizing insect life in its many manifestation.
They appeared on earth 400 million years ago, long before the first reptile, bird or mammal. They make up about 75 percent of the 1.2 million currentl...
