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Buzz, sting, bite : why we need insects
2019
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New York Times Review
If you happen to hit the beach at any point this summer, here's a little thought experiment. Scoop up some sand and try to count the grains. Then look left and look right and try to estimate all the trillions of grains around you. And when you finish that, chew on this fact: By some estimates, there are more insects on earth than there are grains of sand on all the world's beaches combined. The sheer scale and variety of insects are impossible for most of us to contemplate, but Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson provides at least a glimpse of their wonder in her charming "Buzz, Sting, Bite." In essence, the book is an extended meditation on a question that Sverdrup-Thygeson, an entomologist at Norway's University of Life Sciences, gets asked all the time: What good are bugs anyway? For one thing, the delightful weirdness of insects opens our eyes to new possibilities in nature. As they age, many species shape-shift (e.g., caterpillar to butterfly) in ways rarely seen outside of fairy tales. One type of beetle, if denied food, actually ages backward, devolving from advanced to simpler stages and shrinking in size. Another answer is that insects have shaped human civilization in unexpected ways. Without durable, waterproof oak gall ink - produced when wasps inject chemical irritants into trees - countless medieval and Renaissance manuscripts would have deteriorated into illegibility. And while we don't often thank heaven for maggots, they've been cleaning wounds and preventing infections for centuries.
Library Journal Review
It's rare that we stop to consider the amazing world of insects, unless we swat a mosquito or briefly marvel at a butterfly. Sverdrup-Thygeson (conservation biology, Norwegian Univ. of Life Sciences) leads readers on a fascinating journey through the class Insecta, introducing us to the creatures whose numbers comprise half of the animal kingdom. Insects are ancient; they have survived all five mass extinction events. The author delves into insect anatomy and classification, reminding us that spiders, millipedes, mites, and daddy longlegs are not insects. Sverdrup-Thygeson continues by exploring the many fantastic characteristics of insects. They can see both ultraviolet and polarized light; they practice agriculture; they contain as much protein as beef, without the fat; and they help to solve crimes. Cockroaches can even be used to search for survivors in collapsed buildings. The dung beetle symbolized a god in ancient Egypt, but today our actions are threatening at least a quarter of all insects with extinction. We may not choose to worship insects, the author explains, but we should choose to protect them. VERDICT Appropriate for all readers, in particular those who are concerned about our planet and the creatures with which we share it.--Rachel Owens, Daytona State Coll. Lib., FL
Publishers Weekly Review
Conservation biologist Sverdrup-Thygeson exudes an infectious enthusiasm for all things entomological in this curiosity-provoking primer. She presents a series of short, mostly self-contained, accounts of insect behavior, often emphasizing their connection to the larger world, grouped into such chapters as "Six-Legged Sex: Dating, Mating and Parenting," "Eat or Be Eaten: Insects in the Food Chain," and "From Silk to Shellac: Industries of Insects." Moffatt's translation readily conveys Sverdrup-Thygeson's enjoyment of her subject, with playful and evocative descriptions and an amused tone-the long, bundled-up sperm of the male Drosophila bifurca fruit fly, at full length "20 times as long as the creature itself," resembles "what happens when the kids make dinner and forget to put enough water into the spaghetti pan." Stressing the sheer number of different insect species, she observes that entomologists have named newly discovered ones after pop music stars (the Beyoncé horsefly), and Harry Potter characters (the Ampulex dementor wasp). A short final chapter explicitly about conservation raises concerns while still maintaining a light touch. Sverdrup-Thygeson's unforced humor and ability to quickly highlight salient information makes this a perfect selection for science-loving teenage readers as well as adults. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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