Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent little book on stick insects
Nothing lengthy, this is nevertheless a nice little book all about the insects known as walking sticks (or stick insects) with lots of great pictures and information for people who want to start a terrarium or vivarium with walking sticks.I also learned that you could have potential problem with the hundreds of baby walking sticks that are born! ... Read more

Product Description
Ages 4 to 8 years.There are over a million species of insects living on Earth, and all insects have similar bodies. In this book, children will learn the major physical features of insects and the importance of each body part. Close-up photographs and clearly labelled illustrations help to explain: an insect's three main body sections: the different kinds of insect mouth-parts; how insects use their eyes and antennae; why and how insects moult as they grow; how insects move. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Divided down the middle
An oblong format or a slightly larger format would have been better for this gift book - the images often fall into the "gutter" between the left and right pages and it ruins the effect. The details of her engravings are beautiful. The printing and the paper are very nice quality. It would have been nice to have small pictures of the entire engravings at the back of the booklet. $10.95 seems overpriced, should be 2 or 3 dollars cheaper for what it is. However, it is lovely and informative and makes you want more.

Insects and Flowers: The Art of Maria Sibylla Merian
This beautiful little book adds to the discovery of the important contributions of early women artists and scientists. Merian was a courageous individual who broke with tradition and changed the way the scientific community viewed plant and insect development. Merian and her daughters were accomplished artists and documented Merian's observations of insect metamorphosis with gorgeously drawn images. This book focuses on rich details of her watercolors and becomes a piece of art itself. ... Read more

Product Description
Insect Pathology is designed for a broad spectrum of readers. Is should be useful to students, lecturers, and researchers requiring information about the principles in insect pathology and the biology of pathogens. It should serve as a resource for specialists to learn about other insect pathogen systems, for generalists to become aware of advances in insect pathology, and for scientists and students, beginning or otherwise, interested in learning about insect pathology.
This book was originally intended to update the 1949 test by E. A. Steinhaus entitled Principles of Insect Pathology. The purpose for this book was twofold: To serve (1) as a text for an insect pathology and/or biological control class and (2) as a comprehensive reference source. Because this book summarizes much of the available information, its usefulness as a textbook for an insect pathology class is apparent. Although the literature citations are extensive, they are far from complete. The literature in insect pathology is voluminous and for the past decade has been expanding at an almost exponential rate. A complete review of the literature is beyond the scope of the book, and an omission of a reference does not preclude its importance. Our citations, however, should serve as a good starting point for those who wish to obtain further information. We have attempted to cover equally all subdisciplines, but shortcomings are unavoidable. For these, we take full responsibility. ... Read more

Product Description
The 38 chapters of this Field Manual provide the toolsrequired for planning experiments with entomopathogens and theirimplementation in the field. Basic tools include chapters on thetheory and practice of microbial control agents, statistical design ofexperiments, equipment and application strategies. The major pathogengroups are covered in individual chapters (virus, bacteria, protozoa,fungi, nematodes). Subsequent chapters deal with the impact ofnaturally occurring and introduced exotic pathogens and inundativeapplication of microbial control agents. The largest section of theManual is composed of 21 chapters on the application and evaluation ofentomopathogens in a wide range of agricultural, forest, domestic andaquatic habitats. Mites and slugs broaden the scope of the book.Supplementary techniques and media for follow-up laboratory studiesare described. Three final chapters cover the evaluation of Bttransgenic plants, resistance to insect pathogens and strategies tomanage it, and guidelines for evaluating the effects of MCAs onnontarget organisms. Readership: Researchers, graduate students, practitioners ofintegrated pest management, regulators, those doing environmentalimpact studies. The book is a stand-alone reference, but is alsocomplementary to the laboratory-oriented Manual of Techniques inInsect Pathology and similar comprehensive texts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

ANOTHER CLASSIC IN THE FIELD OF INSECT PATHOLOGY!!!
This is an excellent book, with lots of up-to-date information which will be of great use to those interested in microbial control of insect pests. It serves as a complement to Lacey's "Manual of Techniques in Insect Pathology." Unfortunately, the book is ridiculously priced, which will greatly limit its availability. Imagine spending over [price] in Latin America or Africa for ONE book. It won't happen. ... Read more

Product Description
TO ACCESS THE ARTWORK FROM THE BOOK, PLEASE VISIT www.blackwellpublishing.com/gullan.

This established and popular textbook is the definitive guide to the study of insects; a group of animals that represent over half of the planet’s biological diversity.

Customer Reviews (4)

Amazing insect book!!
Great book , in great shape. Said minor damaged to cover, and it was just a little bend, So I was very happy about that. Received very quickly and in better shape than I expected!!! Awesome!! Another invaluable book in my collection!!

Truly an "outline"
This book covers a LOT of ground regarding insects. Some areas are very informative. In fact, most of it gives an excellent, basic understanding of the various topics, like insect sensory organs. My only concern is that it moves very fast. Some areas of importance are glanced over, and the only reason I can understand them (like systematics) is because I have previous knowledge in that area. This is NOT a beginner's book. I would put this at grad student level for sure. But if you have already taken multiple insect classes with more taylored books, this one would be superfluous. The only reason it helps me is because I have had two insects taxonomy classes, but I don't know much about insect physiology. So with that said, I can't really say who this book is best suited for, other than people in the same situation as I am.

Review for "The Insects: An Outline of Entomology"
I received this book in very good condition. There were no markings on the pages or scuffed up edges on the book or on the spine of the book. Over-all this was a good purchase!!

Bugs are Awesome
This is a great book for learning just about anything you could ever want to know about insects.It discusses insect sociality, body systems, reproduction, interaction with plants, evolution, environmental tolerance, pest control, and other topics.I learned so much from this book.It was amazing to me to learn just how intricate insects really are.This understanding really strengthened my faith in God and the creation. ... Read more

Product Description
At a time when few women were educated or literate and rarely travelled German-born naturalist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647 1717) made history with her studies of insects in Surinam. Trained as a copperplate engraver and watercolorist, she documented the metamorphosis of butterflies, laying the foundation for modern entomology. What Merian observed when breeding native species of butterfly triggered her curiosity, and spurred her to further investigation; the development from ovum, via larva and chrysalis, to adult butterfly was not fully understood in the 17th century. And not every pupa developed into a butterfly, which puzzled Merian for a long time.



On seeing a collection of butterflies from Dutch Guiana, modern Surinam, she decided to study tropical flora and fauna, to discover whether the moths and butterflies she saw in collections shared the same life cycle as those she had bred: the egg and caterpillar stage. In 1699 she sailed for South America with daughter Dorothea, the first time any woman had ventured on a journey of exploration on this scale. Having evaluated and categorized her specimens, in 1705 she published her major work Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, in Dutch and Latin. She made 60 copperplate engravings to illustrate the stages of insect development, arranged around the cultivated and wild plants she had encountered on her travels. With its detailed text and imagery, the Metamorphosis is the first work on the natural history of Surinam. For 17th century Europeans it was an insight into an unknown world. TASCHEN s reprint of a hand-colored first edition copy includes the complete plates with a commentary by Katharina Schmidt-Loske. Merian accomplished a pioneering achievement of the modern age. This publication pays homage to her work and offers readers an opportunity to appreciate her sumptuous engravings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Introduction to Sibylla Merian
Although there is a great deal on literature available on the art of Maria Sybilla Merian, and particularly on the work which resulted from her trip in 1698 to the portion of Central and South America which was then a Dutch colony, this relatively straightforward and clearly written volume seems to fill a gap.Much of the existing literature is excellent and informative; however a good deal of it is lavishly produced and quite costly, and some of it is only suitable for use by scholars in this field.I think this relatively small book performs several useful functions: it is a good introduction to Merian's best-known work for the general reader; for the potential collector of these illustrations it shows clearly the color plates which one might look for and how they should appear (omitting 12 illustrations appearing in the second edition of the Surinam book which are generally believed not to have been completed by Sybilla Merian); and for the professional colorist it is a dependable guide to the specific colors utilized by Ms. Merian in the drawings which formed the basis for the copper engravings pictured in this book. I think it offers good value to readers in each of these categories. Of course collectors of natural history or other printed illustrations should acquire basic knowledge about the properties of the particular medium (such as wood cut or copper engraving, lithograph, silk screen, etc.) of a proposed purchase to avoid forgeries or inferior examples. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A very informational book and great resource book.
I saw this book at my grand-son's preschool. I later purchased this book for my three-year-old grandson and he absolutely loved it.

Bugs, Ugh
Just what my nephew was looking for. He spends a lot of time studying it.


Tom ... Read more

Product Description
Josef and Karel Capek were the best known literary figures of liberated Czechoslovakia after 1918.Josef won a considerable reputation as a painter of the Cubist school, later developing his own playful primitive style.He collaborated with his brother in composing sketches, stories, and plays, as well as writing two short novels of his own and critical essays in which he defended the art of the unconscious, of children, and of savages.Following Hitler's invasion of 1939, Josef Capek was sent to a German concentration camp.He died at Belsen in April 1945.

Karel Capek became a journalist and for a time stage manager of the theatre in Vinohrady. Though a writer of novels, visionary romances, travel books, stories , and essays, Karel is best known for his plays.His last plays, written just before the entry of Hitler into Czechoslovakia, deal with the rise of dictatorship and the terrible consequences of war. KarelCapek died on Christmas day, 1938.

After the success of R.U.R. (Rossums' Universal Robots, 1920) seen in London in 1923, the brothers collaborated in their best-known work, The Insect Play (1921).Both plays are satires depicting the horrors of a regimented technical world and the terrible end of the populace if they fail to rise against their oppressors.They reflect the world in which the Capeks lived and give a commentary on its grosser follies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Insightful Plays That Have Aged Well
Anyone who grew up immersed in science fiction (as I did) has likely heard of the play R.U.R.This play, written by a pair of Czech brothers, gave us the word and the concept of "robot."(R.U.R. stands for Rossum's Universal Robots.)It is unfortunate, however, that more people haven't read this play because it is very good.

Written in the intellectual ferment between the world wars, R.U.R. tells the story of a world where mechanical robots (the Czech word for "worker") are taking the place of human workers.Though the human manufacturers of the robots all seem to have noble intentions (apart from the desire to get rich), things get out of hand when the robots revolt against their human masters and destroy the human race.The play ends with the hope for reinvention of the human race through the robots.

Though first produced in the 1920's, it is amazing how little this play has become dated.There is an obvious formalism in the dialogue which places it in its period but the social themes and commentary remain pertinent for a modern audience.The vision Capek had which is so predictive of our modern relationship with science and invention is truly amazing.This is a play I would love to see produced.

Allegorical and satirical, The Insect Play has also aged well though its lack of conflict makes it a lesser experience than R.U.R.; however, with its flighty "butterflies," miserly "beetles" and war-like "ants," The Insect Play is another bit of clever social commentary.

Historically brilliant, literarily flawed
R.U.R. is an immensely important book for its contributions to our language and our perception. Equally, it is excellent commentary on the mechanization of work, and the quest to turn people into simple, perfectmachines.

Nonetheless, this translation falls short as literature. Devoid of irony and wit, and possessing only a simple, transparent plot,R.U.R. does not equal the standard set by Capek himself with "War withthe Newts."

Fantastic
In the play RUR, the brothers Capek coined the word Robot as meaning mechanical man for the first time. The play probes the ethical issues of humaniod robots and what constitutes humanity, life and the human soul andspirit.Written just before WWII the Insect Play is a wonderful fantasyfull of political allegory and social commentary. It is important to keepin mind when reading the Insect Play that Josef Capek died in a Naziconcentration camp. ... Read more

Product Description
While every farming system is unique, the principles of ecological pest management apply universally. Manage Insects on Your Farm highlights ecological strategies that improve your farm's natural defenses and encourage beneficial insects to attack your worst pests. Learn about the principles of ecologically based pest management and the strategies of farmers around the world to address insect problems. Minimize insect damage with wise soil management and identify beneficial insects to put these "good bugs" to work for you. Examples of successful pest management strategies sprinkled throughout the book will stimulate your imagination to address insect problems and develop a more complex, more diverse ecosystem on your farm. ... Read more

Product Description
"Everything you need for 24 complete lessons." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Science Adventures-What a Resource!!!
Great Science Adventures by Dinah Zike is amazing. It seamlessly includes a lesson plan. These books are non-consumable and can be used to teach the general sciences, plants, human body, solar system, etc. What's really great is that different ages can use the same book. For instance, the vocabulary ranges from food to digestion to ganglia. A pre-reader can tell mom what the insect eats, the eight year can look up digestion, and the twelve year old can learn the scientific word for the parts of the insect. There's more! The activities do more than repeat the information, they are fun, creative, and not at all time consuming. This is a resource to add to the library!

Great resource!
My children loved this!It was easy to use, gave them interesting activities to do while learning, and was a great deviation from the normal boring reading.A great homeschool resource! ... Read more

Product Description
As anyone who has been captivated by the sounds of an evening outdoors knows, the nightly music of the woods can be a lovely but bewildering mix of hoots, croaks, howls, and grunts. This handy collection of field recordings and species descriptions helps you to identify the various members of the nocturnal chorus, from crickets and owls to otters, porcupines, and alligators. Illustrated with gorgeous pencil drawings and full-color photographs, it's the perfect complement to the sounds of the night. Includes an hour-long audio CD of the nighttime sounds of 60 animals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A Fascinating Voyage Through the Night
A succinct but fun review of common night sounds. Excellent audio, and the narration is just enough to keep the entries from being too "rapid fire" and boring. I imagine children would also find the CD engaging to listen to in the car. If you have purchased other Lang Elliott audio compilations and found them too "disjointed" (ie-just a name and sound), this is the better alternative due to slightly more narration that lends the feel of a true "tour". The selections are for very common animals that are not esoteric or regional, so inevitably you will end up smiling and muse, "So, THAT is what I heard on my walk last week!" I do not know Lang personally, but the CD emits the vibe of a well crafted labor of love and appreciation for nature.

A Taste of the Night
Night has always fascinated, and sometimes terrified, me.Blacklighting for moths alone in the Davis Mountains I heard in the distance the lonely calls of a group of coyotes - a sound that both thrilled me and made me uneasy.The sounds of a poorwill echoing through the canyons of Baja California's Sierra de la Giganta and whiskered screech owls near Geronimo Pass in the Peloncillo Mountains of Arizona-New Mexico gave the night a character that I will never forget.

My daughter gave me a copy of "A Guide to Night Sounds" for Fathers Day and I must say that it was great to hear some of the creatures I have heard on well-remembered nights and some that I have never heard, but hope to some day.Lang Elliot is a good narrator and does a great job of explaining the various sounds and behaviors associated with them.

My only complaint (and it is one that I'm sure many have) is that this just gives the listener a sampling of the huge variety of sounds one hears in the night.Around my house I hear night songs, not only from the mockingbird (which Elliott mentions along with the actual recording of a catbird), but also its close relative the curved-billed thrasher, which he implies has no night song.In recent times their night time chorus has been joined by the hoot of the great horned owl and in the close distance the wok of the black-crowned night heron. In rain storms both spadefoot and Bufo toads make considerable noise from the nearby fields.The list could go on and on, including broad-winged and cone-headed katydids, the barking of grey foxes and the chittering (just audible to some younger folk) of bats.I suppose that it would be hard to include everything and this CD contains a great sampling that leaves you with the wish for more.As in all of these works there seems to be a bias toward the eastern United States, but again this is where most of the people who work with animal sounds live, so I can't be too critical,I can only say that one day I hope a similar recordingand book will emerge for mostly western creatures of the night.

I recommend this for those who would like to get at least a taste of the real night in nature.

Defective
I bought a book that comes with a CD:the CD is defective.It can no be played.I have written two letters asking what should I do. I want the product, but a need a CD that is not defective.No answer from Amazon.
I am very dissapointed.I am not buying another product until this matter is solved.

What goes bump in the night
If you live in the woods or country and are curious about what goes bump in the night, this book and CD will explain those noises. We kept hearing a wonderful creature but had no way to identify it. Turns out it was a screech owl (they don't hoot nor do they screech). This book has also helped identify several frogs & night birds. As a bonus, Lang has a very pleasant voice and the CD is well made.

Nice, but covers to large an area
It's nice to listen to in the car (for a while, at least). It's pretty useless, though, since the geographical area is not limited enough. There might be a couple of those 60 animals in your area, but about 50 of 'em won't be. This should be a series of CD's: one for the northeast, one for the southwest....and so on. ... Read more

Product Description
Christopher Marley's graceful arrangements of jewel-like arthropods make converts of those who have seen insects as creepy--these are stunning works of art, his delicate butterfly assemblages sublime. Marley's keen eye for design combines with his entomological education to produce mesmerizing, kaleidoscopic bug mandalas and striking up-close-and-personal single-insect portraits. The iridescent colors of beetle shells and moth wings are his pigments in a seemingly endless brilliant palette. The photographs of these arrangements present the bugs in their natural state: he does not digitally enhance any of the images. Each gorgeous creation is identified with its scientific and common names, and many are accompanied by concise descriptive text. In succinct essays, Marley writes about insect collecting and its benefits to the environment; he describes his creative process in choosing and arranging the creatures for optimal visual effect.

After a childhood spent running from every creature that skittered about on more than four legs, Marley has devoted much of his adult life to studying bugs--with increasing fascination. He makes frequent forays to remote locations far removed from his home in Oregon, seeking out the most beautiful and exotic species on Earth.

The more than 170 color photographs in Pheremone will appeal to anyone intrigued by dazzling design, beautiful bugs, entomology, or all three. Accompanying the broad sample of Marley's work is a series of essays by the artist: "Design of Insects," "Insects in Design," "History," "Color," "The Coleoptera Mosaics: An Exercise in Color," "Repetition," "Structure," "Texture," "Variations," "Botanicals," "Size," and "Environmental Effects." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

INSECT ART - "PHEROMONE"
I WAS DELIGHTED TO RECEIVE THIS BOOK AND I LOVE TO BROWSE THROUGH IT OFTEN.IT IS A SOURCE OF BEAUTY AND AWE.THIS IS THE KIND OF BOOK THAT WILL BE TIMELESS AND PASSED DOWN FOR MANY GENERATIONS.I KEEP IT ON MY COFFEE TABLE FOR ALL TO ENJOY.

A Closer Look at the Beauty of Nature
'Pheromones are chemical stimulants that insects release to attract one another -- and they've been known to seduce the occasional human, too.' So Christopher Marley states about the chosen title of this fascinating, challenging and very beautiful book of excellent color reproductions of his art: his art is the preservation and design of mounting insects as the objects d'art. Marley is obsessed (in a good way) with the beauty of the 'Phylum ARTHROPODA, which is divided into a number of classes of which insects belong to the class INSECTA.Insects are classified into Orders based on certain characteristics, some of the larger Orders are Coleoptera - beetles, Diptera - flies, Lepidoptera - butterflies and moths. The various Orders are in turn, again broken down into Families ( and sometimes sub-families ) then into Genus and finally species. A particular insect is always referred to by its Genus and species, but for general purposes the Order or Family is normally quite acceptable.'Yes, for Marley this scientific information is important and with each of the insects he approaches in this extravagantly illustrated book he obeys this order of classification.

But that is all on the scientific level - a level that makes this book far more than a monograph on the art of Christopher Marley.The range of colors and shapes and bizarre aspects of insects recovered form around the globe is staggering and there are no two 'images' that appear the same.Other great artists, such as Jacquelyn McBain, have devoted much of their artistic career to exploring the beauty of insects: in McBain's case she also celebrates the flora on which these insects dwell and survive in paintings rich in observed accuracy and fascinatingly coupled with metaphorical titles and ideas.But Christopher Marley lets the beauties of the insects speak for themselves.While the book is a work of art in itself, it only suggests the amazing virtuosity of color and arrangement of his works as they hang in galleries and showrooms.He is a gifted artist, one who deserves wider attention than from just those who appreciate entomology.Highly recommended for everyone's library.Grady Harp, January 10

Beautiful book!
This is a great, big book filled with incredibly beautiful photos. The colors and textures and arrangements of the insects are breathtaking. If you are an artist looking for inspiration, or someone interested in insects, photographer... everyone will find something to enjoy in this book.

Amazing
It's amazing that these are real bugs!The colors and patterns of the bugs, and how they're arranged in the photos, make beautiful art.

Eye Candy
I received this book as a gift and loved it! It's completely unusual and just beautiful. It's hard to believe those photos aren't touched up. ... Read more

Product Description
Look out for these public enemies--mosquitoes--as they are after blood! Mosquito females need a meal of blood before they can lay their eggs. They target humans and animals and zoom in for a feast. But these insects may do more harm than causing itchy welts. Mosquitoes can also pass along a number of serious and deadly diseases to those they bite. Humans have developed a number of ways to get rid of mosquitoes, from spreading chemicals to putting mosquito larvae-eating fish in ponds. Yet mosquitoes are also a food source for many animals. Without these pests, birds, bats, and other animals in the food chain might be affected. In this exciting book, you can learn what makes mosquitoes similar to and different from other insects. Close-up photographs and diagrams reveal extraordinary details about mosquitoes' bodies, both inside and out. And you can perform activities that help you understand how mosquitoes feed and what you can do to keep them away. Learn more about this exciting member of nature's fascinating Insect World! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This is an excellent book on that pesky insect... slap on that Deet and get out the citronella!
Mosquitoes are pesky critters.You can slap at them, slop on the Deet, light those citronella candles and still get bitten.The female mosquito is the one that likes to dine on you in order to get a bit of blood.Every now and then they spread diseases and "become real insect troublemakers."Usually you don't get a close up look of this insect until you've squashed it flat, but in this book you'll get to see an enlarged photo close up of one and another illustration of what it looks on the inside.All the key parts are listed in these amazing diagrams.

In this book you'll learn about the metamorphosis of the mosquito, how a young mosquito senses carbon dioxide to find her prey, how she bites (YUK!), how the female mosquito can carry parasites, the life cycle of the mosquito and how we are "fighting the public enemy." You'll also learn how she spreads diseases like malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever and encephalitis with descriptions of them and where they are found.

This book was very carefully researched and written.The layout of the book is very appealing (save the whole idea of the pesky mosquito) and even the most reluctant reader will be interested in this insect. There are numerous photographs, maps where the mosquito can be found, a two-page photographic spread detailing the outside of the mosquito, an illustrated two-page spreadthe inside of the mosquito and scattered "mosquito facts."In the back of the book is more information on three more "public enemies," a glossary, an index, two "mosquito activities" and additional recommended book and website resources. ... Read more

Product Description
In The Insect-Populated Mind, author David Spooner proposes a close connection between aspects of insect evolution and the human intellect. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

4th Edition M&C
Updates seem to have all been fixed, the new color pics are great, especially to show trichop case diversity.been a long time coming, this edition...well done!

Aquatic Entomology Essential
This book isn't perfect, but the keys are useful and the ecology information is good.If you are interested in aquatic entomology in North America, you are going to buy this book eventually.

Editors should have paid more attention to details
Unfortunately, Merritt, Cummins and Berg did not pay close enough attention to the details of this 4th edition.There are numerous mistakes and revisions that are not correct.They lifted whole sections from the 3rd edition and put them into new pages without changing the page numbers the keys direct you to. The Coleoptera section has too many changes and uses outdated or incorrect terminology. The best part is the new color photos at the beginning, even though they were not used in the keys themselves.Unfortunately there are mistakes in the labeling of some of the photos. Maybe this edition was put out too soon.Hopefully a correction edition will come out soon.

Nothing else like it
The 4th edition of an Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America is a great upgrade from the 3rd edition. There is nothing else out there that compares to this book. That being said, there are a number of errors in this book. There are couplets that take you to the wrong place. It is especially prevalent in the Hemiptera family key where it sends you to the Odonata section for the genus keys. It seems like the section was lifted from the 3rd edition and pasted in this one without updated the page numbers. All in all a great book, just needed a better review before being released.

A taxonomist's bible
This is the one book for every aquatic insect taxonomist. Any book like this needs constant updating and the editors do this very well. There is no other taxonomic document as comprehensive as this one for North American Insects.The drawings are a real help in the identification of aquatic insects. ... Read more