Advance praise for "Flies"
"Stephen A. Marshall has delivered one of the most beautiful and useful accounts of insect life ever written."
-- Edward O. Wilson, Research Professor Emeritus, Harvard University

Meticulously researched and illustrated with more than 2000 color photographs taken by the author, Flies is a landmark reference book that will be indispensable to any naturalist, biologist or entomologist. Most photographs in this encyclopedic reference were taken in the field and show the insects in their natural environment. All of the world's fly families are included, with photographic coverage spanning the range from common deer flies and fruit flies through to deadly tsetse flies and malaria mosquitoes, with thousands of spectacular species such as exotic stalk eyed flies, giant robber flies and hedgehog flies in between.

"Flies" is broken up into three parts: Life Histories, Habits and Habitats of Flies; Diversity; and Identifying and Studying Flies. The 20 pages of profusely illustrated keys linked to the unprecedented photographic coverage of the world's fly families and subfamilies enable the reader to identify most flies quickly and accurately, and to readily access information about each family as well as hundreds of distinctive genera and species.

"Flies" includes:

Part 1: Life Histories, Habits and Habitats of Flies
Chapter 1 -- Life Histories of Flies
Chapter 2 -- Flies, Plants and Fungi
Chapter 3 -- Flies and Vertebrates
Chapter 4 -- Flies and Invertebrates

Part 2: Diversity
Chapter 5 -- Origins and Distribution of the Diptera
Chapter 6 -- The Lower Diptera
Chapter 7 -- The Lower Brachycera and Empidoidea
Chapter 8 -- The Higher Brachycera or Cyclorrhapha

Part 3: Identifying and Studying Flies
Chapter 9 -- Collecting, Preserving and Rearing Flies
Chapter 10 -- Identifying Fly Families

Combining inspiration, humor, and entomology, Instagram artist Ali Beckman (@SoFlyTaxidermy) is the internet's go-to gal for bug-related content that makes you a happier human. Beckman's witty comics, which use actual insects in everyday situations, illustrate the importance of pollinators as well as body positivity and mental health awareness. Using creatures that are donated, purchased, or found dead to create amusing cartoons, Bee a Good Human highlights the integral role of insects in our environment while also demonstrating we all have a part to play in this world. Beyond bugs, Beckman's art speaks to the value of self-love as she shares a narrative of growth and finding confidence within. Bee a Good Human features the best of Beckman's @SoFlyTaxidermy Instagram art. With 106 color illustrations, many of which have never appeared online, this gift of a book will make you consider the bigger picture-and laugh a little too.

"Beetles of Eastern North America" is a landmark book--the most comprehensive full-color guide to the remarkably diverse and beautiful beetles of the United States and Canada east of the Mississippi River. It is the first color-illustrated guide to cover 1,406 species in all 115 families that occur in the region--and the first new in-depth guide to the region in more than forty years. Lavishly illustrated with over 1,500 stunning color images by some of the best insect photographers in North America, the book features an engaging and authoritative text by noted beetle expert Arthur Evans.

Extensive introductory sections provide essential information on beetle anatomy, reproduction, development, natural history, behavior, and conservation. Also included are tips on where and when to find beetles; how to photograph, collect, and rear beetles; and how to contribute to research. Each family and species account presents concise and easy-to-understand information on identification, natural history, collecting, and geographic range. Organized by family, the book also includes an illustrated key to the most common beetle families, with 31 drawings that aid identification, and features current information on distribution, biology, and taxonomy not found in other guides.

An unmatched guide to the rich variety of eastern North American beetles, this is an essential book for amateur naturalists, nature photographers, insect enthusiasts, students, and professional entomologists and other biologists.Provides the only comprehensive, authoritative, and accessible full-color treatment of the region's beetlesCovers 1,406 species in all 115 families east of the Mississippi RiverFeatures more than 1,500 stunning color images from top photographersPresents concise information on identification, natural history, collecting, and geographic range for each species and familyIncludes an illustrated key to the most common beetle families

Spiders have a problem, and it's us. Despite their magnificent talents for crafting webs, capturing mosquitoes, and camouflage, for millennia arachnophobia has hampered our ability to appreciate these eight-legged and -eyed marvels. No longer! In this witty, accessible, and beautifully illustrated guide, Eleanor Spicer Rice and Christopher M. Buddle metamorphose creepy-crawly revulsion into spider wonder. Emerging from ambitious citizen science project Your Wild Life (an initiative based at North Carolina State University), Dr. Eleanor's Book of Spiders with Chris Buddle provides an eye-opening arachnological overview of the natural history of species most noted by project participants, showcasing some of the fascinating spiders found in our attics and tents, front lawns and forests and even introducing us to spiders that fish. Exploring species from the tiny (but gymnastic) zebra jumping spider to the naturally shy and woefully misunderstood black widow, this guide will be a tremendous resource for teachers, students, and scientists alike. But more than this, it will transform the way we perceive the environment around us by deepening our understanding of its littlest inhabitants, inspiring all of us to find our inner naturalist, get outside, and crawl across the dirt magnifying glass in hand.

Whiteflies are one of the major insect pests of greenhouse production systems worldwide, feeding on a wide-range of greenhouse-grown horticultural crops. Whiteflies cause both direct damage by feeding on plant parts such as leaves as well as indirect damage by vectoring certain plant viral and bacterial diseases. In addition, since whiteflies feed within the phloem sieve tubes with their piercing-sucking mouthparts, they may excrete honeydew, a clear, sticky liquid that serves as a growing medium/food source for certain black sooty mould fungi. This book examines the biological control of whiteflies as well as aphids, which are serious pests of agricultural crops, particularly in cereal crops including winter wheat. Aphids induce stress to the wheat crop by damaging plant foliage, lowering the greenness of plants, and affecting productivity. Therefore, it is very important to monitor and prevent effectively wheat aphid for crop management. Additional chapters provide remote sensing data on aphid monitoring and prediction; and changes in the distribution of Russian wheat aphid biotypes in South Africa.

Identifying bees on the wing is known to be tricky. The Bees of North Carolina: An Identification Guide is a beginner's resource designed to help quickly and generally identify native bees in North Carolina. Developed by experts at NC State Extension, it provides an overview of some of the most common groups of bees in the state. The guide will help users learn to recognize bees according to key characteristics and, eventually, according to their overall appearance.

Fredrik Sjoeberg's Swedish bestseller about summer, islands, freedom and boundaries. 'The light, the warmth, the smells, the mist, the birdsong - the moths. Who can sleep? Who wants to?' Fredrik Sjoeberg finds happiness in the little things. Millions of them, in fact. This beguiling bestseller is his unique meditation on collecting hoverflies. It is also about living on a remote Swedish island, blissful long summer nights, lost loves, unexpected treasures, art, nature, slowness, and how freedom can come from the things we least expect. 'Full of charm, a book about how to find meaning in life' Melissa Harrison, The Times, Books of the Year 'I often return to The Fly Trap, it remains close to my heart. The minute observations from nature that reveal sudden insights into one's life. Sometimes I almost think that he wrote it for me' Tomas Transtroemer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 'Charming, witty and original' Patrick Barkham, Guardian 'Nature writing that can laugh at itself, a real tonic' Gregory Day, Sydney Morning Herald 'Delightful, at once informative and often humorously digressive . . . a humane man of wide-ranging curiosity, Sjoeberg writes with infectious passion' Paul Binding Independent Fredrik Sjoeberg collects hoverflies on the island Runmaroe, in the archipelago east of Stockholm. He is also a literary critic, translator, cultural columnist and the author of several books including The Art of Flight and The Raisin King, which form a trilogy with The Fly Trap.

Everything you need to know about eating insects and more. Guaranteed to answer all your questions, this book is a must have for anybody passionate about eating or breeding insects. The author, Elliott Lang tried eating insects for the first time on holiday in Thailand and loved them. He couldn't find any good book about it and decided to write a book himself and so started to explore the world of eating insects. Edible insects and bugs, insect breeding, most popular insects to eat, cooking ideas, restaurants who serve insects and where to buy insects all covered. Including which insects are most popular to eat and tips on preparing insects for cooking The book is written in an easy to read and understandable style.

The Ultimate Resource for the Beetle Enthusiast: Beetles fascinate hobbyists with their vivid colors and patterns, strange forms, and unusual behaviors. Some species are well-known to beetle breeders, but there are many others that have yet to be kept or bred by more than a handful of dedicated enthusiasts. Orin McMonigle provides detailed husbandry and breeding guides for a wide range of species, from the popular rhinoceros and stag beetles to darkling, diving, and dung beetles. This book is the result of years of experience and experimentation, with unprecedented details in caging, feeding, and environmental requirements for all stages of the beetles' lives. The breeding guides offer the best chance to form healthy ongoing colonies of these incredible creatures. This is the ultimate beetle book for hobbyists, breeders, nature museums, and insect zoos. Welcome to the world of beetles

I held the hat while the Deacon brought the board. Then with trembling care we slipped it under, and carefully carried the moth into the conservatory. First we turned on the light, and made sure that every ventilator was closed; then we released the Io for the night. In the morning we found a female clinging to a shelf, dotting it with little top-shaped eggs. I was delighted, for I thought this meant the complete history of a beautiful moth. So exquisite was the living, breathing creature, she put to shame the form and colouring of the mounted specimens. No wonder I had not cared for them!

An ecologist's investigation of the social lives of butterflies Throughout his career, Henry Horn took a unique approach to the study of butterflies. This book brings together his findings with recent advances in behavioral ecology to provide an incomparable look at the social lives of butterflies, illuminating for the first time the marvelously diverse range of butterfly behaviors across several species. Social Butterflies features in-depth studies of five sympatric species-the Plain Ringlet, the Eyed Brown, the Great Spangled Fritillary, the Viceroy, and the Pearly Eye-showing how their social interactions span much of the range of behaviors observed in vertebrates. Drawing on decades of his own keen observations in the field, Horn describes the natural history and behavioral peculiarities of each species and develops models to explain characteristic aspects of their behaviors. He then emphasizes key departures from these models to challenge the notion that butterflies are simply preconditioned to react to stimuli, showing how some make decisions by observing how other butterflies interact with the landscape and each other. Along the way, he sheds light on butterfly territoriality, mating tactics, vagrancy, feeding strategies, and more. Charting new directions for future research, Social Butterflies poses intriguing questions about the complex and sometimes mystifying social behaviors of these marvelous creatures, making it essential reading for lepidopterists, ecologists, and anyone interested in the social behaviors of invertebrate species.

This sophisticated photo anthology chronicles the behaviour of European invertebrates in their natural habitats over the course of three seasons with vibrant close-up photography. The stunning images leap off the page and give the reader a real glimpse into the world of our six and eight-legged neighbours as they hunt, mate and survive. Few, if any, coffee-table books on the subject manage to capture the magic, candid moments of these creatures, including praying mantises, bush-crickets, Stag Beetles, Glow-worms and Wasp Spiders. The book is also richly enhanced with text from 19th-century entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre, whose prose is both poetic and scientific.

This book by Eugene Marais is a passionate, insightful account into the world of termites. It is a meticulously researched expose of their complex, highly structured community life. Originally translated into English in 1937, the quality of research remains as relevant today as it was when it was first published. This illuminating account will not only appeal to those with a scientific interest in termites, but will similarly enthrall readers who are new to their captivating world. An exceptional feature of his detailed research is the extraordinary psychological life of the termite. While the studies are based in South Africa, the extensive research also includes the termites of Magnetic Island, Australia. You will be taken on an exciting journey into the amazing life of termites, as their astonishing world of hierarchy and roles within their community is revealed in captivating detail. His years of unceasing work on the veld led Eugene Marais to formulate his theory that the termite nest is similar in every respect to the organism of an animal. He observed that the workers and soldiers resemble red and white blood cells, while the fungus gardens are the digestive organ. The queen functions as the brain, controlling the collective mind, and the sexual flight of the kings and queens is similar in every aspect to the escape of spermatozoa and ova. Reviews "I have never read a book written in such a unique style. It is as though Eugene Marais breathes life into the words, animating the lives and struggles of the white ants in such a way that they almost seem human." "As a safari Guide in the Okavango Botswana for many years, I used this book as a basis for presenting a fascination for the smaller creatures of the African bush, my home for my entire life and which I was privileged to share with many clients from different countries. Termite mounds are really interesting and Eugene Marais compared the infrastructure of a termitary to that of the human body. Writing from the heart, this scientific author instills a wonder in the reader, of the incredible intracacies of nature, in a light-hearted, easily readable manner." "This book doesn't quit when it comes to fascinating insights about termites. I read it with almost no knowledge of what these tiny creatures are capable of, and I was transfixed by these rich and complex insect societies. For the layman, this is an entertaining and informative introduction to a very amazing creature." "Brilliant and thought provoking material." Contents 1) The Beginning of a Termitary 2) Unsolved Secrets 3) Language in the Insect World 4) What is the Psyche? 5) Luminosity in the Animal Kingdom 6) The Composite Animal 7) Somatic Death 8) The Development of the Composite Animal 9) The Birth of the Termite Community 10) Pain and Travail in Nature 11) Uninherited Instincts 12) The Mysterious Power which Governs 13) The Water Supply 14) The First Architects 15) The Queen in her Cell

More than ever before, there is widespread interest in studying bumble bees and the critical role they play in our ecosystems. "Bumble Bees of North America" is the first comprehensive guide to North American bumble bees to be published in more than a century. Richly illustrated with color photographs, diagrams, range maps, and graphs of seasonal activity patterns, this guide allows amateur and professional naturalists to identify all 46 bumble bee species found north of Mexico and to understand their ecology and changing geographic distributions.

The book draws on the latest molecular research, shows the enormous color variation within species, and guides readers through the many confusing convergences between species. It draws on a large repository of data from museum collections and presents state-of-the-art results on evolutionary relationships, distributions, and ecological roles. Illustrated keys allow identification of color morphs and social castes.

A landmark publication, "Bumble Bees of North America" sets the standard for guides and the study of these important insects.The best guide yet to the 46 recognized bumble bee species in North America north of MexicoUp-to-date taxonomy includes previously unpublished results Detailed distribution maps Extensive keys identify the many color patterns of species

This book presents a readable account of butterfly behaviour, based on field observations, great photographs and the latest research. The main focus is on courtship and mating - including perching, searching and territorial behaviour - but to understand these subjects it is necessary to explain how mates are chosen and this requires sections on wing colours and patterns. A chapter on butterfly vision is also essential in terms of how butterflies see the world and each other. There have been exciting discoveries in all of these fields in recent years, including: butterfly vision (butterfly photoreceptors), wing patterns (molecular biology), wing colouration (structural colours and nano-architecture), mating strategies and female choice (ecology and behaviour).

The Pocket Guide to the Insects of Costa Rica reveals the sheer number and diversity of insects and arthropods of the tropics. Every square meter of rainforest and cloud forest in Costa Rica offers up multitudes of gemlike tiny creatures with enough wonders to keep an entomologist busy for a lifetime. But given that Costa Rica is home to potentially more than 250,000 species-the majority of which have yet to be named-where to begin? This Pocket Guide helps orient those new to the insect world, featuring the species that one would most likely encounter on a walk through the forests of Costa Rica. Individual species accounts offer key physical characteristics, along with fascinating natural history information, while range maps offer further clues to help identify the insect that has just landed on your trail way. Finally, there are the stunning photos-a happy reminder of your time spent in the wilds of Costa Rica.

Welcome to the strange and dangerous world of the VENOM DOC. Imagine a three-week-long first date in Siberia catching venomous water shrews, and later a wedding attended by Eastern European prime ministers and their bodyguards wielding machine guns. Then a life spent living and working with snakes. Lots of very, very poisonous snakes and other venomous creatures ... everything from the Malaysian king cobra to deadly scorpions. Welcome to Bryan Grieg Fry's world. In this action-packed ride through Bryan's life you'll meet the man who's worked with the world's most venomous creatures in over 50 countries. He's been bitten by 26 poisonous snakes and stung by three stingrays - and survived a near-fatal scorpion sting while deep in the Amazon jungle. He's also broken 23 bones, including breaking his back in three places, and had to learn how to walk again. But when you only research the venom you've collected yourself - the adventures, and danger, will just keep coming ... Dividing his time between scientific research and teaching at the University of Queensland, and TV filming and collecting expeditions around the world, Bryan and danger are never far from one another.