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Books > Sport & Leisure > Natural history, country life & pets > Wild animals > Insects & spiders
Packed with beautiful scenes showing butterflies of the world
flitting among flowers. Simply brush water over the black and white
designs to watch the butterflies burst into a rainbow of colours.
Colony Collapse Disorder, ubiquitous pesticide use, industrial
agriculture, habitat reduction-these are just a few of the issues
causing unprecedented trauma in honeybee populations worldwide. In
this artfully illustrated book, Heather Swan embarks on a narrative
voyage to discover solutions to-and understand the sources of-the
plight of honeybees. Through a lyrical combination of creative
nonfiction and visual imagery, Where Honeybees Thrive tells the
stories of the beekeepers, farmers, artists, entomologists,
ecologists, and other advocates working to stem the damage and
reverse course for this critical pollinator. Using her own quest
for understanding as a starting point, Swan highlights the
innovative projects and strategies these groups employ. Her mosaic
approach to engaging with the environment not only reveals the
incredibly complex political ecology in which bees live-which
includes human and nonhuman actors alike-but also suggests ways of
comprehending and tackling a host of other conflicts between
postindustrial society and the natural world. Each chapter closes
with an illustrative full-color gallery of bee-related artwork. A
luminous journey from the worlds of honey producers, urban farmers,
and mead makers of the United States to those of beekeepers of
Sichuan, China, and researchers in southern Africa, Where Honeybees
Thrive traces the global web of efforts to secure a sustainable
future for honeybees-and ourselves.
'A must-read' Daily Mail "'Hello. My name is Bill and I'm a bad
beekeeper. A really bad beekeeper." So begins the charming and
often hilarious account of how Bill Turnbull - the much-loved and
much-missed TV presenter - stumbled into the world of beekeeping
(sometimes literally). Despite many setbacks - including being
stung (twice) on his first day of training - beekeeping somehow
taught Bill a great deal about himself, and the world around him.
The Bad Beekeeper's Club also highlights the very real threats to
Britain's bee population. One in every three tablespoons of food
derives directly from the pollinating process of the humble bumble
bee. But hives are collapsing at an accelerating rate with
significant environmental consequences. Fascinating and extremely
funny, The Bad Beekeeper's Club is a universally appealing story
about a very singular passion.
'Written in clear, easily readable language and relying little on
jargon, this coffee-table-style book will interest anyone
captivated by this unique group of insects. Highly recommended. All
library collections' Choice. 'This gorgeous book reveals a wonder
on nearly every page and will enthrall natural history enthusiasts
both amateur and expert alike' Library Journal (starred review).
This visual feast reveals a multitude of butterfly and moth species
from around the globe. Here are some of the most colourful,
spectacular and sometimes weird examples of the world’s
butterflies and moths. Vibrant colour photographs and macro images
complement the enlightening text written by zoologist Ronald
Orenstein, who explains the scientific curiosities of these amazing
insects. He makes clear how to differentiate between butterflies
and moths; how caterpillars camouflage themselves; and how their
feeding strategies and evolutionary adaptations help them prevail
in the wild. Butterflies has seven sections which provide
comprehensive coverage of Lepidoptera. It includes the following
and much more: Introduction to Butterflies: What are butterflies?
Colour Patterns, Courtship, Migration and Climate Change. Butterfly
Diversity: Swallowtails, Skippers, Whites, Sulphurs and Yellows,
Milkweed Butterflies, Fritillaries, Emperors, Gossamerwinged
Butterflies, Metalmarks. Butterfly Wings: Flight, Colour, Tails and
Ornaments, Eyespots. Butterfly Life History: Mating, Eggs,
Caterpillars, Metamorphosis. What Butterflies Eat: Feeding
Apparatus, Flowers, Rotting Fruit, Drinking, Puddling. Butterflies
in their Environment: Predators, Camouflage, Mimicry,
Overwintering. Myriad of Moths: Day-Flying Moths, Silks, Giants,
Mimicry, Wing Pattern, Defence. With stunning photography,
authoritative natural history and an elegant design, Butterflies
brings to abundant life the unfathomable beauty and variety of
butterflies and moths.
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Thrips
(Paperback)
William D.J. Kirk; Illustrated by Anthony J. Hopkins
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R651
Discovery Miles 6 510
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Ships in 12 - 19 working days
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Discover how honey is made, what bees do all day and how baby bees
are born in this fascinating introduction to the world of bees.
With colourful illustrations, flaps to lift and holes to peep
through.
Dinosaurs, however toothy, did not rule the earth-and neither do
humans. But what were and are the true potentates of our planet?
Insects, says Scott Richard Shaw-millions and millions of insect
species. Starting in the shallow oceans of ancient Earth and ending
in the far reaches of outer space-where, Shaw proposes, insect-like
aliens may have achieved similar preeminence-Planet of the Bugs
spins a sweeping account of insects' evolution from humble
arthropod ancestors into the bugs we know and love (or fear and
hate) today. Leaving no stone unturned, Shaw explores how
evolutionary innovations such as small body size, wings,
metamorphosis, and parasitic behavior have enabled insects to
disperse widely, occupy increasingly narrow niches, and survive
global catastrophes in their rise to dominance. Through buggy tales
by turns bizarre and comical-from caddisflies that construct
portable houses or weave silken aquatic nets to trap floating
debris, to parasitic wasp larvae that develop in the blood of host
insects and, by storing waste products in their rear ends, are able
to postpone defecation until after they emerge-he not only unearths
how changes in our planet's geology, flora, and fauna contributed
to insects' success, but also how, in return, insects came to shape
terrestrial ecosystems and amplify biodiversity. Indeed, in his
visits to hyperdiverse rain forests to highlight the current insect
extinction crisis, Shaw reaffirms just how crucial these tiny
beings are to planetary health and human survival. In this age of
honeybee die-offs and bedbugs hitching rides in the spines of
library books, Planet of the Bugs charms with humor, affection, and
insight into the world's six-legged creatures, revealing an
essential importance that resonates across time and space.
This publication is an account of the distribution, morphology,
biology and classification of those scorpions considered to be of
medical importance. The book also contains information on the
clinical aspects of scorpion envenomation, and on methods for
scorpion control.
Though the scope of this book is clearly delineated by its
title, "Scorpions of Medical Importance," Professor Keegan does
consider those genera and species of scorpions that are not of
medical importance, but commonly occur in association with man, and
are often greatly feared. He has done so because of the scorpion's
potential as a stimulus for entomophobia. While this fear, created
in part by folklore, dramatic but inaccurate literature, and
television and motion picture sequences, is useful in areas where
dangerously venomous scorpions exist, it has also created much
needless apprehension. It will surely be a revelation to many
readers that of approximately 800 species that have been described,
only about 50 have been reported as being dangerous to man.
A valuable feature of "Scorpions of Medical Importance" is the
outstanding drawings that have been used to illustrate the species.
It is not often that one comes across drawings so striking in their
precision and attention to even the most minute details.
As one of the very few books dealing solely with the general
subject of scorpions of medical importance, this publication should
be a useful reference for all of those interested in the
distribution, biology, and control of dangerously venomous
scorpions, and in clinical aspects of scorpion envenomation."The
book also contains an index, bibliography, and pertinent references
to related species not discussed in the book.
Stouts, millers, and forky-tails (a.k.a. deerfly, moths, and
earwigs) are just three of more than 200 fascinating insects,
spiders, and other arthropods profiled in this book. Youll also
meet weevils, flesh flies, aphids, dragonflies, ticks, bees, giant
water bugs, and many mosquitos. These are the creepy-crawlies in
your garden and in your basement, the annoyances and the biters,
the disease-carriers and the pests. But they are also the
pollinators and the insect friends that are crucial to healthy
ecosystems. Organized by habitat and order, each description gives
key identifying features, life cycle details, as well as the
specific habits and quirks that make each one worthy of study. The
pages are filled with stunning full-colour photographs of each
creature, from gross to gorgeous. Includes up-to-date information
about each species distribution in this province, as well as quick
hits about the latest local research, folk tales, and insect lore.
Insects are the most dominant animal group on the planet. Getting
to know some of this species richness is a journey every
nature-lover or curious mind will enjoy.
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