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

As we follow the path of a giant water bug or peer over the wing of a gypsy moth, we glimpse our world anew, at once shrunk and magnified. Owing to their size alone, insects' experience of the world is radically different from ours. Air to them is as viscous as water to us. The predicament of size, along with the dizzying diversity of insects and their status as arguably the most successful organisms on earth, have inspired passion and eloquence in some of the world's most innovative scientists. A World of Insects showcases classic works on insect behavior, physiology, and ecology published over half a century by Harvard University Press. James Costa, Vincent Dethier, Thomas Eisner, Lee Goff, Bernd Heinrich, Bert Hoelldobler, Kenneth Roeder, Andrew Ross, Thomas Seeley, Karl von Frisch, Gilbert Waldbauer, E. O. Wilson, and Mark Winston-each writer, in his unique voice, paints a close-up portrait of the ways insects explore their environment, outmaneuver their enemies, mate, and care for kin. Selected by two world-class entomologists, these essays offer compelling descriptions of insect cooperation and warfare, the search for ancient insect DNA in amber, and the energy economics of hot-blooded insects. They also discuss the impact-for good and ill-of insects on our food supply, their role in crime scene investigation, and the popular fascination with pheromones, killer bees, and fire ants. Each entry begins with commentary on the authors, their topics, and the latest research in the field.

"A book that will both educate and delight anyone who wants to know more about these fascinating insects. Packed with facts but written in a straightforward style, the book makes California's 108 dragonfly and damselfly species easily accessible. . . . It will engender a renewed appreciation of the value of our wetlands."--Dennis Paulson, author of "Dragonflies of Washington

"This is now the book on all the California Odonates and should ride in the pack of every naturalist, butterflier, and birder in the American west."--Rich Stallcup, Point Reyes Bird Observatory

Why do bees buzz? How do they breathe? What is a 'waggle dance'? And just what happens if they run out of honey? Twenty-five thousand species of bees certainly create a loud buzz. Yet silence descended a few years ago when domesticated bee populations plummeted. Bees, in particular honey bees, are critical links in the vibrant chain that brings fruits, vegetables, and nuts to markets and dinner tables across the country. Farmers and scientists on the agricultural frontlines quickly realized the impact of this loss, but many others did not see this devastation. ""Why Do Bees Buzz?"" reports on the mysterious 'colony collapse disorder' that has affected honey bee populations, as well as other captivating topics, such as their complex, highly social lives, and how other species of bees are unique and different from honey bees. Organized in chapters that cover everything from these provocative pollinators' basic biology to the aggressive nature of killer bees, this insightful question and answer guide provides a honeycomb of compelling facts. With clarity and depth, bee biologist Elizabeth Capaldi Evans and coauthor Carol A. Butler examine the lives of honey bees, as well as other species such as orchid bees, bumblebees, and stingless bees. Accessible to readers on every level, and including the latest research and theory for the more sophisticated reader, the authors reveal more than one hundred critical answers to questions about the lives of bees. Concepts about speciation, evolutionary adaptation and pollination, as well as historical details about topics such as Mayan beekeeping and the appearance of bees in rock art, are arranged in easy-to-follow sidebars that highlight the text. Color and black and white photographs and drawings enhance the beauty and usefulness of ""Why Do Bees Buzz""?

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, natural and social scientists began comparing certain insects to human social organization. Entomologists theorized that social insects -- such as ants, bees, wasps, and termites -- organize themselves into highly specialized, hierarchical divisions of labor. Using a distinctly human vocabulary that reflected the dominant social structure of the time, they described insects as queens, workers, and soldiers and categorized their behaviors with words like marriage, slavery, farming, and factories. At the same time, sociologists working to develop a model for human organization compared people to insects, relying on the same premise that humans arrange themselves hierarchically. In Debugging the Link between Social Theory and Social Insects, Diane M. Rodgers explains how these co-constructed theories reinforced one another, thereby naturalizing Western conceptions of race, class, and gender as they gained prominence in popular culture and the scientific world.

Using a critical science studies perspective not previously applied to research on social insect symbolism, Rodgers attempts to "debug" this theoretical co-construction. She provides sufficient background information to accommodate readers unfamiliar with entomology -- including in-depth explanations of the terms used in the research and discussion of social insects, particularly the insect sociality scale. The entire premise of sociality for insects depends on a dominant understanding of high/low civilization standards -- particularly the tenets of a specialized division of labor and hierarchy -- comparisons that appear to be informed by nineteenth-century colonial thought. Placing these theories in a historical and cross-cultural context, Rodgers explains why hierarchical ideas gained prominence, despite the existence of opposing theories in the literature, and how they resulted in an inhibiting vocabulary that relies more heavily on metaphors than on description.

Such analysis is necessary, Rodgers argues, because it sheds light both on newly proposed scientific models and on future changes in human social structures. Contemporary scientists have begun to challenge the traditional understanding of insect social organization and to propose new interdisciplinary models that combine ideas about social insect and human organizational structure with computer technologies. Without a thorough understanding of how the old models came about, residual language and embedded assumptions may remain and continue to reinforce hierarchical social constructions.

This intriguing interdisciplinary book makes an important contribution to the history -- and future -- of science and sociology.

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 rivers, especially those in North America. Along the way we learn about the diverse forms these arthropods take, as well as their remarkable modes of life--how they have radiated into every imaginable niche in the water environment, and how they cope with the challenges such an environment poses to respiration, vision, thermoregulation, and reproduction. We encounter the caddis fly larva building its protective case and camouflaging it with stream detritus; green darner dragonflies mating midair in an acrobatic wheel formation; ants that have adapted to the tiny water environment within a pitcher plant; and insects whose adaptations to the aquatic lifestyle are furnishing biomaterials engineers with ideas for future applications in industry and consumer goods.

While learning about the evolution, natural history, and ecology of these insects, readers also discover more than a little about the scientists who study them.

This photographic masterpiece celebrates the forgotten inhabitants of the African savannah - insects, spiders, frogs and smaller reptiles. The main aim of this book is to showcase the superb, high-quality slide collection of the photographer, Dan Lieberman, and his tremendous patience taken in acquiring these images. In doing so, the author also highlights and describes the diversity of species and makes the smaller often overlooked creatures as exciting to observe as their big and hairy counterparts. A tall order perhaps! But with the quality of Dan's macro-slide images of these small creatures, coupled with the author's passion for the natural world, we hope to demonstrate that observing some of the Small 5005 can be as rewarding as observing their Big 5 compatriots. The more one begins to know about these denizens of the bush, the more one begins to realise how much more there is to discover. By highlighting some of the lesser-known inhabitants of these areas, it is hoped that people will be more willing to conserve them, and that in this context these creatures will gain recognition so that the plight of all biodiversity can be given the attention it deserves.About the Authors:Rael Loon, the author, aims to promote the connections between ecotourism, conservation and community development by demonstrating in his writing how people and wildlife can benefit from each other, and by writing on related environmental issues. He believes that the best chance of conserving nature and our biodiversity is by learning as much as possible about them. In this book, he takes the reader on a journey of discovery into the hidden world of some of these smaller denizens of southern Africa's rich and diverse habitats. Rael lives in the Lowveld with his wife, Helene, and their two children, Asha and Benjamin. Dan Lieberman was an intrepid explorer and photographer. An ethnobotanist whose passion for the natural world, and particularly the microcosmos within it, led him on many explorations into his environment - snow, jungle, desert and sea - and finally his camera and his eye favoured insects and other tiny creatures. He took thousands of photos all over Africa, including Madagascar, Gabon and southern Africa - and many of these colourful characters are captured in this book. His animated comprehension of this minute world inspired and educated all who were fortunate enough to share his experience with him. When you were with Dan, you knew you were in the presence of something wild - a true legend. Dan died in a car accident in 2000 at the age of 33. This beautiful book is a tribute to his memory.

From fossils and folklore to life cycles and the latest in digital imaging techniques, A Dazzle of Dragonflies will take you into the far-reaching and sometimes secret world of one of our most beneficial insects. The guides are two of the most experienced and ardent fans of the ""mosquitohawk,"" and your journey will include encounters with poets and prehistoric giants; peeks into hidden, watery universes; side trips to garden ponds and scientific laboratories; and much more. Pioneers in the electronic imaging of insects and creators of the award-winning website Digital Dragonflies, the authors share their spectacular scans of live dragonflies, enhanced with beautiful photographs that showcase them in their natural environment. Imparting a lifelong passion for these remarkable creatures, the authors also ask us to join them in some hands-on activities to increase our awareness of and interaction with dragonflies - from tips on creating a dragonfly garden to instructions for catching, photographing, and scanning them. Get ready to have your eyes opened by this true education about all things ""dragonfly.

A guide to the solitary wasp. This book offers ideas for investigations and describes techniques. It includes identification keys to the British species, together with a one page field key and a guessing guide based on colour, prey type and nest type.

Understand the insect world with BORROR AND DELONG'S INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF INSECTS! Combining current insect identification, insect biology, and insect evolution, this biology text provides you with a comprehensive introduction to the study of insects. Numerous figures, bullets, easily understood diagrams, and numbered lists throughout the text help you grasp the material.