Elentarri's Book Blog

TITLE:  Extraordinary Insects: The Fabulous, Indispensable Creatures Who Run Our World

ALTERNATIVE TITLE: Buzz, Sting, Bite:  Why We Need Insects

AUTHOR:  Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson

DATE PUBLISHED:  2019

FORMAT:  Paperback

ISBN-13:  9780008316365

_____________________

DESCRIPTION:

"A journey into the weird, wonderful and truly astonishing lives of the small but mighty creatures who keep the world turning.

Out of sight, underfoot, unseen beyond fleeting scuttles or darting flights, insects occupy a hidden world, yet are essential to sustaining life on earth.

Insects influence our ecosystem like a ripple effect on water. They arrived when life first moved to dry land, they preceded - and survived - the dinosaurs, they outnumber the grains of sand on all the world's beaches, and they will be here long after us.

Working quietly but tirelessly, they give us food, uphold our ecosystems, can heal our wounds and even digest plastic. They could also provide us with new solutions to the antibiotics crisis, assist in disaster zones and inspire airforce engineers with their flying techniques.

But their private lives are also full of fun, intrigue and wonder -musical mating rituals; house-hunting for armies of beetle babies; metamorphosing into new characters; throwing parties in fermenting sap; cultivating fungi for food; farming smaller species for honey dew and always ensuring that what is dead is decomposed, ready to become life once again.

Here, we will discover life and death, drama and dreams, all on a millimetric scale. Like it or not, Earth is the planet of insects, and this is their extraordinary story."

________________________

REVIEW:

This is a chirpy, light, introductory, factoid-type survey of most things insect - their odd habits of dating, mating and parenting; the role of insects in the food chain (including ours); the relationship between insects and plants; the role of insects in garbage disposal and industry; as well as the importance of insects in the ecosystem and our lives.  The author is clearly excited about six-legged critters.  I found the book interesting (the stuff that was new to me anyway), but rather superficial - I wanted more.

______________________

OTHER BOOKS:

~Planet of the Bugs: Evolution and the Rise of Insects by Scott Richard Shaw

~Call of Nature: The Secret Life of Dung by Richard Jones

~Plight of the Living Dead: What Real-Life Zombies Reveal about Our World--And Ourselves by Matt Simon

~Never Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live by Rob Dunn