Insights From Insects
What Bad Bugs Can Teach Us
Published on 1. May 2010
311 pages
978-1-61592-407-3 (ISBN)
Description
This fascinating, beautifully illustrated book profiles twenty "troublesome bugs," showing how the study of these creatures has led scientists to many basic discoveries that have enhanced our understanding of life. The reader learns how an American entomologist was awarded France's gold medal of honor for rescuing the French wine industry from destruction by the aphid-like "grape phylloxera"; how the World Health Organization almost completely eradicated malaria through the use of DDT before the insect adapted to the insecticide and became resistant; how some insects disguise themselves to avoid detection; how others survive the subzero temperatures of winter; why some flies have a uterus and a mammary gland; and many more strange and tantalizing true tales about these wonderful, troublesome "pests"-pests that have taught us vital lessons about survival, nature, and the environment.
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Book
03/2005
Prometheus Books
€20.00
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
By Gilbert Waldbauer
Content
- Cover
- Praise For
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication Page
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. The Most Dangerous Insects: Mosquitoes
- 2. Evolution in Action: House Fly
- 3. What Darwin Wished He Knew: Drosophila
- 4. Natural Selection Outflanks Farmers: Corn Rootworms
- 5. How a Species Becomes Two Species: Fruit Flies
- 6. Guaranteeing Descendants: The Numbers Game: Aphids
- 7. Guaranteeing Descendants: The Role of Parental Care: Tsetse Fly
- 8. Surviving Winter as a Sleeping Egg: Evergreen Bagworm
- 9. Escaping Predators by Deception: Black Swallowtail Butterfly
- 10. Why Insects Are Such Picky Eaters: Cabbage White Butterfly
- 11. "Nutritional Wisdom": Corn Earworm
- 12. Invaders from Abroad: Gypsy Moth
- 13. An American Saves the French Wine Industry: Grape Phylloxera
- 14. An Insecticide "Creates" New Pests: Codling Moth
- 15. From Low- to High-Tech Controls: European Corn Borer
- 16. The Demise of DDT: Japanese Beetle
- 17. Their Passing from the Agricultural Scene: Chinch Bug
- 18. Synchrony with the Seasons: Hessian Fly
- 19. An Insect to Control Another Insect: Cottony Cushion Scale
- 20. Extermination by Subverting the Sex Act: Screwworm Fly
- Epilogue
- Photo Insert
- Notes
- Index
