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| Material Type: | Internet resource |
|---|---|
| Document Type: | Book, Internet Resource |
| All Authors / Contributors: |
Gilbert Waldbauer |
| ISBN: | 0674010272 9780674010277 0674016327 9780674016323 |
| OCLC Number: | 50198798 |
| Description: | 366 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. |
| Contents: | Macrocosm -- Pollinating -- Dispersing seeds -- Supplying food -- Providing defense -- Giving sustenance -- Giving protection -- Controlling plant populations -- Controlling insect populations -- Controlling vertebrate populations -- Recycling dead animals -- Recycling dung -- Recycling dead plants -- Microcosm. |
| Responsibility: | Gilbert Waldbauer. |
| More information: |
Abstract:
Reviews
Publisher Synopsis
Persuasive, rollicking, and informative...He may not get you to hug your termites, but you will see them in a whole new light. Bugs are truly awesome in numbers and variety...On the surface, bugs seem so alien to us. But in anecdote after anecdote, Waldbauer gives us plenty with which we can identify...Waldbauer celebrates not only the good things bugs do but also the bizarre...What Waldbauer shows us is that bugs are vitally important to our planet. They help plant life grow. They are great cleanup crews, removing waste material...They till and aerate soil. They provide food for all kinds of animals, including fish and birds and some mammals...Clearly, bugs are good. -- Vicki Croke Boston Globe 20030415 This book will open the eyes of readers who, like the great majority of mankind, regard insects with contempt or disgust. It will make them look on our six-legged fellow creatures with more interest and sympathy, and will thus add a new dimension to their own lives. -- Anthony Daniels Sunday Telegraph (UK) 20030504 Written in a gentle style that is easy to read yet still authoritative, the breadth of insect ecology is paraded before us. -- Richard Jones BBC Wildlife 20031101 Waldbauer is an entomologist with an unwavering verve for his pursuits. Here he catalogs ecologically important insects by their 'occupations' within an ecosystem, explaining how they live and how they make possible life in general. Among insects' occupations are their roles in regulating plant and animal populations and tilling the soil. In some cases, their capabilities and behaviors are nothing short of mind-boggling. Waldbauer reports that one species of Great Plains ants has brought to the surface about 1.7 tons of subsoil per acre. An average colony of honeybees harvests 44 pounds of pollen and 265 pounds of nectar a year. Such anecdotes combine with the author's keen insight into the mechanics of ecosystems to make a strong case on behalf of the lowly insect. Science News 20041211 Waldbauer gives us a bugs-eye view of the world in this well-written and entertaining book that will change the way you think about insects. -- B.F. Southeastern Naturalist Read more...
