The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies
by Bert Holldobler
from W. W. Norton
The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of The Ants render the extraordinary lives of the social insects in this visually spectacular volume.
The Superorganism promises to be one of the most important scientific works published in this decade. Coming eighteen years after the publication of The Ants, this new volume expands our knowledge of the social insects (among them, ants, bees, wasps, and termites) and is based on remarkable research conducted mostly within the last two decades. These superorganisms—a tightly knit colony of individuals, formed by altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and division of labor—represent one of the basic stages of biological organization, midway between the organism and the entire species. The study of the superorganism, as the authors demonstrate, has led to important advances in our understanding of how the transitions between such levels have occurred in evolution and how life as a whole has progressed from simple to complex forms. Ultimately, this book provides a deep look into a part of the living world hitherto glimpsed by only a very few. 110 color and 100 black-and-white illustrations.
Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis
by Rowan Jacobsen
from Bloomsbury USA
How the disappearance of the world’s honeybee population puts the food we eat at risk.
Many people will remember that Rachel Carson predicted a silent spring, but she also warned of a fruitless fall, a time when “there was no pollination and there would be no fruit.” The fruitless fall nearly became a reality last year when beekeepers watched one third of the honeybee population—thirty billion bees—mysteriously die. The deaths have continued in 2008. Rowan Jacobsen uses the mystery of Colony Collapse Disorder to tell the bigger story of bees and their’ essential connection to our daily lives. With their disappearance, we won’t just be losing honey. Industrial agriculture depends on the honeybee to pollinate most fruits, nuts, and vegetables—one third of American crops. Yet this system is falling apart. The number of these professional pollinators has become so inadequate that they are now trucked across the country and flown around the world, pushing them ever closer to collapse. By exploring the causes of CCD and the even more chilling decline of wild pollinators, Fruitless Fall does more than just highlight this growing agricultural crisis. It emphasizes the miracle of flowering plants and their pollination partners, and urges readers not to take for granted the Edenic garden Homo sapiens has played in since birth. Our world could have been utterly different—and may be still.
Beekeeping for Dummies
by Howland Blackiston
from For Dummies
Believe it or not, bees are one of the oldest species of domesticated animals. Archeologists have found evidence of beekeeping, or apiculture, in the Middle East dating back more than five thousand years. If you’ve ever tasted good clover honey, it’s not hard to understand why. But it’s not just for the honey that more than 125,000 people (and growing) in the United States, alone, keep hives. Anyone interested in nature can’t help but be fascinated by those buzzing yellow bundles of energy and the exotic world they inhabit, with all its weird rituals and incredible efficiency. Also, dedicated gardeners appreciate the extra bounty that pollinating bees bring to their fruits, flowers, and vegetable gardens.
In this easy-to-follow guide, Howland Blackiston, one of the nation’s most respected authorities on the subject, takes the mystery (and the sting) out of beekeeping. Taking a step-by-step approach to successful backyard beekeeping, he gets you up and running with all the information you need to:
- Build a hive
- Establish your first colony
- Inspect your hives with confidence
- Maintain healthy colonies
- Deal with pests and fix common problems
- Harvest and enjoy fresh homemade honey
- Bottle and market your honey
Howland Blackiston covers all the bases, from bee anatomy, society, and behavior, to identifying and healing common illnesses afflicting bees. He also offers inventive solutions to most common and many uncommon problems you’re likely to run into. Among other things, you’ll discover:
- Where to put your hive, basic equipment you’ll need, and how to assemble a hive
- The best and safest way to inspect and enjoy your bees
- Year-round tasks a beekeeper must perform to maintain a healthy colony
- How to recognize and deal with common problems with brood production and the precious queen
- How to harvest honey and decide what kind of honey you’d like to make
- Making products from beeswax and propolis
For both fun and profit, beekeeping has become a booming enterprise. A real honey of a book, Beekeeping For Dummies gets you on the road to enjoying this ancient, highly-rewarding, and oh-so-tasty hobby.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders (National Audubon Society Field Guides)
by NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY
from Knopf
There are about 100,000 kinds of insects in North America, so obviously they can't have a field guide in the same way the 650 species of birds do: something both portable and complete. The National Audubon Society has produced a remarkably useful compromise. This guide has photographs and descriptions of 550 insect species and 60 kinds of spiders. Most of the families of arthropods on the continent are covered, as are all of the most common species. It's a very useful resource for any North American naturalist, and the best choice for an adult who is not an expert entomologist. --Mary Ellen Curtin
Spiders, bugs, moths, butterflies, beetles, bees, flies, dragonflies, grasshoppers, and many other insects are detailed in more than 700 full-color photographs visually arranged by shape and color. Descriptive text includes measurements, diagnostic details, and information on habitat, range, feeding habits, sounds or songs, flight period, web construction, life cycle, behaviors, folklore, and environmental impact. An illustrated key to the insect orders and detailed drawings of the parts of insects, spiders, and butterflies supplement this extensive coverage.
Garden Insects of North America: The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs (Princeton Field Guides)
by Whitney Cranshaw
from Princeton University Press
Garden Insects of North America is the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to the common insects and mites affecting yard and garden plants in North America. In a manner no previous book has come close to achieving, through full-color photos and concise, clear, scientifically accurate text, it describes the vast majority of species associated with shade trees and shrubs, turfgrass, flowers and ornamental plants, vegetables, and fruits--1,420 of them, including crickets, katydids, fruit flies, mealybugs, moths, maggots, borers, aphids, ants, bees, and many, many more. For particularly abundant bugs adept at damaging garden plants, management tips are also included. Covering all of the continental United States and Canada, this is the definitive one-volume resource for amateur gardeners, insect lovers, and professional entomologists alike.
To ease identification, the book is organized by plant area affected (e.g., foliage, flowers, stems) and within that, by taxa. Close to a third of the species are primarily leaf chewers, with about the same number of sap suckers. Multiple photos of various life stages and typical plant symptoms are included for key species. The text, on the facing page, provides basic information on host plants, characteristic damage caused to plants, distribution, life history, habits, and, where necessary, how to keep "pests" in check--in short, the essentials to better understanding, appreciating, and tolerating these creatures.
Whether managing, studying, or simply observing insects, identification is the first step--and this book is the key. With it in hand, the marvelous microcosm right outside the house finally comes fully into view.
- Describes more than 1,400 species--twice as many as in any other field guide
- Full-color photos for most species--more than five times the number in most comparable guides
- Up-to-date pest management tips
- Organized by plant area affected and by taxa for easy identification
- Covers the continental United States and Canada
- Provides species level treatment of all insects and mites important to gardens
- Illustrates all life stages of key garden insects and commonly associated plant injuries
- Concise, clear, scientifically accurate text
- Comprehensive and user-friendly
Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture
by Ross Conrad
from Chelsea Green Publishing
The various chemicals used in beekeeping have, for the past decades, held Varroa Destructor, a mite, and other major pests at bay, but chemical-resistance is building and evolution threatens to overtake the best that laboratory chemists have to offer. In fact, there is evidence that chemical treatments are making the problem worse. Natural Beekeeping flips the script on traditional approaches by proposing a program of selective breeding and natural hive management.
Conrad brings together the best organic and natural approaches to keeping honeybees healthy and productive here in one book. Readers will learn about nontoxic methods of controlling mites, eliminating American foulbrood disease (without the use of antibiotics), breeding strategies, and many other tips and techniques for maintaining healthy hives. Conrad's reservoir of knowledge comes from years of experience and a far-flung community of fellow beekeepers who are all interested in ecologically sustainable apiculture. Specific concepts and detailed management techniques are covered in a matter-of-fact, easy to implement way.
Natural Beekeeping describes opportunities for the seasoned professional to modify existing operations to improve the quality of hive products, increase profits, and eliminate the use of chemical treatments. Beginners will need no other book to guide them. Whether you are an experienced apiculturist looking for ideas to develop an Integrated Pest Management approach or someone who wants to sell honey at a premium price, this is the book you've been waiting for.
Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (Kaufman Field Guides)
by Kenn Kaufman
from Houghton Mifflin
Many insects are difficult even for the experts to identify. In the
new Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, readers
will find a wealth of information on the amazing observable behaviors of
insects and their fascinating life histories. Naturalists Kenn Kaufman
and Eric R. Eaton use a broad ecological approach rather than overly technical terms, making the book accessible and understandable for everyone. The lively and engaging text emphasizes the insects that are most
likely to catch our attention but includes information on all groups that
can be recognized. The guide is lavishly illustrated, with more than
2,350 digitally enhanced photographs representing every major group
of insects found in North America north of Mexico. Comprehensive yet
compact, authoritative yet easy to understand, this is the perfect guide
for anyone who wants to know more about the fascinating and diverse
insects of North America.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies (National Audubon Society Field Guides)
by NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY
from Knopf
Butterflies are among the natural world's most colorful and intriguing creatures, so what could be more useful than a handy field guide with more than 1,000 photographs of all the butterflies of North America north of Mexico, including all true butterflies, the most common skippers, and many migrants and strays. The color plates are visually arranged by shape and color, and thumb-tab silhouettes provide a convenient index to identification of butterflies in the field. The species account for each butterfly provides measurements, descriptions of each stage of the life cycle, and information on coloring or distinguishing markings, flight period, habitat, and range.
National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders & Related Species of North America (National Wildlife Federation Field Guide)
by Arthur V. Evans
from Sterling
A Field Guide to Insects
from Houghton Mifflin
Detailed descriptions of insect orders, families, and many individual species are illustrated with 1,300 drawings and 142 superb color paintings. Illustrations - which use the unique Peterson Identification System to distinguish one insect from another - include size lines to show the actual length of each insect. A helpful glossary explains the technical terms of insect anatomy.
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