Intro -- Title Page -- Contents -- Preface -- 1: The Creatures from the Blue Lagoon -- 2: Brilliant Bodies -- 3: How to Build a Pyramid -- 4: Close Encounters and Curious Couplings -- 5: The Body-snatchers -- 6: The Afterlife -- 7: What Have Insects Ever Done for Us? -- 8: Repairing a World of Wounds -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgements -- Further Reading -- Copyright
Summary:
From renowned expert George McGavin, this is an eye-opening look at the weird and wonderful world of insects that reveals how they created our world and how they could shape our future. If you are at all interested in life on our planet, then you need to know about insects. Insects started their conquest of the Earth four hundred million years ago. They were the first animals to appear on the land and the first to take to the air. Insects make up an enormous part of the planet's ecological machinery that sustains a vast network of species and supports the lives we lead today. Despite the significance, we know little about their lives. We don't even know how many species there are. In this fascinating new book, entomologist and broadcaster George McGavin uses his wealth of knowledge and experience to take us on an exciting journey into the incredible world of insects - you'll never look at them in the same way again. Interviewing other famous biologists and naturalists, such as David Attenborough, along the way, he looks at exactly how insects became the most successful and enduring animal group the world has ever seen and how they have changed the course of our own history. The Hidden World reveals how complex our relationship with insects really is, and in the process, shows how these future-proofed and highly adaptable animals are the key to our own survival.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.