Insects Books

As the father of an eight year old who is not particularly interested in science, I am always looking for science themed books that will capture my son's attention. Honeybees is just such a book. My son (and my daughter and I) found the story of the honeybee's life to be intriguing. Their society is truly fascinating. Heiligman's text is well written and informative. Carla Golembe's colorful illustrations are exquisite, imaginative and accurate at the same time. A most impressive accomplishment.

Ever wondered how bees make honey? Dive into this lively informative book about bees and find out why " Busy as a bee" is not an idle statement! Discover which bees work, feed, fly and warn the hive of possible attacks. The book is well written, vividly illustrated and artistically designed. Notice the end papers!Deborah Heiligman takes a complicated concept and explains it in carefully chosen clarifying details. Add this to your home library. You'll return to it, again and again.

We love all the Ruth Heller animal books. My daughter goes looking for them all the time to have me read them to her. She has memorized most of them.

This book has been a delight to my 5 year old. He never tires of looking at the pictures while I read the text ( which is written in rhymes .) It brings new ideas to the way a child looks at and thinks about nature.

To encourage butterflies, one can design a garden especially to attract them. For details, try this book. Besides plants, they need water, maybe just a little puddle, and a place to bask in the sun. Another handsome book on the topic is Bird and Butterfly Gardens.
It is such a treat when a hummingbird hovers just inches away from you. Its tiny wings make a whirring sound and they are such fun to watch.

This is a very informative book for those who want plain language information on attracting hummingbirds and butterflies. The author explains things, step by step, and shows pictures to help your understanding. All of the Ortho books are written in a clear, comprehensible manner. A definite buy for your library!

I know I'm sensitive, but I was trying to hold back tears as I read it to my children. It sees slavery from a grasshopper's point of view and I think it is just fantastic and a great way to start telling your children our history.

This book is a powerful testament to the power of faith, hope , music and a people. As an African American woman it gave me an opportunity to discuss the hard subjects of the middle passage and slavery as it pertains to African Americans, with my children ,in a way that was not sad or confrontational. Just conversation opening. Using music as the thread that could hold a people and Imani the grasshopper together during the middle passage journey was a wonderful literary device easily picked up on even by my six year old. Because of this book she has vowed to me that she will sing everyday. This book has become her favorite book and when I hear her voice in the morning it becomes mine too.

I have found this book an excellent source of information fors researchers on this particular subject. i really enjoy browsing through the chapters. I have also found that the list of references is outstanding. i suggest this book to people that start their research in using molecular techniques applied in insects. i think though that more detailed information should be searched in other books, or even in the references.

The genetic engineering of insects is now commonplace, and for those who want to understand the details behind this exciting and practical technology, this book gives an excellent overview. The goal of this reviewer, who is not a professional biologist, was primarily to understand the efficacy of transgenic strategies in the genetic manipulation of insects. For those with similar interests and backgrounds, the book fills the need, and after reading it, such readers will have a better understanding of just what is possible in the technology of genetic transformation of insects, along with obtaining a stronger background in genetics. This technology is improving and getting more powerful as this book went into print, and no doubt many more fascinating discoveries will take place in the near future. The genetic manipulation of insects shows much promise in not only reducing the threat of malaria but also in controlling unwanted insect populations. The risks involved in this technology are thankfully also addressed in the book.

A thorough review of a book of this size and detail would take many thousands of words, and so attention here will be concentrated on the things that this reviewer found particularly interesting and the surprises in the book. One of these involved the discussion of the RNA era and its role in the early evolution of life. The author views this time as one where RNA organisms, which had multiple-copy double-stranded RNA genomes, these genomes later fragmenting into chromosomes. The interactions between the RNA and amino acids evolved into the present DNA world. Another interesting fact brought out is that DNA can form more than twenty different variations of right-handed helices, and can form left-handed helices in some regions.

The author also discusses the role of exons and introns in molecular genetics, and the `introns-early' and `introns-late' hypotheses. Their role is still not completely understood, and there are many open questions in their study, as is brought out in the discussion.

Still another interesting discussion concerns the role of telomeres in preventing the loss of DNA during replication and their role in ensuring the stability of linear chromosomes. It turns out that telomerase, an enzyme that is responsible for adding these telomeres to the ends, is, interestingly, a reverse transcriptase, meaning that it can transcribe DNA from an RNA template.

The `C value paradox' is also discussed by the author, which she describes as a situation where there is more DNA then is needed by the organism. Surprisingly, the genome size is not correlated with the complexity of the organism or the number of genes encoded. The insect genome size varies widely among the insect species, with 250-fold differences in C values being common. The composition of insect DNA is apparently very different for insects than for vertebrates, with the author quoting the guanine and cytosine bases making up only 32-42% of the DNA, as compared to 45% for vertebrates.

The many roles of heterochromatin is discussed in detail by the author, such as in chromosome mechanics, centromere function, and position effect variegation in Drosophila melanogaster. In the latter, this silences the euchromatic genes that have been moved to regions adjacent to heterochromatin by chromosomal rearrangements. This change in the location of the gene within the nucleus modifies significantly the amount of `gene silencing'. In the context of transgenic strategies, the transgenes inserted into the insect genome can be silenced because they become heterochromatized.

A particularly fascinating discussion is given of the role of transposable elements in the insect genome. These can alter the gene structure and function, and can transfer horizontally between species. The microbial symbiont Wolbachia's role in insect evolution is discussed, and the amazing fact that insects contain three or four genomes, namely the nuclear, mitochondrial, gut symbionts, and Wolbachia, raising the question of just what constitutes a biological individual. Some species of insects can have diploid males and females, or haploid males and diploid females, or only females. In addition, diploid males may undergo chromosome heterochromatimization and loss during development and become haploid.

A very detailed overview of transgenic strategies and their role in pest management is given at the end of the book. Giving examples of what has been accomplished in traditional breeding for beneficial insects and in sterilization techniques for pest insects, the author discusses the justifications for using transgenic methods. Mention is made of using green fluorescent protein as a molecular marker to track sterile insects. The author argues that fluorescent dusts currently used are not satisfactory since they can reduce the fitness of the insects and do not always adhere to the insects, biasing the results of the sterilization program. The author is clearly supportive of transgenic strategies to perform pest management, but she gives many references that take more cautionary stances on this technology. The author also makes the point that insect transgenesis is most appropriate for traits that are determined primarily by a single gene. The manipulation of traits determined by more complex genetic mechanisms are not yet feasible using transgenic strategies. Briefly discussed, but with many references given, are the different methods for transforming the insect germ-line, such as P-element vectors, Hermes, hobo, mariner, Minos, piggyBac, baculoviruses, densonucleosis viruses, pantropic retroviral vectors, polydnaviruses, retrotransposons, and sindbis viruses. Also discussed are paratransgenesis, which involves the genetic transformation of insect symbionts, and FLP-mediated recombination, which involves the introduction of cloned genes into the germ line at a predictable chromosomal site. This latter technique, the author argues, is very desirable for the reason that the likelihood of position effects on gene expression is considerably reduced.

Gene silencing, an evolved mechanism to prevent high-level expression of transposable elements, presents a challenge to transgenic strategies. The author discusses briefly some examples of transgene silencing in D. melanogaster. She points out that gene silencing might however be exploited positively by turning off specific genes in insects. References are given that discuss gene silencing in D. melanogaster. Horizontal gene transfer, hotly debated in the press these days, is discussed briefly.

What makes a firefly glow? How do ants find sugar? . . . and so on. A wonderfully informative and entertaining book on the realm of insects. Great illustrations that children can understand (such as showing a subterranean environment). Beautiful, stimulating, sharp photographs. Adult-level "to the parent" side notes. A "growing-up album" section in the rear for parents to keep a log of their child's experiences (pets, questions, adventures). If you had just one resource book on insects for your kids . . . this should be it.

Children can probably start appreciating this one as they approach age 3, and will carry up into their grade school years easily.

What are these strange things? That is one of the 39 questions that comprise the contents of INSECT WORLD. This little science book is perfect for young children. With a mix of drawings and photography, the text of this book answers the questions that children are curious about. Do Insects visit flowers only to get nectar? No, bees collect nectar and pollen, some beetles eat flower pollen, mantises catch insects that come to the flowers.Why do bees sting? Adults usually know this answer, but a child may not. Even so, children have a developmental need to see the answers over and over. This book is perfect for revisitation into wonder and knowledge!

I bought this book right after aquiring my turtles. What an informative book! I refer to this like a pet care manual. It sits on my nightstand for both pleasure reading and for admiring the photos. I even plan to leave it for my pet sitter as a reference while I'm gone. Thank you Tess for all you have done for box turtle lovers!

Tess Cook's new book is over 125 impressive pages of detailed information and professional photos on everything anyone could ever need to know about Box Turtles and their care. The book is absolutely fantastic! Cook covers all the bases from acquiring, housing (indoors and out), feeding (live food too), breeding, egg hatching (you must see the egg-laying and hatchling photos!), and all things in between. No topic has been missed or glossed over. Tess Cook's long history of keeping and raising turtles shines in this work as she includes little known facts and lessons that can only be learned through personal hands on experience. Tess Cook has also maintained a turtle care website for many years offering help, advise, and a forum for all interested to share their experiences. I have most books and encyclopedias written referencing Box Turtles and enthusiastically recommend this book as a must own book. It is a complete how-to guide encompassing all issues of concern for anyone, at any level of experience, interested in Box Turtles.

The book gives an excellent overview of parasitic and synergistic relations between insects and fungi. I was looking very long for a treatment of the subject in total, very happy now, that I found it.

Biology often reveals worlds within worlds, and this book does an excellent job of describing the extraordinarily complex relationships between insects and fungi. Yeast-eating beetles! Fungi hiding in the leaves of plants! Ants that tend fungus gardens - like tiny mushroom farmers! This scholarly volume will open your eyes to some of the more subtle wonders of nature.

The latest title in the Reader's Digest "Pathfinders" series for young readers, Insects And Spiders incorporates six paths to learning: Visual Section Opener (stimulates curiosity); Inside Story (puts a human face on important scientific discoveries); Hands On (describes projects and activities for an interactive approach to learning); Word Builders (delves into the fascinating history of words and phrases); That's Amazing! (highlights extraordinary facts and figures); Pathfinder (provides creative cross-references to other pages, enabling children to let their interest guide them through this 64 page, full color, impressively illustrated and informative book). Another highly recommended "Pathfinder" title from Reader's Digest Children's Publishing for home, school, and community libraries is Earthquakes And Volcanoes.

I'd say the illustrations are fantastic! And I think the book is fascinating. I really think you should look at the beetle picture page. You can learn a lot about different insects and bugs by reading this book. I think it is the best book I have read. Matt, age 8.

My kids have loved this coloring book! It has let them use their love of art and love of nature in one place. I love the detailed illustrations that let them learn about all the insects they are interested in.

This coloring book has simple line drawings showing realistic depictions of all kinds of insects. In addition it gives great information about each one. And there is a section with a small version of the line drawing already colored in for reference.