Deciding my reading line up could do with a dash of biology, this month I listened to the audiobook of Extraordinary Insects: Weird, Wonderful, Indispensable - The Ones Who Run Our World by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, previously published as Buzz Sting Bite - Why We Need Insects.
Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson is a professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Norway and a scientific advisor for the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and has successfully managed to make her research interesting for the layperson.
Translated by Lucy Moffatt and narrated by Kristin Milward, this list of chapter titles should give you a clear idea of what to expect:
Chapter 1 Small Creatures, Smart Design: Insect Anatomy
Chapter 2 Six-legged Sex: Dating, Mating and Parenting
Chapter 3 Eat or Be Eaten: Insects in the Food Chain
Chapter 4 Insects and Plants: A Never-ending Race
Chapter 5 Busy Flies, Flavoursome Bugs: Insects and Our Food
Chapter 6 The Circle of Life - and Death: Insects as Caretakers
Chapter 7 From Silk to Shellac: Industries of Insects
Chapter 8 Lifesavers, Pioneers and Nobel Prize-winners: Insights from Insects
Chapter 9 Insects and Us: What's Next?
In Chapter 1, I learned the competition for the noisiest insect most definitely includes the male Water Boatman beetle:
I saw my first bumblebee in London in 2012 and was absolutely transfixed, so when the author mentioned a study where bumblebees were trained to pull on a string to access sugar water, I rushed off to watch the experiments; again on YouTube. Apparently scientists also witnessed the ability of trained bumblebees to teach new ones, just amazing!
As you might expect, Extraordinary Insects is full of insect trivia and some surprising facts like this one: dragon flies can operate each of their 4 wings independently.
I was less convinced when it came to the practice of preparing insects for human consumption. Already a practice and a delicacy in some countries, the author made some convincing arguments although I can't see the West getting over their 'ick factor' any time soon.
I was interested to learn that the keeping of crickets as pets has been a huge hit for modern geriatric care in Asia to treat depression and loneliness. I went down an online rabbit hole and saw potential owners and collectors perusing specimens at a cricket market and was reminded of just how narrow my own experience of the world is.
More generally though, it was troubling to face the facts that many insects are endangered due to loss of habitat, global warming and the endless threat of the human population while science still has so much to learn from them.
Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson is recommended for nature lovers and those with an interest in biology, conservation and the environment. You can read a FREE extract here.
Translated by Lucy Moffatt and narrated by Kristin Milward, this list of chapter titles should give you a clear idea of what to expect:
Chapter 1 Small Creatures, Smart Design: Insect Anatomy
Chapter 2 Six-legged Sex: Dating, Mating and Parenting
Chapter 3 Eat or Be Eaten: Insects in the Food Chain
Chapter 4 Insects and Plants: A Never-ending Race
Chapter 5 Busy Flies, Flavoursome Bugs: Insects and Our Food
Chapter 6 The Circle of Life - and Death: Insects as Caretakers
Chapter 7 From Silk to Shellac: Industries of Insects
Chapter 8 Lifesavers, Pioneers and Nobel Prize-winners: Insights from Insects
Chapter 9 Insects and Us: What's Next?
In Chapter 1, I learned the competition for the noisiest insect most definitely includes the male Water Boatman beetle:
"An aquatic insect a mere 2 millimetres long is the one most likely to walk away with the prize because the male of the Water Boatman species, part of the micronectidae family, competes for the female's attention by making music. But how are you supposed to serenade your sweetheart when you're the size of a coarse ground peppercorn? Well, the little Water Boatman does it by playing himself using his abdomen as a string and his penis as a bow." Chapter 1Nature never ceases to amaze, and you'd better believe I was off to YouTube to track down a recording of the music which is said to reach 79 decibels but which actually sounds more like a frog than 'music'.
I saw my first bumblebee in London in 2012 and was absolutely transfixed, so when the author mentioned a study where bumblebees were trained to pull on a string to access sugar water, I rushed off to watch the experiments; again on YouTube. Apparently scientists also witnessed the ability of trained bumblebees to teach new ones, just amazing!
As you might expect, Extraordinary Insects is full of insect trivia and some surprising facts like this one: dragon flies can operate each of their 4 wings independently.
I was less convinced when it came to the practice of preparing insects for human consumption. Already a practice and a delicacy in some countries, the author made some convincing arguments although I can't see the West getting over their 'ick factor' any time soon.
I was interested to learn that the keeping of crickets as pets has been a huge hit for modern geriatric care in Asia to treat depression and loneliness. I went down an online rabbit hole and saw potential owners and collectors perusing specimens at a cricket market and was reminded of just how narrow my own experience of the world is.
More generally though, it was troubling to face the facts that many insects are endangered due to loss of habitat, global warming and the endless threat of the human population while science still has so much to learn from them.
Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson is recommended for nature lovers and those with an interest in biology, conservation and the environment. You can read a FREE extract here.
