Encyclopedia of Insects: An Illustrated Guide to Nature’s Most Weird and Wonderful Bugs - Contains over 250 Insects!

by Jules Howard

Dive into the world of creepy-crawlies in this  Encyclopedia of Insects for kids and families. Did you know that insects make up 90% of life forms on this planet? And that, for every single human, there are literally trillions of insects of millions of different species? Learn how these incredible creatures are critical to the ecology of Earth in this insect encyclopedia packed with over 250 bug profiles , from graceful moths and butterflies to noisy crickets and cicadas to underappreciated wasps, cockroaches, and termites. Every insect is looked at in fascinating detail by natural history expert Jules Howard, and painted by evolutionary biologist and illustrator Miranda Zimmerman. Organized by scientific order, each entry Encyclopedia of Insects also highlights how, despite their great numbers, insects are threatened by the destruction of their habitats and climate change, offering a hopeful message by outlining concrete steps you can take to help insects recover and thrive. From the cutest and most beautiful , to the deadliest and most disgusting , there’s something for everyone in this book that highlights the importance of the insect world. Plus, find out what actually makes an insect, an insect—with guest entries from the centipedes, spiders, woodlice, and snails. Get to know the unsung heroes of the natural world so you can spread the world about how amazing and precious they are.

And for those budding zoologists looking to satisfy their curiosity about the rest of Earth’s creatures, be sure to check out  Encyclopedia of Animals , from Jules Howard and Jarom Vogel.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Education

160 pages, Hardcover

Published September 20, 2022

Reviews

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE learning, so seeing this encyclopedia perked me right up! Sure, insects can be creepy and crawly, but I was down for learning some new stuff about everyone's "favourite" creatures! And I wasn't disappointed!

Do keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive collection of bugs, but it is an excellent start for eager minds!!

The pictures in this book are absolute awesome! I really enjoyed the damselfly picture that stared into my soul (hoenstly, it was creepy to stare at my but the art is AMAZE-BALLS).

Here are select things I learned:
1. There's complete and incomplete metamorphosis? Wait... what? Why did my biology classes skip that information? THAT IS SO COOL.

2. Dragonflies are actually predators, and Damselflies are a thing. Who knew?

3. The Walking Flower Mantis looks super cool and pretty. I even googled them because I didn't believe they were actually pink. They are gorgeous!! They look like flowers!

4. Toe Biters, Hummingbird Hawkmoth & Slave-Making Ants. That is all.

Things I would like to avoid:
1. Swams of locusts. Kthanxbai.

2. EARWIGS HAVE WINGS. REPEAT: EARWIGS HAVE WINGS. They are way grosser now. Yuck. They can chase me when I run away!

Overall, this book is totally, super amazing! I would absolutely recommend this to young and old readers alike! You'll learn a whole bunch. I could totally see this book being used for school projects or for nerdy little kids like me (back in the day, of course) who just wanted to soak up knowledge like a sponge. I will definitely be using some of these facts for my useless trivia I spout out at people on a regular basis.

Five out of five stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for giving me an opportunity to read this book!

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well illustrated book packed with information about insects, broken down into a few species for all different kinds. The paintings of the insects are lovely (and occasionally not all, which is to be expected with some of the subject matter) and I love the emphasis on treating insects as fascinating species to get to know and protect rather than just "bugs" to eliminate. That said, I was frustrated by the lack of insects from North America. So few of them will be insects that children here will be able to search for or ID. I was also frustrated by the lack of so many insects. Obviously this is a subject that has far too many species to offer a complete encyclopedia in any way. That said, most of the insects my own kids encounter are missing from this book, which makes it more of a fact book and less of an encyclopedia to me. It's still a great resource, but I debated whether to give it 3 or 4 stars because of those two factors. The interesting info and level of detail for the insects along with the illustrations pulled it up to 4 stars for me.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

[Odette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ik heb dit boek niet volledig gelezen, want het is geen boek dat je oppakt en in een klap leest. Het is om af en toe op te pakken.
De illustraties zijn prachtig, dat is de reden waarom ik dit boek kocht, en vrijwel alle informatie is voor mij nieuw. Ik miste kennis van het insectenrijk en nu ben ik dat beetje bij beetje aan het aanvullen.
Een ster minder dan perfect, omdat ik toch meer informatie per soort wil. En wellicht de reproductiewijze als apart kopje naast lengte, dieet en habitat. Aan de andere kant begrijp ik dat dit een kinderboek is en dat teveel info misschien duizelingwekkend kan zijn.

[Boom! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice comprehensive and detailed educational resource. The sections are broken down by species and each species includes the scientific latin name and a fun fact. The illustrations are realistic and not cartoon-ish which I love.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! I don't like insects much but this book made me realize I should appreciate them more. The facts included were so interesting, some blew my mind. I loved how the book was split up in different kind of insect species. The illustrations were amazing. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who just wants to learn more about insects and their importance.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books like this that are named encyclopedias usually confuse me as to the selection of that name, especially when an animal group of hundreds of thousands can be tidily packed into a book of a book of just over 150 pages. And although I understand the concept for an easier introduction for amateurs sometimes I just feel that there has to be a title than an encyclopedia.

Anyway the book did do a great job in exploring the world of insects even though it wasn't a fully comprehensive encyclopedia as one would think. Each two-page spread was dedicated to a family or aspect of a family of insects while focusing on only three or four different species to discuss thus families like the beetles, lepidoptera and flies were spread over a couple of pages. Most of these spreads had a nice introductory blurb with the exception of Tiny Wasps and Shield Bugs & Jewel Bugs. I don't know why an exception was made for those two groups.

Each entry also followed where it had a nice painted picture, rarely was a species given to a full page illustration to itself, that allowed the reader to see what the insect looked like. This was followed by an entry with the common or scientific name in bold if it didn't have one, the scientific name after the common and then a few paragraphs describing the importance of the insect, its family or even some history. This was all ended with the stats, which I also found weirdly placed.

I did love the fact that there was a spot in the back that explored other invertebrates that may be mistaken for insects. These were given more than a blurb to introduce the group but still followed the guideline of only exploring three or four species from that group. On the right hand side there was a nice box that explored the differences between insects and group.

The writing was easy to understand for any young reader who may be interested in insects although the scientific name may given them a mouthful to to try to pronounce. Especially towards the end of the book I noticed a lot more spelling mistakes or spots where a word was left out.

Another problem that I had with the digital copy is that the white font within that black box of differences was a bit hard for me to read. I am not sure if it was just since of the lighting of my computer or the size but it may be a problem for others as well.

All in all it was a decent start and for those who enjoy learning about the minibeasts this is a nice start with some common insect species making space for those who may not be quite common to the non-scientist.

***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

What child is not fascinated by insects!

In every home there should be a good book about this important group of animals. As Jules Howard explains, there are insects living everywhere, they have adapted to all niches on the planet and there are trillions of them. They are very important for the well-being of all the ecosystems of our precious planet, they also benefit us a great deal and only few species can generate real damages to our lives. There are some 2,000 species of edible insects and their consumption complements the diet of some 2,000 million people!

With a very entertaining narrative, you will go through the group's hierarchy of Orders and several of their scientific species names, accompanying you with colorful illustrations.
Some facts are very interesting, such as that Acanthaspis petax sp manufactures an armor of dead ants to chase away their predators like spiders. By the time you finish reading the book, you will also have learned to distinguish them from other Arthropods that look like insects but are not, like Arachnids, Myriapods, and Crustaceans and from other invertebrates like Mollusks.

I am using it in homeschooling with my son, stimulating his natural empirical capacity. When we feel motivated to go out to the garden or the park, we make observations of all the insects that we find, we compare them with the illustrations and we try to define the Order to which they belong. We had a great time learning together.

My sincere appreciation to the Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review the book

[Theediscerning · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really successful book, that does just what it wants to do. Normally I call a book out for just sticking to the superlative this – the strongest that, the most vicious other – and forgetting the rest. But when there are a gazillion species of insects to get through and only two per page manage to fit your design brief, then you do go for the most remarkable. I liked the way this book briefly and succinctly told us why insects are so interesting and yet so endangered before we got to the actual encyclopedia part, which took us through the life cycle then dumped us with gloriously illustrated pages, generally only one spread per insect type, and told us about them. We get their Latin name, their wingspan or length, distribution and diet, and a nice paragraph to show their notable features. The monkey grasshopper has no ear drums. The oak bush cricket in Europe plays the drums to attract mates. The Chinese mantis can catch and eat hummingbirds. One insect makes a trophy-styled body armour out of the ants it eats, another stacks its own sloughed-off heads on top of the one it's currently using.

But this isn't solely about such trivia – this is a wonderful addition to school libraries everywhere. Here is a stick insect as long as the adult arm, and a louse that shoots silk out its mouth as opposed to the other end, but here also is a great way to learn – in my day they had stick insects of a smaller kind in jam jars, now they have books like this. One quibble is that they could have included metric measurements as well as the imperial – even I find it hard to work out what 0.04 of an inch looks like without google telling me it's a millimetre. That aside, this could be called essential.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Encyclopedia of Insects is a beautifully illustrated and scientifically accurate non-fiction compendium of insects aimed at middle grade readers (~grades 2-6). Due out 2nd June from Quarto on their Wide-Eyed Editions imprint, it's 160 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

After a good introduction (what are insects, what are their common characteristics, what ecological niche do they occupy, why are they increasingly in trouble) the entries are all arranged by genera with specific species listed with proper nomenclature, interesting facts, size, diet, and habitat.

The writing is accessible and engaging. The illustrations are vibrant and colorful. This would make a superlative classroom or library book, as well as being a wonderful pick for any young entomology fans in your circle of friends or family.

Five enthusiastic stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Chris Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun encyclopedia that is informative and appealing to the eye. You will learn about a wide variety of insect types. With each description of insect types comes a picture and description of 3-4 insects. These insects are representative of the insect type (such as the Common Green Darner for dragonflies) or bizarre examples (like the Horsehead Grasshopper). This means you may not learn about the insects in your own backyard, but this will open your eyes to many other insect species you may have never heard of.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Wide-Eyed books but I was a little disappointed in this one. The illustrations leave a little to be desired.

[Audrey Sauble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations, and a wide range of insects—including some families I hadn’t heard about before.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Encyclopedia of Insects* 🐜🐝🐛🕷🦟🦗

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

The encyclopedia of insects is a 160 page book FILLED with facts and illustrations. Beetles, butterflies, wasps, bees, ants & more!

My 5 year old LOVED this book and we will use it as a tool for homeschooling.

[Theediscerning · Rating 5 out of 5]

This seems a straight reprint of https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..., so my first thoughts apply:-

A really successful book, that does just what it wants to do. Normally I call a book out for just sticking to the superlative this – the strongest that, the most vicious other – and forgetting the rest. But when there are a gazillion species of insects to get through and only two per page manage to fit your design brief, then you do go for the most remarkable. I liked the way this book briefly and succinctly told us why insects are so interesting and yet so endangered before we got to the actual encyclopedia part, which took us through the life cycle then dumped us with gloriously illustrated pages, generally only one spread per insect type, and told us about them. We get their Latin name, their wingspan or length, distribution and diet, and a nice paragraph to show their notable features. The monkey grasshopper has no ear drums. The oak bush cricket in Europe plays the drums to attract mates. The Chinese mantis can catch and eat hummingbirds. One insect makes a trophy-styled body armour out of the ants it eats, another stacks its own sloughed-off heads on top of the one it's currently using.

But this isn't solely about such trivia – this is a wonderful addition to school libraries everywhere. Here is a stick insect as long as the adult arm, and a louse that shoots silk out its mouth as opposed to the other end, but here also is a great way to learn – in my day they had stick insects of a smaller kind in jam jars, now they have books like this. One quibble is that they could have included metric measurements as well as the imperial – even I find it hard to work out what 0.04 of an inch looks like without google telling me it's a millimetre. That aside, this could be called essential.

[Amit Verma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an encyclopaedia of insects.
It contains all prominent species of insects around us.
First of all I would appreciate very high quality illustrations of the insects.
Then there is very interesting knowledge about particular insects.
As we endanger multiple species by our over utilisation of resources, insects are also facing decline in population.
So many wonderful and weired insects are described.
I liked mantis, spiders, beetle, bumblebee and paroah ants.
It was fascinating to learn about insect which becomes a parasite on cockroaches.
It is a wonderful book to learn a bit about insects who live in close proximity.
Thanks netgalley and Quarto publishers for review copy.