The Curious World of Bugs: The Bugman's Guide to the Mysterious and Remarkable Lives of Things That Crawl

by Daniel Marlos

If you've ever wondered what that leggy, buzzing creature was in your bathroom (or backyard, bed, or pantry), perhaps you've come across WhatsThatBug.com, where people around the world go to ask "What's that bug?" From mating African beetles to the tiniest of bedbugs, Daniel Marlos (The Bugman) has identified them all.

The Curious World of Bugs is a miscellany of illuminating facts, curiosities, helpful hints, and remarkable science about the bugs that share our world-a compendium that celebrates bugs for what they truly strange, mysterious, cute, beautiful, and occasionally disturbing.

Gorgeously illustrated with vintage drawings, The Curious World of Bugs offers a glimpse into the magical world of bugs that bite, infest, fascinate, repulse, and inform us all.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Science

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's appropriate, I think, that my response to a book about bugs is rather, uh, nitpicky. This book quite clearly began life as a website, and it shows. There were numerous times I wanted to click on text to follow the topic but instead was swept along by the choppy, non-linear format of the book from click beetles to butterflies. The editing/usage errors were annoying to me but fairly benign, 'hoard' for 'horde' throughout, 'sheik' for 'chic' and other homophones. The illustrations appear to be copyright free antiques, and they are not labeled at all.

The information was mostly good (though the folklore about local honey ameliorating seasonal pollen allergies has been pretty thoroughly debunked by double-blind studies in the last few years) and fairly entertaining. The assertion that bedbugs come from seedy hotels, communal dormitories and the like is also suspect. It would be a fun book for someone just beginning to learn about insects. Had this been around when my son was a tot, it would have been bedtime reading for sure. There just wasn't enough here that was new to me and the writing was pretty pedestrian. I'd have given it 3 stars if it had fewer errors and better illustrations. The website WhatsThatBug is a much richer source of information.

[Jay Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

the book was very informative. Just wish there were more pictures

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most entomophiles will find most of the information offered by this book to be very familiar, and is probably more suited to those with a minimal amount of knowledge of the subject. I found some things to be interesting, but overall the familiarity of the information was a drag.

[Manda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting facts in an easy-to-read format, and the author's obvious love of the subject made it even better. Wish there had been more!