How Insects Work: An Illustrated Guide to the Wonders of Form and Function - from Antennae to Wings

by Marianne Taylor

Overview

The extraordinary inner-workings of the world’s amazing, adaptable insects
A tiny textbook to learn on your own

How Insects Work goes beyond the typical field guide to show us not only what insects look like but why. Arguably the most successful land animals—still going strong after five mass extinctions—insects have evolved a spectacular array of real-life superpowers to help them thrive in virtually every environment: Bumblebees’ wingbeats leave a faint electrical signal at each flower they visit to show that the nectar’s already been taken (see page 57), and houseflies defy gravity with tiny leg hairs that stick to the smoothest wall or ceiling (see page 69). In this in-depth, photo-filled handbook, discover the ways insects are even more astounding than you know—inside and out:

• Evolution
• Exoskeleton and Body Segments
• Senses
• Circulation
• Digestion
• Respiration
• Reproduction
• Metamorphosis
• Movement

And much, much more!

#1 Bestseller in Entomology

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781615196494
Publisher:	The Experiment
Publication date:	04/28/2020
Series:	How Nature Works Series
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Marianne Taylor is a writer, illustrator, and wildlife photographer. She’s written more than twenty nature books for adults and children, many illustrated with her own artwork or photographs. She also writes for Birdwatch, the Independent, BBC Wildlife, Country Life, Nature’s Home, and The Lady.

Table of Contents

Introduction 6

1 Ancestors and Evolution 8

1.1 Rise of the arthropods

1.2 The first insects?

1.3 The first fliers

1.4 Insect evolutionary tree

1.5 Carboniferous Earth: A land of giants

1.6 Recent evolution

2 The Insect Body Plan 32

2.1 Exoskeleton

2.2 The three body sections

2.3 Segmentation and appendages

2.4 Limb structure

2.5 The wings and elytra

2.6 Unusual bodies

3 The Senses and the Nervous System 48

3.1 Eyes

3.2 Antennae

3.3 Chemoreception

3.4 Hearing, touch, and more

3.5 Brains, ganglia, and nerves

3.6 Insect intelligence

4 Movement 64

4.1 Muscular system

4.2 Movement on land

4.3 Flight

4.4 Swimming and diving

4.5 Escaping danger

4.6 Immobility

5 Feeding and Digestion 78

5.1 Mouthpart anatomy

5.2 Types of diet

5.3 The digestive tract

5.4 Processing food

5.5 Changes during life cycle

5.6 Drinking and fluid balance

6 The Respiratory and Circualtory Systems 92

6.1 Breathing system

6.2 Gas exchange

6.3 Circulatory system

6.4 Hemolymph

6.5 Unusual adaptations

6.6 Hormones

7 The Reproductive System 106

7.1 Male reproductive anatomy

7.2 Female reproductive anatomy

7.3 Mating and fertilization

7.4 Parthenogenesis

7.5 Laying eggs

7.6 Unusual adaptations

8 Eggs and Larvae 126

8.1 Types of eggs

8.2 Development in the egg

8.3 Types of larvae

8.4 Feeding

8.5 Growth and molt

8.6 Lifestyle changes

9 Metamorphosis 140

9.1 Types of life cycle

9.2 Incomplete metamorphosis

9.3 Full metamorphosis

9.4 Transformation within the pupa

9.5 Emergence

9.6 Maturation in adulthood

10 Behavior and Anatomy 156

10.1 Feeding behavior

10.2 Breeding behavior

10.3 Parental care

10.4 Seasonal behavior

10.5 Eusocial insects

10.6 Interspecies interactions

11 Cells and Biochemistry 178

11.1 Structure of a typical cell

11.2 Cell organelles

11.3 Cell replication

11.4 Immunology

11.5 Specialized cell types

11.6 Insects in cellular research

12 Diversity and Conservation 192

12.1 Types of insects

12.2 Insect communities in different habitats

12.3 Record-breakers

12.4 Threats facing insects

12.5 Extinction

12.6 Insect conservation

Glossary 216

Index 218

Credits 224