Showing 1–12 of 42 results
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World’s Weirdest Bugs: The Tiny Aliens Among Us
Artist/Author: Zborowski, Paul$20.00 Add to cartOver a million species of insects have already been named, catalogued and pictured. Theories as to how many are still to be named in collections, and discovered for the first time in the wild, vary considerably. However a figure of over 2 million is conservative. Imagine natural selection, the environmental forces acting on the survival of a species in a particular habitat, working over millions of years to adapt forms and behaviour for survival. As these changes are driven by random mutations in huge populations of a species, some of these mutations are neutral. They neither hinder nor help the species to survive. However to us observers some of these mutations can be pretty weird. The colour palette available is almost infinite, the shapes also, and why not have wild coloured eyes, or bizarre lumps, spines and duverlakies? Whatever doesn’t hurt survival can stay and develop further over time…
This book contains example stories from all over the world. The subject is endless, so the last few chapters simply touch on more weird stories for the reader to investigate further. The so-called ‘honorary mentions’, in this hall of weird fame. And no apologies for squeezing in one non-insect chapter – the spider relatives, the Opiliones, are just too quirky to ignore..
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A Field Guide to Insects in Australia: Fourth Edition
Artist/Author: Zborowski, Paul and Ross Storey$40.00 Add to cartIdentifies insects from all the major insect groups
Whether you’re an amateur insect enthusiast, a student or an entomologist, this completely revised new edition of A Field Guide to Insects in Australia will help you to identify insects from all the major groups. With more photographs, species and up-to-date information, it will enable you to differentiate between a dragonfly and a damselfly or a cricket and a grasshopper. You’ll find cockroaches, termites, praying mantises, beetles, cicadas, moths, butterflies, ants, bees and many more. More than 600 colour photographs show the insects in their natural habitats, while more than 50 line drawings clearly illustrate the differences where identification is tricky.
Paul Zborowski is an entomologist and photographer based in Canberra. He has studied and photographed insect behaviour around the world and now concentrates on maintaining a macro photo collection which can be visited at www.close-up-photolibrary.com. Paul has revised this edition and continued the legacy of his esteemed friend and colleague, Ross Storey.
Ross Storey spent most of his professional life studying, collecting and curating insects for the University of Queensland and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries. He described many new species and wrote scientific papers, especially on native dung beetles, on which he is a recognised world authority. Before his death in 2008, he worked as a taxonomist and curator of the QDPI’s Mareeba insect collection, one of Australia’s premier collections of tropical insects.
Identifies insects from all the major insect groups.
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A guide to beetles of Borneo.
Artist/Author: Bosuang, Steven, Arthur Y.C. Chung and C.L. Chan.$60.00 Add to cartBorneo’s mesmerising natural biodiversity is made up of very many species, including beetles, and very many are also endemic or confined to this island. It follows that it is virtually impossible to attempt including all beetles in the present account. This pictorial guide covers more than 150 beetle species, including some of the most captivating or even inspiring forms known. To foster better awareness and showcase the high diversity of tropical beetles, we feature some large and interesting beetles as well as others commonly encountered in Borneo. More than a third of those featured in this book are endemic to Borneo.
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Introduced dung beetles in Australia: a pocket field guide.
Artist/Author: Edwards, Penny, Pam Wilson and Jane Wright.$22.00 Add to cartThis field guide to introduced dung beetles in Australia covers all species found in Australia, including two species that have been newly introduced. Provides information for easy identification along with a distribution map. This book will enable farmers, Landcare workers and the interested public to identify and learn about the basic biology of these beetles found in cattle dung.
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Longhorned woodboring beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae and Disteniidae): primary types of the Smithsonian Institution.
Artist/Author: Lingafelter, Stephen W.et al.$120.00 Add to cartThis title is not held in stock but we are happy to supply on special order. Please contact us. In terms of quantity and breadth, the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of longhorned woodboring beetles is one of the most important in the world. The effort to establish and describe this collection began as early as 1889, when the Smithsonian hired its first coleopterist (who was also only the second salaried entomologist at the Institution). In the years that followed, the collection grew thanks to the work of not only Smithsonian and U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologists, but also passionate amateur coleopterists who collected thousands of beetle specimens as they traveled the world for their professional occupations and then donated their unique collections to the Smithsonian. By 1957, the collection included nearly 200,000 specimens from around the world. “Longhorned Woodboring Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae and Disteniidae): Primary Types of the Smithsonian Institution “is the first complete catalog of Coleoptera primary types housed at the Smithsonian and includes stunning full-color images of each type specimen. The product of more than a decade of curatorial research and care, it reaffirms the superior international status of this truly remarkable collection.
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The Book of Beetles: A Lifesize Guide to Six Hundred of Nature’s Gems
Artist/Author: Bouchard, Patrice, editor.$70.00 Add to cartBoasting an extraordinary visual diversity, beetles make up more than one fifth of all known life forms on earth. This book presents 600 significant examples, selected as part of a genome program. They are shown in glorious high definition photographs, life size and in detail, alongside an engraving offering a side or open-winged view. Each profile includes a population distribution map, a table of essential information, and a commentary revealing notable characteristics, related species, and a diagnosis of the specimens importance in terms of taxonomy, rarity, behaviour, and scientific significance. Arranged taxonomically, this essential reference reveals the variety, importance and beauty of beetles.
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Australian beetles volume one: morphology, classification and keys.
Artist/Author: Lawrence, John F. and Adam Slipinski.$195.00 Add to cartThe first in what will be a three-volume series presenting a comprehensive treatment of the beetles of Australia, a relatively under-studied fauna including many unusual and unique lineages found nowhere else in the world. This first volume updates and expands Lawrence and Britton’s out-of-print “Australian beetles”, with improved keys to all beetle families found in Australia, expanded family diagnoses as well as modern classification and additional illustrations. The introduction to beetle morphology and anatomical terms clarify characters and terminology used in the keys; few other resources for beetle identification include such a detailed morphological background.
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Australian longhorn beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) volume one: introduction and subfamily Lamiinae.
Artist/Author: Slipinski, Adam and Hermes E. Escalona.$150.00 Add to cartThe first volume of a three volume set, this book provides a general introduction to the Australian Cerambycidae with sections on biology, phylogeny and morphology of adult and larvae, followed by the keys to the subfamilies and an overview of the 74 genera of the subfamily Lamiinae occurring in Australia. All Lamiinae genera are diagnosed, described and illustrated and an illustrated key to their identification is provided. A full listing of all included Australian species with synonymies and bibliographic citations is also included.
Longhorn Beetles (Cerambycidae) are one of the most easily recognised groups of beetles, a family that worldwide encompasses over 33,000 species in 5,200 genera. With over 1,400 species classified in 300 genera, this is the sixth largest among 117 beetle families in Australia.
These beetles often attack and kill living forest or orchard trees and develop in construction timber (like European House borer, introduced to WA), causing serious damages. Virtually all Cerambycidae feed on living or dead plant tissues and play a significant role in all terrestrial environments where plants are found. Larvae often utilise damaged or dead trees for their development, and through feeding on rotten wood form an important element of the saproxylic fauna, speeding energy circulation in these habitats. Many species are listed as quarantine pests because of their destructive role to the timber industry. Volume two see[36656] and volume three [36657].
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Ladybirds.
Artist/Author: Roy, Helen E. et al.$40.00 Add to cartCompletely revised and updated, this book provides a comprehensive and accessible overview of the biology of ladybirds and their parasites, focusing on ecology in an evolutionary context. It provides the latest information and makes suggestions for further research, both short and long term, highlighting gaps in knowledge and showing readers how to get involved with recording and studying ladybirds. It includes updated keys for the identification of ladybirds at late-instar larval and adult stages, and techniques for studying ladybirds and their parasites in both laboratory and field. A wonderful tool for the professional and naturalist alike.
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Fauna of New Zealand Number 69: Carabidae (Insecta: Coleoptera): synopsis of species, Cicindelinae to Trechinae (in Part).
Artist/Author: Larochelle, A. and M.C. Lariviere.$75.00 Add to cartThe family Carabidae (ground-beetles, including tiger beetles) is composed of over 34,000 species distributed among 1,927 genera worldwide. Carabids occupy most land habitats on nearly all continents. Most ground-beetles, in temperate climates at least, live at the surface of the ground, while some species dwell in the soil, in caves, or on vegetation. They are mostly active at night and prey on a wide range of small animals such as other insects and spiders; some species are active during the day and feed on plant tissue. Most are recognisable alive by a peculiar way of running on the ground. Compared with larger or warmer regions of the world, the New Zealand fauna may appear relatively small, but New Zealand is a biodiversity ‘hot-spot’ with over fifty genera (about 60% of fauna) found nowhere else in the world. As a family, Carabidae are sensitive to their environment and are commonly used as biological indicators. They can also be used to control pest insects (e.g., caterpillars) and in the future, ground-beetles may become more commonly used in biological control.
In New Zealand, conservation biologists have listed many, often large-sized carabids, as rare or threatened and worthy of protection. This new Fauna of New Zealand contribution partly updates Larochelle & Lariviere’s Catalogue (FNZ 43) of 2001. Aimed at specialists and non-specialists, it should greatly facilitate identification and information gathering. Its purpose is to provide an overview of 134 species and subspecies belonging to the tribes Cicindelini, Pamborini, Amarotypini, Migadopini, Clivinini, Moriomorphini, and Trechini. Habitus colour photos and distribution maps are included for all taxa. Two genera and 16 species are described as new.
Other volumes in the Fauna of New Zealand series are available, please contact us. -
Professional breeders series: Giant beetles of the Genera Dynastes and Magaoma.
Artist/Author: Weigelt, Alexander.$38.00 Add to cartA highly illustrated guide to the genera Dynastes, Megasoma and Golofa from the southern regions of the USA and Central and South America. Drawing on years of experience, Alexander Weigelt provides a detailed introduction to the breeding and keeping of these beetles in captivity.
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Ecology and evolution of Dung beetles.
Artist/Author: Simmons, Leigh W. and T. James Ridsdill-Smith.$169.00 Add to cartThis book describes the evolutionary and ecological consequences of reproductive competition for scarabaeine Dung beetles. As well as giving us insight into the private lives of these fascinating insects, this book shows how dung beetles can be used as model systems for improving our general understanding of broad evolutionary and ecological processes, and how they generate biological diversity. Over the last few decades we have begun to see further than ever before, with our research efforts yielding new information at all levels of analysis, from whole organism biology to genomics. This book brings together leading researchers who contribute chapters that integrate our current knowledge of phylogenetics and evolution, developmental biology, comparative morphology, physiology, behaviour, and population and community ecology. Dung beetle research is shedding light on the ultimate question of how best to document and conserve the world’s biodiversity. The book will be of interest to established researchers, university teachers, research students, conservation biologists, and those wanting to know more about the dung beetle taxon.
