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An intriguing journey into the micro-world of one of the most maligned creatures on the planet, the termite. After years of keen observation in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, Pat Lowe shows that there is more to these industrious insects than their propensity to eat houses and furniture. Termites are the earthworms of the tropics, providing nutrients to arid soils. They have been an important food for people and other animals throughout the centuries, and their nests have been used in many human endeavours. Our Friends the Termites will enlighten anyone who has travelled through northern Australia and wondered at the strange mounds that dot the landscape. It is a fascinating and delightful read for backyard naturalists, entomologists and the simply curious.

The first comprehensive guide to all 620 species of dragonflies of New Guinea and the neighbouring islands, which is home to ten percent of the world’s dragonfly fauna. Nearly half of the species are found nowhere else on Earth. The book includes 1275 illustrations and eight pages of color plates showing representative species and habitats, introductory sections on structure, habitat, history, collection and photography, as well as appendices discussing taxonomic questions and a full bibliography. Also included are illustrated keys to all taxa, and illustrations of larval forms where known.

This book is an account of two years spent getting to know Britain’s most dazzling and enigmatic insects – the dragonflies and damselflies. The quest to find, photograph, watch and learn about dragons and damsels took the author on a tour of diverse and lovely wetlands up and down Britain, from the rugged wild peat bogs of north-west Scotland to the languid meanders of the Oxfordshire Thames. The account describes close encounters with the dragons and damsels themselves, set against backdrops of rich and vital habitats teeming with a range of other wildlife. It is also packed with background detail on dragonfly and damselfly natural history, and wetland ecology in general. The text is enlivened with line drawings and a section of colour photographs.

Supremely colourful, among the most voracious predators of the insect world and on the wing for more than 300 million years, dragonflies and damselflies capture the imagination in so many ways. Yet many aspects of their fascinating lives are little-known to humans. This book provides an insight into a hidden world through engaging text and stunning close-up photography. This book combines insightful writing with rarely seen images of the life and behaviour of the world’s dragonfly and damselfly species. There are chapters on subjects such as hunting, courtship and the emergence of the nymphs and their subsequent transformation into adult dragonflies. These insects are further brought to life through the personal experiences of the author and photographers, and these are woven into the text.

Reaktion Animal Series. Lots of insects suck blood, but one species above all others has a big reputation for its very small size, the mosquito. Due to the diseases they carry and inject, mosquitoes are responsible for more human deaths than any other animal. The most deadly of these diseases is malaria, which although eradicated from much of the northern hemisphere, continues to pose a mortal threat in developing countries. Two billion people a year are exposed to malarial infection, of which over 350 million succumb and nearly 700,000 die, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa. In Mosquito, Richard Jones recounts the history of mosquitoes’ relationship with mankind, and their transformation from a trivial gnat into a serious disease-carrying menace. Drawing on scientific fact, historical evidence, and literary evocation, the book provides a colourful portrait of this tiny insect and the notorious diseases it carries. Mosquito offers a compelling warning against the contemporary complacency surrounding malaria and other diseases in western society, whilst also exploring the sinister reputation of the insect in general.
Written in an accessible style for a broad readership, the title will appeal to all those with an interest in tropical medicine and disease, as well as anyone pestered in the night by the annoying, familiar whine of this diminutive air-borne adversary.

The armoured scale insect family Diaspididae is one of ten families of plant-sucking scale insects present in New Zealand, and this family has three unique features. The first feature is that the stomach of armoured scale insects is not directly connected to the hind gut, so they do not produce honeydew; the second is their armour or scale cover, in which they incorporate the cast skins of their juvenile moults; and the third feature is the fused segments of the posterior part of the abdomen called the pygidium. In this Fauna the adult females of all 49 species of Diaspididae known from New Zealand, except the Leucaspidini, are described and illustrated. Four new genera and seven new species are described, and nomenclatural changes are noted. The 1st- and 2nd-instar nymphs of all the endemic species and of four Australian species that are of systematic interest are also described and illustrated. Keys to allow separation of adult females of all genera and species are included.
Additional features of this Fauna include: a brief review of earlier work on the Diaspididae in New Zealand; discussion of the biology and life cycle, scale cover formation, natural enemies, distribution, host plant associations including galls, and economic importance; a guide to methods for slide-mounting Diaspididae as used in the NZ Arthropod Collection.