Spineless wonders
Subtitle: strange tales from the invertebrate world
By: Richard Conniff ; illustrations by Sally Bensusen
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Published: 1996
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 222
ISBN-13: 9780805042184
Subjects: Ongewervelde dieren; Invertebrates
Description: We humans have a word for the feeling, whether actual or imagined, that creepy invertebrates are crawling over our skin. That word is formication, and the implied sense of horror and fascination, contends Richard Conniff, is something many of us actually crave. His Spineless Wonders presents an "unabashed wallow in the joy of formication." Spineless Wonders is an engaging, sophisticated, and humorous mix of natural history and human lore. Through his journalistic assignments, Richard Conniff has been in contact with invertebrates for more than twenty years - tarantulas in the upper Amazon region, dragonflies in Arizona, squid in Florida, and flies on the rim of his beer glass. Discoveries about the extraordinary habits and idiosyncrasies of the moth, the leech, the ant, and the slime eel are opening new frontiers in the exploration of our natural universe. Spineless Wonders takes us directly to these wild and wonderful outposts to observe the hazards of being around invertebrates, the bizarre adaptions that enable them to survive in the world, and also the astonishing work they do - work that enables us to survive.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 200-206) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: The joy of fornication; title: Why did God make flies?; title: Little suckers; title: Empire of the fire ant; title: The big calamari; title: Lions of the pond; title: Spider love; title: Leapers; title: Beetlemania; title: Grunting for wigglers; title: A small point of interest; title: Ghosts on wings; title: Slime.