Metamorphosis
Subtitle: astonishing insect transformations
By: written and photographed by Rupert Soskin ; [foreword by Dr George McGavin]
Contributors: McGavin, George, writer of foreword
Publisher: Bloomsbury Natural History, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9781408173756
Subjects: Insects; Life cycles; Metamorphosis; Pictorial works
Description: Insects truly are the ugly ducklings of the natural world. How does something as beautiful as a butterfly begin life as little more than a fancy maggot? Or something as elegant and delicate as a lacewing hatch like a minuscule escapee from a horror movie? What are the circumstances that require a creature to transform from one body shape into another, a shape that is often so utterly different from the first that you would be forgiven for thinking they were completely unrelated organisms? This book illustrates some of the dramatic transformations insects undergo in their life cycles and explores why evolution has arrived at these remarkable solutions to survival. The aim of the book is to show remarkable transformations, most of which have never before been seen. The book is divided into two main sections: Insects that undergo partial metamorphosis, such as dragonflies, grasshoppers, and bugs. Here the young resemble the adult, changing gradually with each molt. Insects that experience a complete metamorphosis such as butterflies, moths, beetles, bees, wasps, ants, and flies. In these species, the young bear no resemblance to the adult in appearance, habitat, or diet, until they pupate. -- Provided by publisher.

Rupert Soskin's unique project to photograph a range of selected species at each stage of development -- from egg to larva to pupa and, finally, fully formed adult -- sets a new precedent for nature photography. -- Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-252) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : out of the darkness; title: Survival strategies : coping with danger and competition; title: Metamorphosis : the process of change; title: Orthoptera : crickets, grasshoppers and their relatives; title: Phasmatodea : the stick and leaf insects; title: Mantodea : the mantises; title: Psocoptera : bark and book lice; title: Hemiptera : the true bugs; title: Neuroptera : lacewings and their relatives; title: Coleoptera : the beetles; title: Diptera : the true flies; title: Lepidoptera : butterflies and moths; title: Hymenoptera : wasps, bees, ants and their relatives; title: The dark side; title: Photographing wildlife.