A Natural History of Insects in 100 Limericks

Insects are the tiny cogs that run the world. Often overlooked as insignificant, these creatures exist in mind-numbing diversity and incalculable numbers. They occur everywhere: from seashore to mountaintop, Arctic tundra to equatorial rainforest, riverbank to desert. Insects dominate the centre ground of all terrestrial and most aquatic ecological food webs. They have an immense impact on plant-growth across the globe, they eat each other and are eaten by other animals. Some are crucial pollinators, others destroy crops. Some spread disease, others recycle dung and decaying matter. They are everywhere and they affect everything. But general human awareness of insects is low. Insects are seen as ‘other’ – alien, trivial or noxious irritant specks. Yet in trying to understand these abundant and varied animals, it is possible to get a much clearer picture of the world, the environment and human impacts on it. Limericks are fun, accessible and understandable by all. Their short form and proscribed structure make them immediately recognizable, while poetic license can be stretched to improbable limits when it comes to slightly clashing rhymes. The limerick is used to draw in the reader, but a paragraph of explanatory text then explains key scientific features of the insect in question. These micro-poems will give you a new perspective on insect life. The book is illustrated by simple but striking pictures by the author’s son, who was only 13 at the time.