Bugs Britannica

As with Flora and Birds, Bugs is not a biological guide but a richly-illustrated cultural one, seen through the eyes of writers, musicians, artists and naturalists – from the great Tudor naturalist, Thomas Muffet (father of Little Miss Muffet) to Irvine Welsh’s talking tapeworm in Filth – as well as contributions by ordinary men and women who are fascinated by creepy-crawlies of all kinds.

The book is structured along a roughly evolving path, from simple cell life-forms – amoeba, worms, crustaceans (proof, say the authors, of ‘just how far you can go on very little’) – to bugs we all might recognise – spiders, butterflies, bees – and back into the water to meet molluscs and ‘almost-fish’ Author Peter Marren has examined bugs in the dusty corners of our houses and gardens as well as traversing mountains, lakes and fields. In addition to the fascinating habits of the bug world, he also includes the eccentric behaviour of the bug obsessives themselves.
Hardback, 500 pages, col illus.
9780701181802