Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
All characters reduced
Wicked Bugs - The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects - cover

We are sorry! The publisher (or author) gave us the instruction to take down this book from our catalog. But please don't worry, you still have more than 500,000 other books you can enjoy!

Wicked Bugs - The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects

Amy Stewart

Publisher: Algonquin Books

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

In this darkly comical look at the sinister side of our relationship with the natural world, Stewart has tracked down over one hundred of our worst entomological foes—creatures that infest, infect, and generally wreak havoc on human affairs. From the world’s most painful hornet, to the flies that transmit deadly diseases, to millipedes that stop traffic, to the “bookworms” that devour libraries, to the Japanese beetles munching on your roses, Wicked Bugs delves into the extraordinary powers of six- and eight-legged creatures. With wit, style, and exacting research, Stewart has uncovered the most terrifying and titillating stories of bugs gone wild. It’s an A to Z of insect enemies, interspersed with sections that explore bugs with kinky sex lives (“She’s Just Not That Into You”), creatures lurking in the cupboard (“Fear No Weevil”), insects eating your tomatoes (“Gardener’s Dirty Dozen”), and phobias that feed our (sometimes) irrational responses to bugs (“Have No Fear”). Intricate and strangely beautiful etchings and drawings by Briony Morrow-Cribbs capture diabolical bugs of all shapes and sizes in this mixture of history, science, murder, and intrigue that begins—but doesn’t end—in your own backyard.
Available since: 05/03/2011.

Other books that might interest you

  • Designing Humans - How Gene Editing Can Bring Back Old Evils and Alter the Course of Human Evolution - cover

    Designing Humans - How Gene...

    Andy Renmei

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    This short read analyses gene editing as a revolutionary new technology that could enable the design of new 'ideal' humans. 
    What traits would be desirable?  
    This kind of question links back to eugenic ideas that were popular in Europe in the early 1920s. Using visual communication and design references, 'Designing Humans' critiques past eugenic propaganda and speculates on its possible come back once genome editing enters the biotech market. 
    Will the ideology that dictates human 'fitness' gain momentum once the technology that allows its implementation becomes widely available? 
    This book raises ethical questions that might become part of mainstream consciousness in years to come and points out the role of communication and language in helping create (or avoid) a potentially dystopian future.
    Show book
  • Johnny Crow's Garden - cover

    Johnny Crow's Garden

    L. Leslie Brooke

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    A beautifully illustrated children’s picture book featuring Johnny Crow who made a garden in which a variety of animals do bizarre things in rhyme.Listen to the audio while you view the pictures on  gutenberg.org  (Summary by Jim)
    Show book
  • Beautiful Corn - America's Original Grain from Seed to Plate - cover

    Beautiful Corn - America's...

    Anthony Boutard

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    A market farmer and naturalist writes on the history, cultivation, and culture of corn, as well as his own personal experience with the remarkable crop. Cultivated from sea level to mountaintop, from parched deserts to sodden rain forests, from the rocky Gaspé Peninsula to the plains of Argentina, corn is the grain of the Americas. In terms of culinary uses, it is amazingly diverse, reflecting the breathtaking variety of the continents and environments from which it evolved. The consummate immigrant, corn is grown extensively on every continent except Antarctica. Author Anthony Boutard weaves together this unique plant’s contribution to our culture, its distinctive biology, and the practical information needed to grow and enjoy it at home. Beautiful Corn advocates a return to the nourishing whole grain that built America, in place of today’s genetically modified crops processed by industrial agriculture into synthetic sweeteners and cheap meat. Come along on this lyrical and inspiring journey through the seasons, learning about growing and using corn in the traditional way. Gardeners and market farmers can lead the way to a healthier country by restoring heritage corn varieties to our tables. An unabashed celebration of a much-maligned culinary treasure, Beautiful Corn will forever change the way you view this remarkable plant.“Part love song to an ancient grain, part elevated instruction on how to grow, cook, and consume it, part history and animated story, Beautiful Corn opens our eyes to a food plant that humans have both cultivated and been cultivated by…. Boutard’s book is as nourishing as the corn he so wonderfully describes.”—Michael Ableman, farmer, author of Street Farm and From the Good Earth
    Show book
  • Disease X - The 100 Days Mission to End Pandemics - cover

    Disease X - The 100 Days Mission...

    Kate Kelland

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    A pacy, real-life page-turner by award-winning health reporter
    Sets out the world's 100-days mission to catch the next virus outbreak
    Inside access to decision-makers (including global Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness, CEPI)
    Foreword by Sir Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister
    Show book
  • Life - The Leading Edge of Evolutionary Biology Genetics Anthropology and Environmental Science - cover

    Life - The Leading Edge of...

    John Brockman

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Scientists' understanding of life is progressing more rapidly than at any point in human history, from the extraordinary decoding of DNA to the controversial emergence of biotechnology. Featuring pioneering biologists, geneticists, physicists, and science writers, Life explains just how far we've come-and takes a brilliantly educated guess at where we're heading.Richard Dawkins and J. Craig Venter compare genes to digital information, and sketch the frontiers of genomic research. Edward O. Wilson reveals what ants can teach us about building a superorganism-and, in turn, about how cells build an organism. Elsewhere, David Haig reports new findings on how mothers and fathers individually influence the human genome, while Kary Mullis covers cutting-edge treatments for dangerous viruses. And there's much more in this fascinating volume.We may never have all the answers. But the thinkers collected in Life are asking questions that will keep us dreaming for generations.
    Show book
  • Walking the Salient - cover

    Walking the Salient

    Paul Reed

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Following on from Walking on the Somme, Reed has produced this remarkable voyage around the Ypres Salien t, which saw some of the most memorable campaigns of WW1. Il lustrated throughout, this book gives an insight for visitor s & armchair travellers. '
    Show book