Metamorphosis: Astonishing insect transformations - Hardcover

Soskin, Rupert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1408173751 ISBN 13: 9781408173756

Publisher: Bloomsbury Natural History, 2015

Synopsis

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 out looking 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 illustrate some of the dramatic transformations insects undergo in their life cycles and explore why evolution has arrived at these remarkable solutions to survival. The aim of the book is to show remarkable transformations, some of which most people could never see in a lifetime.

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 moult.
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.
Rupert Soskin spent two years on this 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.

Foreword by Dr George McGavin.

About this title

Product Description:

The transformation of unpromising larvae into complex and delicate adult insects is one of the wonders of nature. This photographic celebration records the metamorphoses of a variety of creatures including crickets and grasshoppers, butterflies and moths, ants, bees, flies and beetles. The detailed close-ups reveal their life-cycles from the hatching of an egg to the emergence of the adult, and the accompanying text explores the mechanisms that drive the process and why insects have evolved these remarkable solutions to survival.

Review:

Metamorphosis benefits from personal observations and a clear voice, and the surprises offered up are by turns beautiful and horrific but always awe-inspiring. (BBC Wildlife)

One only need look at the breath-taking close-up photo adorning the cover of Rupert Soskin's new Metamorphosis; Astonishing Insect Transformations from Bloomsbury to immediately assume that this is going to be quite a remarkable book. (John E. Riutta The Well-Read Naturalist)

Most have had the experience of witnessing, either in person or through photographs, the beautiful metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly, but few have seen or even thought about the process for other insects, though many have a similar journey. This incredible book will give anyone interested in insects, or in biology in general, a view of these creatures not easily found. The accompanying text is quite thorough without being daunting in any way. The information is very accessible for non-scientists, yet it's very complete and never talks down to the reader. But it is the photographs that really carry this book. The glory of nature is front and center in every photograph of these strange, mysterious little animals . this is a satisfyingly complete study of this process. (Rosi Hollinbeck Manhattan Book Review)

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Natural History
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1408173751
• ISBN 13: 9781408173756
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256