Essential Entomology

Description

This updated and fully revised edition continues to provide an essential guide to the most species-rich and abundant multicellular organisms on our planet. A clear taxonomic structure arms the student reader with the necessary framework that will enable them to understand the evolutionary innovations of insects in a new light.

• A short accessible primer of entomology
• Provides the most up-to-date systematic treatment of each insect order, giving crucial facts and details of their biology and life-histories
• Includes the essentials of insect evolution, biology, and structure
• Incorporates the huge developments in entomological research and knowledge from the last two decades since the first edition was published
• Enlivened with Richard Lewington's original line drawings, and enriched with stunning colour images.

New to this edition

• Colour photographs help illustrate some of the most distinctive and unusual insect examples in action
• Includes a fully updated bibliography featuring key further reading

About the Author(s)

George C. McGavin, Senior Research Associate, Department of Zoology, Oxford University UK, and Leonidas-Romanos Davranoglou, Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, UK

George McGavin studied Zoology at Edinburgh University, followed by a PhD in entomology at Imperial College and the Natural History Museum in London. After 30 years as an academic, mostly at Oxford University, he became an award-winning television presenter. He is an Honorary Research Associate of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and an Honorary Principal Research Fellow at Imperial College, a Fellow of the Linnean Society and the Royal Geographical Society, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, and an Honorary Life Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. In 2019 he became the President of the Dorset Wildlife Trust.

Leonidas-Romanos Davranoglou studied Zoology at Imperial College London. He then undertook his PhD thesis in entomology at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK, funded by the prestigious Oxford-Natural Motion and the Onassis Foundation scholarships. In 2021, Leonidas was honoured with a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History to study the evolution of insect communication and morphology using both living species and their extinct relatives preserved in 100-million-year-old Cretaceous amber. He joins George McGavin as co-author for the new edition of this classic work.

Table of Contents

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION TO INSECT EVOLUTION AND BIOLOGY
SECTION 2: THE INSECT ORDERS
ARCHAEOGNATHA (Bristletails)
ZYGENTOMA (Silverfish and Firebrats)
EPHEMEROPTERA (Mayflies)
ODONATA (Dragonflies and Damselflies)
HAPLOCERCATA (DERMAPTERA and ZORAPTERA) (Earwigs and Angel Insects)
PLECOPTERA (Stoneflies)
ORTHOPTERA (Grasshoppers and Crickets)
DICTYOPTERA (BLATTODEA and MANTODEA) (Cockroaches, Termites, and Praying Mantids)
XENONOMIA (GRYLLOBLATTODEA and MANTOPHASMATODEA) (Ice Crawlers and Heel Walkers)
EUKINOLABIA (PHASMATODEA and EMBIOPTERA) (Stick Insects, Leaf Insects, and Webspinners)
PSOCODEA (Barklice, Booklice, and True Lice)
HEMIPTERA (True Bugs)
THYSANOPTERA (Thrips)
RAPHIDIOPTERA (Snakeflies)
MEGALOPTERA (Alderflies, Dobsonflies, and Fishflies)
NEUROPTERA (Lacewings, Antlions, and Mantidflies)
COLEOPTERA (Beetles)
STREPSIPTERA (Strepsipterans)
MECOPTERA (Scorpionflies)
SIPHONAPTERA (Fleas)
DIPTERA (Flies)
TRICHOPTERA (Caddisflies)
LEPIDOPTERA (Butterflies and Moths)
HYMENOPTERA (Bees, Wasps, and Ants)
SECTION 3: FIELDWORK

Reviews

"Review from previous edition This book should be as indispensable to students as to amateur entomologists, ecologists, and nature enthusiasts...it is to be hoped that this excellent value reference book will achieve a wide circulation." - Galathea, 2001