All Six Legs

A biologist presents a “consistently delightful” look at the mysteries of insect behavior (The New York Times Book Review). Insects have inspired fear, fascination, and enlightenment for centuries. They are capable of incredibly complex behavior, even with brains often the size of a poppy seed. How do they accomplish feats that look like human activity—personality, language, childcare—with completely different pathways from our own? What is going on inside the mind of those ants that march like boot-camp graduates across your kitchen floor? How does the lead ant know exactly where to take her colony, to that one bread crumb that your nightly sweep missed? Can insects be taught new skills as easily as your new puppy? Sex on Six Legs is a startling and exciting book that provides answers to these questions and many more, examining not only the bedroom lives of creepy crawlies but also some of our own long-held assumptions about learning, the nature of personality, and what our own large brains might be for. “Smart, engaging . . . Zuk approaches her subject with such humor and enthusiasm for the intricacies of insect life, even bug-phobes will relish her account.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Marking the centenary of the coining of myrmecologyto describe the study of ants, Six Legs Better demonstrates the remarkable historical role played by ants as a node where notions of animal, human, and automaton intersect.

Following the success of her debut book, A Dog Behaviourist’s Diary, Denise McLeod returns with All Six Legs, a collection of real life stories with puppies, dogs, laughter and education all rolled into one. Based on real events and case studies, All Six Legs is as diverse as it is educational. Each chapter is written in a ‘storybook’ style with a key learning point for all dog owners to benefit from. It is not solely about the dogs, but also the humans that live and work with them. Capturing a whole host of emotions, from joy to terror and from sadness to hope, some stories are laugh-out-loud humorous, whilst others deal with life-threatening situations. Containing an update on Denise’s own ‘Turn and Face’ technique and with life-saving information for both humans and dogs in one of the chapters, All Six Legs draws on Denise’s 40 years of experiences to share her wide breadth of expertise.

"Describes 12 insects and features a large photograph of each animal presented. Includes information on each animal's habitat or place of origin, size, and diet"--

Examines how insects have been used as weapons in wartime conflicts throughout history, presenting as examples how scorpions were used in Roman times and hornets nests were used during the MIddle Ages in siege warfare and how insects have been used in Vietnam, China, and Korea.

THE UPDATED AND EXPANDED EDITION OF THIS VITAL ANTHOLOGY, WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY EDITOR AND TRANSLATOR CHARLES SIMIC When The Horse Has Six Legs was first published in 1992, as war and hatred tore through the Balkans, this anthology of Serbian poetry became a landmark for some of the most compelling poetry in the contemporary world. "The ironies, in 1993, of giving an award to Serbian poets will be evident to many," Carolyn Kizer wrote in her judge's citation for the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award. "But the glory of great poetry is that it transcends its time and these agonized events to enter the universal realm of art." Editor and translator Charles Simic has now updated and expanded this anthology for new readers in the twenty-first century. Simic has brought together an extraordinary range of Serbian poets, from the oral tradition of folk song to the great postwar poets, including Vasko Popa, Ivan V. Lalic, and Novica Tadic, and the new generation of poets writing now. With wild imagination, mordant humor, and vivid surrealism, Serbian poetry is rich, haunted, and intensely relevant to the world we inhabit.

Is that creepy critter an insect? How do these tiny creatures survive? This volume brings readers up close and personal with many different insect species, including dung beetles, moths, and praying mantises. They’ll learn how to classify insects into different groups, such as true flies and true bugs. Readers will love learning about amazing senses and skills insects have developed over time, from a fly’s many mini-eyes to an orchid mantis’s disguise. Color photographs and diagrams guide readers through the insect world and illustrate important life science concepts, such as metamorphosis and evolution. Diagrams and sidebars add even more fun facts to this exciting journey through a bug’s life.