Curious Facts In The History Of Insects Including Spiders And Scorpions A Complete Collection Of The Legends Superstitions Beliefs And Ominous Signs Connected With Insects Together With Their Uses In Medicine Art And As Food And A Summary Of Their Remarkable Injuries And Appearances

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.

A COMPLETE COLLECTION OF THE LEGENDS, SUPERSTITIONS, BELIEFS, AND OMINOUS SIGNS CONNECTED WITH INSECTS; TOGETHER WITH THEIR USES IN MEDICINE, ART, AND AS FOOD; AND A SUMMARY OF THEIR REMARKABLE INJURIES AND APPEARANCES. The facts contained in this volume are supposed to be purely historical, or rather not to belong to the natural history of Insects, namely, their anatomy, habits, classification, etc. They have been collected mostly from Chronicles, Histories, Books of Travels, and such like works, which, at first view, seem to be totally foreign to Insects: and were only discovered by examination of the indexes and tables of contents.