The Waterbug Book

Freshwater invertebrates identification guide for both professionals and non-professionals. Contains a key to all the macroinvertebrate groups and photographs of live specimens.

Freshwater macroinvertebrates provide a useful and reliable indicator of the health of our rivers, streams, ponds and wetlands. As environmental awareness within the community increases, there is an increasing interest in the need to assess the health of our local waterways and school curriculums are changing to reflect this important ecological trend. The Waterbug Book provides a comprehensive and accurate identification guide for both professionals and non-professionals. It contains an easy-to-use key to all the macroinvertebrate groups and, for the first time, high quality colour photographs of live specimens. It provides a wealth of basic information on the biology of macroinvertebrates, and describes the SIGNAL method for assessing river health. The Waterbug Book is full of practical tips about where to find various animals, and what their presence can tell about their environment. Winner of the 2003 Eureka Science Book Prize and the 2003 Whitley Medal.

Willy the Baby Water Bug goes on an adventure, only to find out that he should have listened to his parents.

Originally published: Cleveland, OH: Pilgrim Press, 1997.

A water strider darts across a pond, its feet dimpling the surface tension; a giant water bug dives below, carrying his mate’s eggs on his back; hidden among plant roots on the silty bottom, a dragonfly larva stalks unwary minnows. Barely skimming the surface, in the air above the pond, swarm mayflies with diaphanous wings. Take this walk around the pond with Gilbert Waldbauer and discover the most amazingly diverse inhabitants of the freshwater world. In his hallmark companionable style, Waldbauer introduces us to the aquatic insects that have colonized ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers, especially those in North America. Along the way we learn about the diverse forms these arthropods take, as well as their remarkable modes of life—how they have radiated into every imaginable niche in the water environment, and how they cope with the challenges such an environment poses to respiration, vision, thermoregulation, and reproduction. We encounter the caddis fly larva building its protective case and camouflaging it with stream detritus; green darner dragonflies mating midair in an acrobatic wheel formation; ants that have adapted to the tiny water environment within a pitcher plant; and insects whose adaptations to the aquatic lifestyle are furnishing biomaterials engineers with ideas for future applications in industry and consumer goods. While learning about the evolution, natural history, and ecology of these insects, readers also discover more than a little about the scientists who study them.

Best-selling simplifier of science Lucille Recht Penner unearths the truth about the water bug which sucks its victims' blood like a vampire, the assassin bug which turns its prey to mush with a special poison, and other barbaric bugs. This vividly illustrated collection of sensational but true bug facts is sure to set young readers' skin crawling!

Florian's elegant poems and watercolor collages are a treat -- Los Angeles Times.

Wailana, the waterbug, wakes up everyday to play with her friends and soon feels the joy of turning into a dragonfly.