A beautifully illustrated dictionary of 26 insects.

Insects A to Z uses an accessible and successful format to describe 26 insects. Each page features two full-color photographs of the insect and one or two descriptive paragraphs. There are also the Latin and common names of the order, family, genus and species, as well as information on geographic distribution. Fact boxes for each entry provide at-a-glance information detailing each insect's scientific name, diet, average size and the location at which each was photographed.

The 26 insects are:

• Army ants
• Bumble bees
• Cicadas
• Darner dragonflies
• Earwigs
• Fireflies
• Grasshoppers
• Hummingbird moths
• Ichneumonid wasps
• Jewel beetles
• Katydids
• Lacewings
• Mosquitoes
• Net-winged midges
• Owlflies
• Paper wasps
• Queen termites
• Robber flies
• Spider wasps
• Tiger beetles
• Urania moths
• Viceroy butterflies
• Weevils
• Xylocopid bees
• Yucca moths
• Zebra clubtails.

The book has a varied audience: middle school students exploring topic ideas, younger students interested in wildlife and advanced early readers who still enjoy picture books. Accurate and up-to-date information and an informal presentation make Insects A to Z an engaging view into the world of insects.

A beautifully illustrated dictionary of 26 insects.

Insects A to Z uses an accessible and successful format to describe 26 insects. Each page features two full-color photographs of the insect and one or two descriptive paragraphs. There are also the Latin and common names of the order, family, genus and species, as well as information on geographic distribution. Fact boxes for each entry provide at-a-glance information detailing each insect's scientific name, diet, average size and the location at which each was photographed.

The 26 insects are:

• Army ants
• Bumble bees
• Cicadas
• Darner dragonflies
• Earwigs
• Fireflies
• Grasshoppers
• Hummingbird moths
• Ichneumonid wasps
• Jewel beetles
• Katydids
• Lacewings
• Mosquitoes
• Net-winged midges
• Owlflies
• Paper wasps
• Queen termites
• Robber flies
• Spider wasps
• Tiger beetles
• Urania moths
• Viceroy butterflies
• Weevils
• Xylocopid bees
• Yucca moths
• Zebra clubtails.

The book has a varied audience: middle school students exploring topic ideas, younger students interested in wildlife and advanced early readers who still enjoy picture books. Accurate and up-to-date information and an informal presentation make Insects A to Z an engaging view into the world of insects.

Fascinating insects from around the world, including some newly discovered species.

From the Introduction
"Insect diversity, especially the almost untapped diversity of little-studied insects, should be seen as a rich ore... to be mined for generations to come."

Insects account for more than half of the approximately 1.7 million named species of all living things. The number of insect species yet undiscovered runs into many further millions.

Stephen Marshall has selected 500 of the most interesting insects from his travels to North and South America, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Beautiful photographs show the insects in their natural habitats, and informative "factfiles" provide further details about the lives of these fascinating creatures. Some of the insects are new species, photographed here for the first time.

In addition to the entries for each of the species, there is an introduction on insect biology, classification and distribution, along with information on collecting and photographing insects.