An Insect a Day

By Dominic Couzens and Gail Ashton

Written by entomologists Gail Ashton and Dominic Couzens, An Insect A Day provides bite-sized profiles of insects from around the world, one day at a time.

From tiny gnats to the giant Goliath Beetle, the books is full of fascinating facts, history and folklore, beautifully illustrated throughout with photographs and artwork.

Many familiar insects are covered, along with many you may never have known existed. And some of both of those will certainly live their lives in ways we may not have imagined, like the Bombardier Beetles who have their own inbuilt chemical warfare, able to shoot hot acid out of their bottoms to protect themselves. Or the Buff-Tailed Bumblebee that has been discovered to like to play, and the world’s loudest Cicada, the Shrill Thorntree Cicada, that sings about as loud as a chainsaw (and as the book notes, ‘only slightly more musical’). There are flies with inflatable heads and ones that only like square wombat poo. There are ants who run inoculation programs and ones that explode. There are fleas that live in the snow, hawk-moths that act like hummingbirds, and Katydid species whose females eat the wing tips of the males whilst they are mating and he is distracted…..

A quick read for each day, this book is perfect for finding a fun fact, or for those of us who are time poor. It is guaranteed to highlight the always interesting world of the small things around us, and why they are important.

That said, there is a typo on page 133 which had me reaching for Dr Google to double check. It suggests that Goliath Beetles can grow up to 110cm in length. Now that really would be something to see, and they certainly wouldn’t have fallen in to the ‘small things’ category. Dr Google suggests that they grow to 110mm however, and I am not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed….