A Walk around the Pond: Insects in and over the Water - Hardcover

Gilbert Waldbauer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674022114 ISBN 13: 9780674022119

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2006

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Gilbert Waldbauer is Professor Emeritus of Entomology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Reviews

Aquatic and semiaquatic insects far outnumber the other organisms that share their freshwater habitat, yet most of us are unaware of them. Waldbauer, a retired professor of entomology, hopes to rectify this ignorance as he explores the always-interesting lives of aquatic insects. In the same conversational style that he has used in previous works (Millions of Monarchs, Bunches of Beetles, 2000, and What Good Are Bugs? 2003), he presents the fascinating array of adaptations, the diverse forms, and the myriad ways of life of these water dwellers. For instance, tiny aquatic mites live in water-filled tree holes, hitching a ride to new trees on the legs of hole-dwelling hover flies. Brine flies were so abundant in the Great Salt Lake that Indians would gather their pupae from the shoreline to use as food. And caddis fly larvae construct cases of leaves or small twigs to live in, that not only camouflage them but also protect these soft larvae from predators. While telling of the hidden lives of these insects, Waldbauer also reveals evolutionary and ecological details, moving the book beyond the "gee whiz" level. Readers will be inspired to take a closer look at their favorite pond or stream. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

http://www.hup.harvard.edu/pdf/WALWAL_excerpt.pdf

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674022114
• ISBN 13: 9780674022119
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Meredith Waterstraat
• Number of pages: 286