Insect Architecture: How Insects Design, Engineer, and Build

The essential illustrated guide to the ingenious techniques that insects use to construct an astounding array of natural structures, from nests to shelters to traps

Insect Architecture takes you inside the amazing structures that insects build, from the paper galleries of yellowjacket wasps to elaborate termite mounds complete with royal chambers and air-conditioning systems. Each chapter focuses on a group of insect architects, describing the materials and methods they use while exploring the structures themselves in detail. Blending spectacular illustrations with illuminating case studies of representative species from around the world, this is the ultimate guide to insect artistry and innovation.

• Features a wealth of color photos, explanatory diagrams and blueprints, step-by-step sequences, and visual spreads
• Covers all major groups of insect architects and the broad array of structures they build
• Explains how anatomy, life cycle, and habitat are the ingredients to extraordinary creations
• Profiles the insect world’s most accomplished builders—from beetles, bees, and cicadas to moths, wasps, ants, and termites
• Discusses the ecological impacts of insect architecture
• Reveals how insect builders have inspired human design innovations

Tom Jackson is an acclaimed science writer and conservationist. His books include Biology: An Illustrated History of Life Science, The Magnificent Book of Dangerous Animals, Micro Monsters, and Genetics in Minutes: 200 Key Ideas of Evolution and Biology in an Instant. He was the chief editor of Insects and Spiders of the World. Michael S. Engel is a world authority on bees and the diversity of living and extinct insects. His books include Innumerable Insects: The Story of the Most Diverse and Myriad Animals on Earth and Evolution of the Insects.