LEADER 03803nam 22005774a 450 001 9910454670203321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-674-04474-6 024 7 $a10.4159/9780674044746 035 $a(CKB)1000000000786828 035 $a(StDuBDS)AH23050939 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000270605 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)12063881 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000270605 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10279651 035 $a(PQKB)10855135 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3300436 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3300436 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10318429 035 $a(OCoLC)923111288 035 $a(DE-B1597)586084 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674044746 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000786828 100 $a20020710d2003 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur||||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aWhat good are bugs?$b[electronic resource] $einsects in the web of life /$fGilbert Waldbauer 210 $aCambridge, Mass. $cHarvard University Press$d2003 215 $a1 online resource (384 p. ) $cill 300 $aOriginally published: 2003. 311 $a0-674-01027-2 311 $a0-674-01632-7 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 317-342) and index. 327 $aMacrocosm Helping Plants 1. Pollinating 2. Dispersing Seeds 3. Supplying Food 4. Providing Defense Helping Animals 5. Giving Sustenance 6. Giving Protection Limiting Population Growth 7. Controlling Plant Populations 8. Controlling Insect Populations 9. Controlling Vertebrate Populations Cleaning Up 10. Recycling Dead Animals 11. Recycling Dung 12. Recycling Dead Plants Microcosm Selected Readings Acknowledgments Index 330 $aThis volume catalogues important insects by their roles, providing an enlightening look at how insects work in ecosystems - what they do, how they live and how they make life as we know it possible. 330 $bWe shriek about them, slap and spray them, and generally think of insects (when we think of them at all) as pests. Yet, if all insects, or even a critical few, were to disappear--if there were none to pollinate plants, serve as food for other animals, dispose of dead organisms, and perform other ecologically essential tasks--virtually all the ecosystems on earth, the webs of life, would unravel. This book, the first to catalogue ecologically important insects by their roles, gives us an enlightening look at how insects work in ecosystems--what they do, how they live, and how they make life as we know it possible. In What Good Are Bugs? Gilbert Waldbauer combines anecdotes from entomological history with insights into the intimate workings of the natural world, describing the intriguing and sometimes amazing behavior of these tiny creatures. He weaves a colorful, richly textured picture of beneficial insect life on earth, from ants sowing their "hanging gardens" on Amazonian shrubs and trees to the sacred scarab of ancient Egypt burying balls of cattle dung full of undigested seeds, from the cactus-eating caterpillar (aptly called Cactoblastis ) controlling the spread of the prickly pear to the prodigious honey bee and the "sanitary officers of the field"--the fly maggots, ants, beetles, and caterpillars that help decompose and recycle dung, carrion, and dead plants. As entertaining as it is informative, this charmingly illustrated volume captures the full sweep of insects' integral place in the web of life. 606 $aInsects$xEcology 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aInsects$xEcology. 676 $a595.717 700 $aWaldbauer$b Gilbert$0908444 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910454670203321 996 $aWhat good are bugs$92031910 997 $aUNINA