Overview

A loving look at one of the world’s most maligned, misunderstood, and fascinating insectsFamous foe of forestry professionals and despised spreader of Dutch elm disease, bark beetles have a bad reputation: the World’s Worst Forest Pests. They chew through timber profits and kill healthy trees, turning forests from carbon sinks into carbon sources. But entomologist Jiri Hulcr sees more to these evil weevils than meets the eye, and offers you a closer look—literally. With science journalist Marc Abrahams, Hulcr offers a funny and informative introduction to these under-studied and underappreciated insects. This lively book turns cutting-edge research into an enjoyable tour through the miniature world of a charming critter. Vivid macrophotography captures every aspect of bark beetle life in stunning detail, from their dramatic family stories and curiously endearing looks to their mating strategies, and the secret fungus farms where they cultivate their own “ambrosia.” You’ll learn how much we don’t know about bark beetles—and what that means for science’s attempts to control them as climate change alters their habitats. Whether you’re a scientist seeking up-to-date pest management strategies or you’re just wondering if your backyard trees are at risk, this book will help you better understand the latest discoveries in beetle symbioses, molecular biology, and ecology. But be warned: at the end of this read you may be filled with affection for these adorable and astonishing beetles.

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9781683402633

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Reviews

[A] spirited tour. . . . [Hulcr and Abrahams] do a stellar job of recasting their maligned subjects as being more worthy of study than scorn. Budding entomologists will find lots to appreciate. --Publishers Weekly Bark beetles deserve their day in the sun despite having a bad reputation, argue entomologist Hulcr and editor Abrahams (This Is Improbable Too) in this spirited tour. Writing that the bugs are 'among the strangest [and] funniest' insects, the authors cover how the beetles communicate via smell (they're 'a poster child for research on insect chemical communication'), establish highly organized colonies, and mate ('since almost everyone is a reproductive female, they multiply superfast'). Other sections detail the intricate 'art' that bark beetles create by 'inscrib[ing] their life stories onto dead wood' as they chew through it, and their fungi-based diets. The authors also endeavor to reframe the beetles' biggest reputation problem: that they damage forests. In the 1960s, for example, southern pine beetles killed 'over a billion pine trees in a single year.' But it's not all their fault, the authors write--humans are responsible for creating monocultural forests, which are a 'junk food buffet' for the bugs. While the writing isn't always the most elegant ('People often call them ugly names... But people don't know what they are talking about'), the authors nonetheless do a stellar job of recasting their maligned subjects as being more worthy of study than scorn. Budding entomologists will find lots to appreciate. --Publishers Weekly

Author Information

Jiri Hulcr is associate professor of forest entomology at the University of Florida and a founding member of ProForest, a forest health research group. Marc Abrahams is a science writer, the editor of Annals of Improbable Research, and the founder of the Ig Nobel Prize.

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