Richard Jones - Extreme Insects

Extreme Insects

Richard Jones

This book is for my parents. My father, Alfred Jones,

from whom I acquired my love of natural history, gave

me a precious gift – the thirst for knowledge. My

mother, Rosamond Jones, gave me the time and her

tolerance, whilst I tried to quench it.

Introduction

Extreme From

Oldest insect

Biggest insect

Longest insect

Whitest insect

Shiniest insect

Slimiest insect

Biggest blockhead

Most sexually dimorphic insect

Most mixed-up sexuality

Most bloated insect

Most seasonally dimorphic insect

Highest number of wings

Flattest insect

Most back-to-front insect

Longest ovipositor

Widest head

Brightest light generation

Most variable colour pattern

Bloodiest insect

Most beautiful insect

Longest head

Most streamlined insect

Loudest insect

Best hoverer

Ugliest insect

Largest jaws

Largest wingspan

Best camouflage

Most transparent wings

Hairiest legs

Snappiest jaws

Prettiest eyes

Most elegant eggs

Largest eye markings

Lightest footstep

Furriest insect

Most poisonous insect

Most heavily armoured insect

Longest wing tails

Best burrower

Smallest insect

Heaviest insect

Fastest flier

Fastest runner

Longest tongue

Smelliest insect

Most subterranean insect

Fastest wing-beat

Smallest egg

Largest egg

Spikiest insect

Biggest feet

Largest claws

Extreme Evolution

Most punctual insect

Giddiest insect

Most useful young

Best mutual coexistence

Largest overwintering congregation

Largest colony

Most generous nuptial gift

Best passenger

Most necrophilic insect

Cleverest digger

Most violent sex act

Biggest plant distortion

Best thermometer

Best architect

Cleverest drinker

Most dangerous egg-laying strategy

Most adventurous insect

Most disgusting habits

Most cold-tolerant insect

Most devious prey trap

Most untrusting sex act

Best sculptor

Most unusual foodstuff

Most extreme metamorphosis

Best eyesight

Best mimic

Biggest migration

Best wrestler

Largest swarm

Longest-lived adult

Shortest larval stage

Best kicker

Most organised society

Most unsavoury defecation behaviour

Shortest-lived adult

Most explosive insect

Longest sperm

Largest parasite

Highest heat tolerance

Most diverse life histories

Most bizarre reverse metamorphosis

Longest larval stage

Best jumper

Best dancer

Best thief

Most patient insect

Best sunbathing protection

Most widespread insect

Extreme Impact

Most useful scientific research tool

Most painful sting

Most revered insect

Most boring insect

Most eaten by humans

Most (un)wanted

Best human aphrodisiac

Most confusing insect

Most sinister insect

Most misplaced insect

Oldest surviving insect specimen

Most bewitching insect

Most important averted plague

Most unusually represented in art

Most musical insect

Most helpful clean-up

Worst plague

Most unusual mode of range extension

Most embarrassing insect

Most dangerous insect

Most valuable service

Most diverse insect fauna

Most irritating insect

Most valuable insect product

Most medically useful insect

Most dermatologically useful insect

Most dramatic recovery from near-extinction

Most forensic insect

Worst infestation of a person

Best example of evolution in action

Most endangered species

Most destructive insect

Most diverse group

Rarest insect

Index

Stop Press

Acknowledgements

Copyright

About the Publisher

Insects are the most extreme organisms on Earth, and despite their diminutive stature, they wield inordinate power. With the exception of the polar ice caps, every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth is colonised by insects and to some extent controlled by them (and they have made inroads onto the open ocean, too). They dominate the middle ground of virtually every terrestrial food chain or food web.

Insects are extreme in numbers. A single leaf-cutter ant nest, the size of a large camper van buried in the soil, may contain 8 million individuals working together as a single giant super-organism. In the tropical rainforests, termites can reach densities of 10,000 per square metre, a higher density of animal mass than in the largest wildebeest herds of the Serengeti. To produce such numbers, insects are extreme in their fecundity. Egg loads can be counted in thousands and generation times in days. If conditions are right, plagues of biblical proportions can appear as if spontaneously.

Insects are extreme in diversity. Even the experts cannot agree whether there are 3 million different species of insect on the Earth, 10 million, 30 million or 80 million. Compare that to the mere 5,400 known species of mammal. About four-fifths of all the animals yet discovered on our planet are insects: that’s over 1 million species at the last count. And there are many times that number out there awaiting discovery.

Insects are extreme in form. Evolved into the most peculiar shapes and colours, with strange structures and beautiful patterns, even the smallest of these wonderful creatures is magnificent under the microscope. Each has adapted to solve the extreme pressures that arise in the struggle to survive in a world that is dangerous, competitive and unforgiving.

Extreme Insects is divided into three chapters, exploring the nature of the insect universe and looking at some of the most extraordinary creatures in existence.

Extreme Form. In addition to the biggest, smallest, and largest wingspan, we take a look at extreme shapes: spikiest, furriest, shiniest, flattest. Why have such forms evolved? What benefit do they give to the insects that possess them?

Extreme Evolution. Some parts of insect anatomy can appear completely alien to the human eye. They have evolved to allow their possessors a special tool, weapon or means of escape. They have allowed certain insects to survive in extremely difficult or dangerous circumstances. Insects are complex creatures that interact with each other, with their food and with enemies who see them as food. And they get up to some very strange things. They seem to be dancing, skulking or hiding. They brave danger or run like cowards. Some nurture and some murder; some commit suicide. They may appear very clever or extremely dim. Some steal and some give gifts. What is the biological explanation behind these apparently odd behaviours?

Extreme Impact. Humans now reckon themselves to be the dominant life form on Earth, but we have been around for only a few hundred thousand years. Insects were here over 300 million years earlier. Humans, the mere junior upstarts, now come into conflict with a much older and better-established group of organisms. And despite our modern sophistication, we cannot escape such tenacious and apparently determined animals. They invade our fields, our houses and even our bodies. Some we can tame for our own uses, but with others we are still at war.