The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World

The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World PDF

Author: Oliver Milman

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2022-03-01

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1324006609

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A devastating examination of how collapsing insect populations worldwide threaten everything from wild birds to the food on our plate. From ants scurrying under leaf litter to bees able to fly higher than Mount Kilimanjaro, insects are everywhere. Three out of every four of our planet’s known animal species are insects. In The Insect Crisis, acclaimed journalist Oliver Milman dives into the torrent of recent evidence that suggests this kaleidoscopic group of creatures is suffering the greatest existential crisis in its remarkable 400-million-year history. What is causing the collapse of the insect world? Why does this alarming decline pose such a threat to us? And what can be done to stem the loss of the miniature empires that hold aloft life as we know it? With urgency and great clarity, Milman explores this hidden emergency, arguing that its consequences could even rival climate change. He joins the scientists tracking the decline of insect populations across the globe, including the soaring mountains of Mexico that host an epic, yet dwindling, migration of monarch butterflies; the verdant countryside of England that has been emptied of insect life; the gargantuan fields of U.S. agriculture that have proved a killing ground for bees; and an offbeat experiment in Denmark that shows there aren’t that many bugs splattering into your car windshield these days. These losses not only further tear at the tapestry of life on our degraded planet; they imperil everything we hold dear, from the food on our supermarket shelves to the medicines in our cabinets to the riot of nature that thrills and enlivens us. Even insects we may dread, including the hated cockroach, or the stinging wasp, play crucial ecological roles, and their decline would profoundly shape our own story. By connecting butterfly and bee, moth and beetle from across the globe, the full scope of loss renders a portrait of a crisis that threatens to upend the workings of our collective history. Part warning, part celebration of the incredible variety of insects, The Insect Crisis is a wake-up call for us all.

Edible Insects

Edible Insects PDF

Author: Arnold van Huis

Publisher: Bright Sparks

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789251075951

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Edible insects have always been a part of human diets, but in some societies there remains a degree of disdain and disgust for their consumption. Although the majority of consumed insects are gathered in forest habitats, mass-rearing systems are being developed in many countries. Insects offer a significant opportunity to merge traditional knowledge and modern science to improve human food security worldwide. This publication describes the contribution of insects to food security and examines future prospects for raising insects at a commercial scale to improve food and feed production, diversify diets, and support livelihoods in both developing and developed countries. It shows the many traditional and potential new uses of insects for direct human consumption and the opportunities for and constraints to farming them for food and feed. It examines the body of research on issues such as insect nutrition and food safety, the use of insects as animal feed, and the processing and preservation of insects and their products. It highlights the need to develop a regulatory framework to govern the use of insects for food security. And it presents case studies and examples from around the world. Edible insects are a promising alternative to the conventional production of meat, either for direct human consumption or for indirect use as feedstock. To fully realise this potential, much work needs to be done by a wide range of stakeholders. This publication will boost awareness of the many valuable roles that insects play in sustaining nature and human life, and it will stimulate debate on the expansion of the use of insects as food and feed.

General Index and Supplement

General Index and Supplement PDF

Author: Charles V. Riley

Publisher:

Published: 2015-08-05

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 9781332310142

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Excerpt from General Index and Supplement: To the Nine Reports on the Insects of Missouri The present Bulletin has been prepared in response to frequent suggestions from those having occasion to use the nine Annual Reports on the Insects of Missouri, made by me, as State Entomologist, to the State Board of Agriculture, during the years 1868 to 1877, inclusive. These Reports contain a good deal of matter aneut the Cotton Worm, the Chinch Bug, the Rocky Mountain Locust, and other insects which the Commission has studied, and were published, as required by law, in the Annual Reports of said State Board of Agriculture for the years mentioned. That method of publication was always regretted by myself and by many others, inasmuch as the reports of the Board were generally volumes of such bulk as to delay publication and render mailing expensive. By virtue of the fact that they were distributed only to members of the State legislature and to State societies, access to them by persons outside the State of Missouri was extremely difficuThe demand for the Reports and the manner in which they have been used and commended by subsequent writers can but be gratifying to the author, who feels that whatever of commendation they deserve is due to the fact that they embody results of original investigation. They contain some matter that, with present light, he would expunge, and the earlier volumes, more particularly, contain imperfections which no one appreciates more fully than himself. Many of these are attributable to isolation from other working entomologists at the time, as well as to the almost absolute dearth of entomological works of reference in any of the libraries of Saint Louis. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Edible Insects

Edible Insects PDF

Author: Gina Louise Hunter

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2021-09-16

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1789144477

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From grasshoppers to grubs, an eye-opening look at insect cuisine around the world. An estimated two billion people worldwide regularly consume insects, yet bugs are rarely eaten in the West. Why are some disgusted at the thought of eating insects while others find them delicious? Edible Insects: A Global History provides a broad introduction to the role of insects as human food, from our prehistoric past to current food trends—and even recipes. On the menu are beetles, butterflies, grasshoppers, and grubs of many kinds, with stories that highlight traditional methods of insect collection, preparation, consumption, and preservation. But we not only encounter the culinary uses of creepy-crawlies across many cultures. We also learn of the potential of insects to alleviate global food shortages and natural resource overexploitation, as well as the role of world-class chefs in making insects palatable to consumers in the West.

Insects

Insects PDF

Author: Steven A. Marshall

Publisher: Richmond Hill, Ont. : Firefly Books

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 790

ISBN-13:

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An examination of the characteristics, habitat and behavior of insects, including comprehensive picture keys for insect identification.