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Title details for Of Cockroaches and Crickets by Frank Nischk - Available

Of Cockroaches and Crickets

Learning to Love Creatures That Skitter and Jump

by Frank Nischk
Carl Safina
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
For many people, cockroaches are the most pesky of pests. In this funny and fascinating book, Frank reveals his love and admiration for so-called "nasty" creatures like cockroaches, crickets, and more. He shows us that even seemingly terrifying insects are beautiful in their own way—and essential to all life on Earth.
Frank never planned to study cockroaches. But when researching hummingbirds fell through, he switched to cockroach feces—and soon fell in love. Cockroaches are incredible survivors, devoted parents, and adapt to almost any environment. Nischk even answers the age-old question of whether a cockroach would survive a nuclear explosion. After hearing such eye-opening and warm-hearted stories, you'll think twice before stepping on one!
From cockroaches to crickets, Nischk travels to Ecuador to record cricket sounds, where he finds jungles bursting with a riot of insect life (including bullet ants whose stings are surprisingly painful). As Nischk tells his (mis)adventures as an entomologist, he shares stories about intriguing insect discoveries, from damselflies who lay eggs deep underwater, to zombie fungi that invade the brains of ants. Brimming with fascinating facts, incredible stories, and unbelievable anecdotes, Of Cockroaches and Crickets will intrigue anyone who has ever loved—or hated!—bugs.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 28, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9798765083710
      • File size: 189182 KB
      • Duration: 06:34:07

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 12, 2022
      This creepy and captivating debut from biologist Nischk dives into the world of bugs. “Inconspicuous critters that... we think of as disgusting and annoying if we think of them at all, are often the ones whose stories surprise us most,” contends Nischk as he highlights strange facts about cockroaches and crickets. Cockroaches spend most of their days hiding, Nischk notes, only venturing out at night to look for food, and while they’re not actually immune to nuclear explosions, they are about “ten times as resistant to radiation as we are.” He describes his research on the German cockroach, which revealed that the insects “maintain strong family bonds” that might develop from larvae eating their parents’ excrement. He recounts studying crickets in Ecuador and finding that cricket species sing at different frequencies so they can “avoid misunderstandings when attracting sexual partners.” It’s difficult not to share Nischk’s amazement at his subjects (“A biological treasure slumbers unnoticed in tropical rainforests, and I absolutely wanted to help rescue it from obscurity”), even if some of the material is a bit esoteric. Still, this makes a persuasive case that the “smaller the worlds we can see, the bigger our world becomes.”

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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