Life-sized photos of the world's biggest bugs in full color.

Did you know that the first specimen of the world's largest butterfly was blasted out of the sky with a shot-gun? Or that the world's longest beetle can break a pencil with its powerful jaws? Biggest Bugs Life-size is the first book to feature life-size photographs of the world's largest and most spectacular bugs. George Beccaloni brings together all the essential facts about 35 of the biggest and heaviest bugs in the world including where they live, what they eat and who discovered them. Unearth the biggest cockroach in the world which has a wingspan of 185 mm. Marvel at the world's longest insect from the island of Borneo which measures a staggering a 567 mm long - that's over half a metre! Stunningly illustrated throughout, including an amazing fold-out of the world's longest bug, Biggest Bugs Life-size gives readers an accurate idea of just how huge these creatures really are.

A collection of unusual facts, games, puzzles, activities, and artwork centering around the world of insects.

Scientists have discovered more than a million different species of insects that every day, in every part of the world, live their very diverse lives. Many fly, others walk or bore through wood. Some are pleasing to the eye, like butterflies; others, like cockroaches, a bit less. For the most part, insects are small, sometimes so small that you need a magnifying lens to see them, and that is the way we are used to thinking of them. But in this book, the insects are presented in their actual sizes and in many cases readers will be genuinely surprised to find some veritable giants among them. The book includes other impressive insect characteristics- how much they weigh, how fast they are, how large and small insects differ from each other- all of which can be seen in the life-size illustrations that make the insects seem as though they have just landed on the page.

Pretty ladybugs, fluttering butterflies, creepy daddy longlegs, and roly-poly bugs are some of the familiar creatures featured in this whimsically illustrated insect album. Complete with an "actual size" chart and bug-o-meter listing fun facts about each bug, Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! will inform and entertain curious little bug lovers everywhere.

Takes a tour of the Earth three hundred and twenty million years ago, during the Paleozoic Era, and investigates the plants and animals found there.

Here's a peek at 13 of the world's largest insects. Readers will learn fascinating facts and shiver in delicious horror as they browse through this collection of bugs that they definitely won't find under any rug. Full-color airbrush paintings.

The biggest book on North American birds this century! John James Audubon would be proud to know that a life-size bird book is alive in the twenty-first century. You won't need Sotheby's auction house to buy this volume, though! Full-size images of beautiful feathered friends offer a detailed look at each North American species, while scaled photographs of larger birds allow you to see the entire animal. Fun facts pepper the pages, and a summary of general information accompanies each avian. Get an up-close, personal look at the world's masters of flight!

Beginning with a bug, various objects are revealed as being big and small in comparison with other objects on a farm under the big, big sky.

“Profiles 600 of the most stunning, most wonderfully adapted beetles around . . . The result is a work that is nothing short of magnificent.” —Wired When renowned British geneticist J. B. S. Haldane was asked what could be inferred about God from a study of his works, Haldane replied, “An inordinate fondness for beetles.” With 350,000 known species, and scientific estimates that millions more have yet to be identified, their abundance is indisputable as is their variety. They range from the delightful summer firefly to the one-hundred-gram Goliath beetle. Beetles offer a dazzling array of shapes, sizes, and colors that entice scientists and collectors across the globe. The Book of Beetles celebrates the beauty and diversity of this marvelous insect. Six hundred significant beetle species are covered, with each entry featuring a distribution map, basic biology, conservation status, and information on cultural and economic significance. Full-color photos show the beetles both at their actual size and enlarged to show details, such as the sextet of spots that distinguish the six-spotted tiger beetle or the jagged ridges of the giant-jawed sawyer beetle. Based in the most up-to-date science and accessibly written, the descriptive text will appeal to researchers and armchair coleopterists alike. The humble beetle continues to grow in popularity, taking center stage in biodiversity studies, sustainable agriculture programs, and even the dining rooms of adventurous and eco-conscious chefs. The Book of Beetles is certain to become the authoritative reference on these remarkably adaptable and beautiful creatures. “Photographs of more than 600 colorful, glossy species, resembling bejeweled broaches morethan creepy crawlies, are presented at actual size.” —Publishers Weekly