About this item
We are told from the time we are children that insects and spiders are pests, when the truth is that most have little or no effect on us--although the few that do are often essential to our existence. Arthur Evans suggests we take a closer look at our slapped-at, stepped-on, and otherwise ignored cohabitants, who vastly outnumber us and whose worlds often occupy spaces that we didn't even know existed.What's Bugging You? brings together fifty unforgettable stories from the celebrated nature writer and entomologist's popular Richmond Times-Dispatch column. Evans has scoured Virginia's wild places and returned with wondrous stories about the seventeen-year sleep of the periodical cicadas, moths that evade hungry bats by sensing echolocation signals, and the luminous language of light employed by fireflies.
About the Author
Dr. Arthur V. Evans studied at the California State University at Long Beach where he received his bachelor's degree (1981) in entomology and master's degree (1984) in biology. He then attended the University of Pretoria, South Africa and earned his doctoral degree (1988) in entomology. Evans is a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution, Virginia Natural History Museum, and Virginia Commonwealth University.He lectures widely on arthropod biology, especially beetles. Evans has published 25 scientific papers on the systematics, biology and identification of scarab beetles, as well as over 100 popular articles and books on insects and spiders. He was a contributing author and photographer to volume II of American Beetles, published by CRC Press (2002) and was co-author of An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles, published by University of California Press (2000) . He was a contributing writer for A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert, published by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and the University of California (1999) . He also coauthored two books on California beetles, Introduction to California Beetles (2004) and Field Guide to Beetles of California (2006) , both published by University of California Press. Evans was also coeditor and contributing writer for the volume on insects for Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia (2004) . He authored the three invertebrate volumes (insects, arachnids, crustaceans, mollusks, annelids) for the companion series, Grzimek's Student Animal Life Resource (2005) . His National Wildlife Foundation Field Guide to Insects and Spider of North America, published by Sterling Publishing Co., appeared in 2007.His latest book, What's Bugging You? A fond look at animals we love to hate (University of Virginia Press, 2008) is a collection of his first 51 columns in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He is currently working on two more books, Introduction to Insects of Virginia and the Carolinas (University of Virginia Press) , and Field Guide to Beetles of Eastern North America (Princeton University Press) .Evans also teams up with WCVE Public Radio producer Steve Clark in Richmond, VA for a weekly feature that airs during NPR's Morning Edition. The program "What's Bugging You - A fond Look at the Animals We Love to Hate" airs each Tuesday morning at 8:35 AM (EST) . The program is archived at http://ideastations.org/radio/bugs."Dr. Art Evans, entomologist" is on Facebook.
