Wicked Bugs
Jun 8, 2011
Author: Amy Stewart
Publisher: Algonquin
Publication Date: May 2011
ISBN: 978-1-56512-960-3
My big mistake with this book? Taking it to read at lunch! DO NOT make this same mistake! Unless dieting. By the time you finish reading how worms make homes in eyeballs and flies breed under your skin for month and lice cause body infections............well, there will be no appetite and you'll suspiciously be looking for crawly things everywhere.
That said - you will laugh when I tell you it's an adorable little book. The pages are sepia toned with old fashioned pen and ink drawings. It's a cute size to carry in the purse or briefcase.
But of course it's filled with very interesting factoids about the way bugs of this earth can cause chaos, pain, torment and yes, the suicide of animals and humans.
Lice brought down Napoleon. Termites are partially to blame for the levee walls failing in New Orleans. Bees and flying cockroaches cause horrific car accidents when they fly into the car. Finally, many kings and dictators of the past have used bugs as torture devices and weapons of warfare.
Eeck.
Oh, let's not forget the Schmidt Pain Index description for biting and stinging bugs. The mildest is the Sweat Bee - "A tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm." Then to the most painful, the Bullet Ant - "Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3 inch rusty nail in your heel."
Squeamish? Don't even pick this book up. Of a curious nature? A very fascinating and fun book that will teach you more than you ever wanted to know about bugs.
