Broadsides from the Other Orders: A Book of Bugs [Hardcover]

Sue Hubbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 1993

The author of A Book of Bees explores the worlds of blackflies, dragonflies, daddy longlegs, and thousands of other ""bugs,"" discussing their habits, habitat, and way of life. 17,500 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

God, the English biologist J.B.S. Haldane once observed, has an inordinate fondness for beetles--and, for that matter, for all the other little bugs and insects that abound on the earth. Sue Hubbell, a beekeeper-turned-essayist, shares that fondness, and after reading her notes on camel crickets, gypsy moths, and water striders, among other creatures, you will as well. Hubbell's appreciation extends even to bugs that we find noxious ("Silverfish," she writes, "are gregarious, sociable animals, liking their own company so much that they often eat one another"), although she admits to harboring a few favorites among the innumerable insect orders, notably bees, of course, and daddy longlegs spiders, whose "otherness" she rightly prizes. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

At last, a readable book about insects! Beekeeper Hubbell ( A Country Year ) discourses on familiar, if not widely loved, creatures. Midges, silverfish, katydid s and water striders, among others, come into her purview and occasion talks with scientists (she notes that she has never had a short conversation with an entomologist). Hubbell reports on her participation in an annual butterfly count in Wyoming and tells of collecting camel crickets in the Ozarks. Examining the commerce in pest-eating ladybugs, ordered from California by gardeners across the U.S., she explains that these insects will usually fly away when transported to a different locale. A chapter on bravo bees (aka "killer bees") suggests they have been unjustly maligned and that many actually invigorate strains of the American bees. Illustrations. Author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (June 8, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679400621
• ISBN-13: 978-0679400622
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #370,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent popular book on insects and other arthropods, March 2, 2001

By 

Tim F. Martin (Madison, AL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Broadsides from the Other Orders: A Book of Bugs (Paperback)

Hubbell is clearly pasionate about insects and their relatives, and that passion shows in this outstanding book on invertebrates. Combining personal experience with solid entomological fact, Hubbell presents to the average reader fascinating glimpses of a number of invertebrate groups, such as water striders, dragonflies, daddy longlegs, and butterflies. Hubbell shows the life stories of these groups, the role they play in nature, and the people whose lives they affect. Whether beautiful or hideous, valuable or a pest, Hubbell shows them all to be fascinating creatures. Despite that many of them are quite common, some such as black flies too common, the authors show that mysteries still exist with these creatures, how sometimes relatively basic aspects of their lives and roles in nature are mysteries.

This book is very readable and while not too technical is filled with lots of interesting and accurate facts and a wealth of personal experience on the part of the author. If you ever wanted to know more about the butterflies in your garden, the dragonflies wizzing by you over the local lake or pond, or that daddy longlegs in the attic or toolshed, this is the book for you.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Appreciation for Life in its Many Forms, June 8, 2000

By 

Michael Wischmeyer (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Broadsides from the Other Orders: A Book of Bugs (Paperback)

As a young boy I was an avid collector of insects. No specialty - six legs were the only requirement. By about age ten I had exhausted the children's section of the central library and was given the rare honor to check out books from the adult section. Thick books with small print and detailed drawings of insects in their varied life stages. After recently reading Sue Hubbell's book, I wondered why I had wandered away from my early passion.

She describes chapter by chapter the fascinating life that we call bugs. Hubbell begins with Order Lepidoptera, the butterflies, among the more acceptable insects. Other chapters explore midges and gnats, ladybugs, daddy longlegs, black flies, bravo (killer) bees, water striders, silverfish, dragonflies and damselflies, gypsy moths, syrphid flies, and camel crickets. The detailed ink drawings scattered throughout the text are quite good.

Reading Broadsides is great fun. Hubbell is intelligent and has a great appreciation for life in its many forms. She introduces us to entomologists (a fascinating life form in themselves) and we share their enthusiasm for their particular study. We take part in a butterfly census in the Rockies, search for ladybug aggregations in the Sierra foothills, track katydids in the Midwest with sophisticated audio electronics, and closely observe an aging daddy longlegs. We discover how University of Kansas acquired a remarkable collection of water striders from a private collector. We learn that classifying insects is not a simple matter; insect evolution has been amazingly complicated, leading to unending debate regarding proper taxonomy. Obviously biodiversity is out of control.

More importantly, Hubbell helps us see the world through the eyes (sometimes many eyes) of individual insect species. I was fascinated by the complex and exhausting mating dance of silverfish. She may have even created a new genre: insect eroticism. (I look at silverfish differently today - but I still chase them away from my books.) Somehow Hubbell even manages to present biting black flies with some sympathy and understanding. Her personal observations - as when stooping over small puddles in early spring to admire the graceful performance of water striders - reveal a world that so often we ignore in our hurry and concern with bigger things.

This is a relaxing book to read. Each chapter largely stands alone and could be read in any sequence, but nonetheless the chapters combine to tell a fascinating story. I highly recommend Broadsides.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great essays, November 22, 2003

By 

merrymousies (Waterford, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Broadsides from the Other Orders: A Book of Bugs (Paperback)

This is a neat book. Hubell takes a look at a number of insects that we're all familiar with (butterflies, ladybugs, daddy longlegs, black flies, silverfish, katydids, dragonflies, crickets, and more) and has a short essay on each, taking us past just the basics that field guides provide to understand and appreciate more about the lives and behaviors of these animal. There are also neat little fun facts like history of the names, european stories of the insects, etc. Her writing style is easy to read yet there is a balance between technical/biological facts and fun easy anecdotes/stories. Its all woven together so its not like you're reading a text book but you're stil learning a lot. There are lovely drawings sprinkled in throughout the book. Overall I really enjoyed the book and have gained some neat new knowledge that otherwise I would not have encountered.Here's a quick tidbit: for the eastern katydid - the latin name translates as "That being which has wings like a camellia leaf." Neat - makes me look a little differently at the katydid too. I loved this book - highly recommeded for any nature lover.