Beetles [The New Naturalist Library]
by Jones, Richard
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good- in Very Good- dust jacket
- ISBN 10
- 0008149526
- ISBN 13
- 9780008149529
- Seller
-
Dunedin, New Zealand, New Zealand
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: William Collins / HarperCollins. Very Good- in Very Good- dust jacket. (2018). First Edition. Hardcover. 0008149526 . Ex-library, Some library labels and markings. Dust-jacket in clear plastic cover, taped to boards. ; xii, [2], 480, [2] pages. Green boards with gilt lettering on spine. Page dimensions: 215 x 147mm. Illustrations include colour and black and white artist drawings, and colour photographic illustrations. Series: The New Naturalist Library, #136. "Beetles are arguably the most diverse organisms in the world, with nearly half a million beetle species described and catalogued in our museums, more than any other type of living thing. This astonishing species diversity is matched by a similar diversity in shape, form, size, life history, ecology, physiology and behaviour. Beetles occur everywhere, and do everything. And yet they form a clearly discrete insect group, typically characterised by their attractively compact form, with flight wings folded neatly under smooth hard wing-cases. Almost anyone could recognise a beetle, indeed many are intimately associated with human society. Groups like ladybirds are familiar to us from a very young age. Large stag beetles and handsome chafers are celebrated for their imposing size and bright colours. The sacred scarabs of the ancient Egyptians were given iconic, if not god-like, status and even though the exact religious meanings may be fading after three millennia, their bewitching jewellery and monumental statuary inspire us still. Despite this ancient and easy familiarity with beetles, the Coleoptera remains tainted by the notion that it is a difficult group of insects. The traditional routes into studying British natural history, through birdwatching, butterfly-collecting and pressing wild flowers, now extend to studying dragonflies, bumblebees, grasshoppers, moths, hoverflies and even shieldbugs. These are on the verge of becoming popular groups, but beetles remain the preserve of the expert, or so it seems. So many British beetles are easy to find and easy to identify by the non-expert, but that bewildering background diversity, and the daunting numbers of species in the Coleoptera as a whole, have been enough to dissuade many a potential coleopterist from grasping the nettle and getting stuck in. Richard Jones groundbreaking New Naturalist volume on beetles encourages those enthusiasts who would otherwise be put off by the, to date, rather technical literature that has dominated the field, providing a comprehensive natural history of this fascinating and beautiful group of insects." .
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Details
- Seller
- Renaissance Books (NZ)
- Seller's Inventory #
- 25638
- Title
- Beetles [The New Naturalist Library]
- Author
- Jones, Richard
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good- in Very Good- dust jacket
- Edition
- First Edition
- ISBN 10
- 0008149526
- ISBN 13
- 9780008149529
- Publisher
- William Collins / HarperCollins
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- (2018)
- Keywords
- 0008149526, Natural History
Terms of Sale
Renaissance Books
Any book not as described may be returned within 14 days of receipt for a full refund.
About the Seller
Renaissance Books
Biblio member since 2005
Dunedin, New Zealand
About Renaissance Books
We are located in Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand. We have in stock over 8,500 books. We are a general antiquarian and out-of-print home-based bookseller, with some specialty areas in English literature, Maori, Travel, Tibet, and New Zealand history.
Glossary
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- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Jacket
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- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....