Matt K Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 Title of the book: Cockroaches: Ecology, Behavior, and Natural History authors: William Bell, Louis Roth, and Christine Nalepa I still remember ordering a copy of this book in April when it was not scheduled for release until late June. Having prepaid for it I had hoped the book was going to be great and not an expensive bit of junk. After reading it, I am glad I bought it. At first glance I quickly realized that the cons were that its photos are all black and white, and it was not as thick as I had hoped. These are pretty superfical however, as the book is power packed with information. It was so exciting to work through that I initally wrote a review pages long. Here I try to give you the short version: It is very well laid out as I see it. All the information (stuff you would ever want to know about roaches) is put into chapters that are easy to follow and make sense. Examples are like Chapter One basically covers: "What is a roach" and show us the various shapes, colors, and sizes that they come in, and how that changes with thier habitats. Chapter Two covers how roaches get around on the ground, in the water, and through the air. Other chapters cover things like Habitats, Diets and Foraging, Mating Strategies, Social Behaviour, and much more. Each chapter covers a specific aspect of a roach in thorough and concise information, and best of all is worded in such a way that most people can understand it despite the heavy scientific references. The back of the book is chock full of references to papers written by the authors and opens up a world of fantastic information, allowing us to explore anything we ever wanted to know about this hobby and the science of roaches. For those who are less familiar with scientific terms, there is a glossary in the back that gives you an easy definition of the term. Overall, I would say that Cockroaches: Ecology, Behavior, and Natural History is highly recommended and a necessity to anyone who is in the hobby of keeping roaches. You can understand more out of this 200+ page book than one might out of a much larger text. The information is clear. The references are plenty. It is an easy book to read or study. Diagrams and photographs are excellent and illustrate the text well so you can see what it meant. I bought the book for $80 online at Barnes and Noble dot com. It is worth every penny. (Service from that website was great for me also). This book is considered by me to be a must-have for any insect hobbiest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Clausen Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 Thanks Matt! It's on my Xmas list! Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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