The Wonders of Instinct: Chapters in the Psychology of Insects

A sequence of observational essays examines instinctive behavior across a variety of insects through close field description, anatomical detail, and controlled experiments. Individual chapters treat grasshoppers, mantid-like Empusa, longhorn beetles, burying-beetles, blowflies, processionary caterpillars, several spiders, solitary wasps and bees, glow-worms, and caterpillars, describing feeding, nesting, mating, parental care, and metamorphosis. Emphasis falls on how bodily structure and instinct interact, on problem-solving revealed by experimental manipulation, and on a patient, descriptive method that links ethology and natural history.