Endless Forms: The Secret World of Wasps

Most people don’t like wasps. They’re aggressive, sting (and hurt!), and ruin your picnics trying to steal a sip of your drink. Right? Well, this book will open your eyes to how varied, fascinating, and wonderful wasps really are. Thousands of species (most of which do not sting!) play an essential role in ecosystems around the world, and many directly benefit humans. Wasps are tragically understudied, but researchers who study wasps invariably fall in love with their exotic behaviors – which nevertheless eerily echo our own. Author Sumner, who has been studying wasps for two decades, honors these insects with humor and appreciation as she explains their evolution, sociality, and foraging, feeding, and breeding habits. She introduces you to early wasp pioneers, with their unimaginable patience for making exacting observations, who thread their way through the book with their own boundless enthusiasm, and whose work built a solid foundation for her own wasp research. Their stories are entwined with hers and with that of the wasps to create an engrossing narrative that is sure to give you a new appreciation for this amazing creature and maybe create a fondness for them in you, as well.