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Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: AudiobookHub Recommendation
Chapter 2: Termites consume something humans prize very highly indeed – wood.
Chapter 3: Like other social insects, termites have long been viewed as mirrors of human society.
Chapter 4: The social lives of termites present an evolutionary conundrum.
Chapter 5: Termite mounds act like living bodies.
Chapter 6: African termites have evolved a sort of communal stomach.
Chapter 7: Termite guts might help us create biofuels.
Chapter 8: Individual termites are simple, yet together they’re clever – and that’s how future robots may well look, too.
Description
Underbug (2018) explores the fascinating world of a bug so unloved it might just beat cockroaches in an unpopularity contest – the termite. The result of years of research and interviews with biologists, entomologists, and geneticists, Lisa Margonelli’s study sets out to rescue the reputation of this underappreciated creature. Along the way she explores termites’ remarkable architectural powers, unpacks their strange relationship with a 250 million-year-old fungus, and shows how the microbes in their guts might just help us create a more sustainable future.
Who Should Listen
- Scientists
- Nature-lovers
- Amateur entomologists