Linked Data Explorer
In a desert garden : love and death among the insects
- "Alcock (zoology, Arizona State Univ.) has written yet another book dealing with his specialty: desert ecology in the American Southwest. His previous works include The Masked Bobwhite Rides Again (LJ 9/1/93) and Sonoran Desert Summer (LJ 3/15/90). The focus of his new work is the author's own front yard in Tempe, Arizona, and its insect inhabitants. Several years ago, Alcock tore out his typical suburban lawn to re-create a miniature native desert habitat, complete with representative local desert vegetation. He also added a small vegetable garden on one side. Readers will gain insights into how science is practiced as the author's lively, often humorous observations of assorted beetles, bugs, wasps, bees, caterpillars, and butterflies are related to broad concepts of animal behavior, ecology, and survival. Alcock's considerable talent as a nature writer is demonstrated here by his ability to take a subject as seemingly mundane as the insects found in the yard and turn it into a fascinating learning adventure. Recommended for public and academic libraries. -- William H. Wiese, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames (from Library Journal)."
- "A specialist in ecology uses humor and insight to detail the lives of the insects that live in the desert garden behind his Arizona home, in a study that reveals the complex interactions in a unique ecosystem, including the mating habits of scarab beetles, the problems of whiteflies and killer bees, and the life cycle of earwigs."
- "In a desert garden : love and death among the insects"