From spiders that lasso their prey to ants that kill elephants, these 24 essays discuss a wide variety of insects and arachnids: dragonflies, wasps, walking sticks, emperor moths, cicadas, beetles, butterflies, honey bees, and the praying mantis. Contributors include Jean Henri Fabre, Donald Culross Peattie, William Beebe, Nobel Laureate Maurice Maeterlinck, Pulitzer Prize-winner Edwin Way Teale, and others.