The name "black widow" strikes fear into hearts of those living where these spiders reside. These fearsome arachnids have venom about 15 times more powerful than that of a rattlesnake! With their distinctive black bodies and red mark on their abdomens, black widows terrorize those afraid of spiders and their poisonous bites. This book explores how these creatures live, where to find them, and what they use all that venom for. It also gives readers...

Watch one of nature's hardest-working insect families in action-termites! Hundreds of thousands of termites can live together in one nest. The termite queen spends her life laying eggs. The eggs hatch into workers that clean the queen, watch over the eggs, search for food, tend the nest's gardens, and guard the nest and each other. But a termite family's most amazing feat is building the huge mound that protects the nest. Thousands of tiny termites...

Even the cleanest house is a habitat for micromonsters! But don't worry-most are harmless. This revealing volume takes readers on a meet-and-greet tour of the tiniest organisms that live in people's homes. Full-page photographs of alien-like creatures in high-magnification will amaze, while "Monstrous Data" tables and "Gross or What?" boxes both astound and educate. Future biologists will come to appreciate that life is all around, no matter how many...

Look out for these public enemy's-mosquitoes-as they are after blood! Mosquito females need a meal of blood before they can lay their eggs. They target humans and animals and zoom in for a feast. But these insects may do more harm than causing itchy welts. Mosquitoes can also pass along a number of serious and deadly diseases to those they bite. Humans have developed a number of ways to get rid of mosquitoes, from spreading chemicals to putting mosquito...

The world of insects is full of strange surprises, including beetles that eject boiling-hot liquid and moths that look like hummingbirds. This high-interest topic uncovers some really strange insects and the adaptations that make them unique. Readers will learn about the peanut head bug, stick bug, moths and butterflies, and more. With a focus on the fascinating aspects of biology, this text teaches readers about important science concepts such as...

Yellow blood, silk of steel, skeletons on the outside! These amazing attributes don’t belong to comic book characters or alien life forms, but to Earth’s biggest and hairiest spiders: tarantulas. Here you are invited to follow Sam Marshall, spider scientist extraordinaire (he’s never been bitten), as he explores the dense rainforest of French Guiana, knocking on the doors of tarantula burrows, trying to get a closer look at these incredible...

All hornets are scary, but Japanese giant hornets are downright deadly. These massive flying insects are much bigger than the hornets in your backyard and can turn an ordinary day outside into a fight for survival. Readers will marvel at these horrible hornets, how they live, and how other animals try to fight them off. Full-color photographs show these terrifying creatures up close and personal, displaying just how large they are and what makes them...

Look quickly and you might just see one of nature's insect heroes on the hunt-praying mantises! With their incredible hunting skills, mantises help rid farms and gardens of insect pests that bother humans. Praying mantises have big eyes that face forward, heads that can turn, and spines on their front legs to spear their prey. And they are stealthy. Even tiny newly hatched mantises know how to remain still and hide until a prey insect appears. Then-like...

Follow the stealthy creatures with long, spindly legs-they are harvestmen! In this book, you will learn how harvestmen are similar to and different from other arachnids. Close-up photographs and diagrams reveal extraordinary details about the harvestmen's bodies, both inside and out. And a hands-on activity reveals how harvestmen walk on long legs using only their sense of touch to get around. Learn more about this fascinating member of nature's Arachnid...

Worms are small organisms that have a valuable role in their surrounding environments. Readers learn about all the important ways in which worms contribute to their ecosystems, proving that no creature is too small to make a difference. Creative design el