Bug Power From Super Strength to Web Slinging; Learn About the Amazing Abilities of Bugs

by Dole, Stephanie A.

• ISBN13: 9781635869262
• ISBN10: 1635869269
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2026-05-12
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
• More Book Details

Summary

Superpowers aren't just for the movies! Take a closer look at the extraordinary abilities of 20 different bugs and discover how humans have harnessed them for our own technologies and inventions.

What can freeze solid and come back to life? Glow in the dark? Grow their own armor? If you think these superpowers only exist in comic books and action movies, then think again! The real world is filled with bugs that have amazing abilities. In this fascinating book, readers ages 8-12 will learn about these incredible bug powers and more, including how bugs have directly inspired human inventions, such as tough armor, tiny drones and robots, and heatless lights.

Written by a real entomologist, Bug Power features:

• 20 bugs and their superpowers
• Fascinating photos and comic-style illustrations of the bug in action
• Zoomed-in diagrams of the mechanisms behind bugs' amazing abilities

Author Biography

Stephanie A. Dole, PhD, known as the Beetlelady, is an entomologist who captivates audiences of all ages with her enthusiasm and knowledge of insects. She brings the world of bugs to life through engaging, hands-on educational classes and experiences, such as her Pop-Up Bug Museum. She teaches programs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond at libraries, schools, and community events.

Table of Contents

Possible Featured Bugs:

• Ladybugs: Have the ability to defend themselves by oozing out a taste of their poisonous blood.
• Bombardier Beetles: Create an explosion out of their back ends to scare off predators.
• Cicadas: Create sounds that can be heard for miles around.
• Dung Beetles: Use the sun to navigate.
• Ants: Have anti-microbial chemicals that selectively kill bacteria and fungus they don’t want, but leave others untouched.
• Leaf Katydids: Disappear completely with astonishing leaf mimicry camouflage.
• Bess Beetles: Can digest wood thanks to bacteria that live in their bodies.
• Moths: Send out invisible signals to each other using pheromones.
• Preying Mantises: Use startle displays to make themselves look bigger and fiercer.
• Web-spinners: Can shoot webs out of their hands.
• Earwigs: Pack away huge wings beneath their tiny shields using an elaborate folding pattern.
• Flies: Convincingly pretend to be stinging insects, such as wasps and bees, to scare off predators.
• Tarantula Hawks: Turn a tarantula into a zombie with a single sting.
• Plant Hoppers: Are living mechs with their own biological gears.
• Hercules Beetles: Have super strength and the ability to lift many times their own weight.
• Springtails: Can jump the equivalent of a human scaling a skyscraper with a single leap.
• Paper Wasps: Have been making paper long before humans could.
• Termites: Cool their mounds with an ingenious form of natural airconditioning.
• Fireflies: Produce light through an efficient form of chemical energy.
• Butterflies and Beetles: Have reflective coloration that uses the mircostructure of the exoskeleton to reflect light back at our eyes, producing color that never fades.
• Arctic Wooly Bear Moths: Can freeze and reanimate year after year.