This book chronicles the complete evolutionary history of insects; their living diversity and relationships as well as 400 million years of fossils. Introductory sections cover the living species diversity of insects, methods of reconstructing evolutionary relationships, basic insect structure, and the diverse modes of insect fossilization and major fossil deposits. Major sections then explore the relationships and evolution of each order of hexapods. The volume also chronicles major episodes in the evolutionary history of insects from their modest beginnings in the Devonian and the origin of wings hundreds of millions of years before pterosaurs and birds to the impact of mass extinctions and the explosive radiation of angiosperms on insects, and how they evolved into the most complex societies in nature. Whereas other volumes focus on either living species or fossils, this is the first comprehensive synthesis of all aspects of insect evolution. Illustrated with 955 photo and electron- micrographs, drawings, diagrams, and field photos, many in full color and virtually all of them original, this reference will appeal to anyone engaged with insect diversity; professional entomologists and students, insect and fossil collectors, and naturalists. David Grimaldi and Michael S. Engel have collectively published over 200 scientific articles and monographs on the relationships and fossil record of insects, including 10 articles in the journals Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. David Grimaldi is curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History and adjunct professor at Cornell University, Columbia University, and the City University of New York. David Grimaldi has traveled in 40 countries on 6 continents, collecting and studying recent species of insects and conducting fossil excavations. He is the author of Amber: Window to the Past. Michael S. Engel is an assistant professor in the Division of Entomology at the University of Kansas; assistant curator at the Natural History Museum, University of Kansas; research associate of the American Museum of Natural History; and fellow of the Linnean Society of London. Engel has visited numerous countries for entomological and paleontological studies, doing most of his fieldwork in Central Asia, Asia Minor, and the Western Hemisphere.

"A landmark contribution, not just to entomology and evolutionary biology, but to the life sciences as a whole. Beautifully conceived, splendidly written, and exquisitely illustrated...Bound to remain a primary scientific reference for years to come. A must for naturalists, young and old. Truly a definitive work." Thomas Eisner, Cornell University, Author of For Love of Insects

This lavishly illustrated, comprehensive and interdisciplinary account of insects chronicles their evolutionary history from 400 million years of fossils to the present. The text covers both fossils and living species, and all the major episodes of their evolution.

This book chronicles for the first time the complete evolutionary history of insects: their living diversity, relationships and 400 million years of fossils. Lavishly illustrated with original photo- and electronmicrographs, drawings, diagrams, and field photos, many in full colour. Essential reading for anyone interested in insect diversity.

Insects are the most diverse group of organisms in the 3 billion-year history of life on Earth, and the most ecologically dominant animals on land. This book chronicles for the first time the complete evolutionary history of insects: their living diversity, relationships and 400 million years of fossils. Whereas other volumes have focussed on either living species or fossils, this is the first comprehensive synthesis of all aspects of insect evolution. The book is illustrated with 955 photo- and electronmicrographs, drawings, diagrams, and field photos, many in full colour and virtually all of them original. The book will appeal to anyone engaged with insect diversity: professional entomologists and students, insect and fossil collectors, and naturalists.

Beautifully illustrated complete evolutionary history of insects: their living diversity, relationships and 400 million years of fossils.

Section 1: Diversity and Evolution; Introduction; Species: Their nature and number; How Many Species of Insects?; Reconstructing Evolutionary History; Section 2: Fossil Insects; Insect Fossilization; Dating and Ages; Major Fossil Insect Deposits; Section 3: Arthropods and the Origin of Insects; Onychophora: The Velvet-Worms; Tardigrada: The Water-Bears; Arthropoda: The Jointed Animals; Hexapoda: The six-legged arthropods; Section 4: The Insects; Morphology of Insects; Relationships Among the Insect Orders; Section 5: Earliest Insects; Archaeognatha: The Bristletails; Zygentoma: The Silverfish; †Rhyniognatha; Section 6: Insects Take to the Skies; Pterygota, Wings, and Flight; Ephemeroptera: The Mayflies; †Palaeodictyopterida: Extinct Beaked Insects; Odonatoptera: Dragonflies and Early Relatives; Neoptera; Section 7: The Polyneopterous Orders; Plecopterida; Orthopterida; Plecoptera: The Stoneflies; Embiodea: The Webspinners; Zoraptera: The Zorapterans; Orthoptera: The Grasshoppers, Crickets, and Kin; Phasmatodea: The Stick- and Leaf Insects; †Titanoptera: The Titanic Crawlers; †Caloneurodea: The Caloneurodeans; Dermaptera: The Earwigs; Grylloblattodea: The Ice Crawlers; Mantophasmatodea: The African Rock Crawlers; Dictyoptera; Blattodea: The Roaches; Citizen Roach: The Termites; Mantodea: The Mantises; Section 8: The Paraneopteran Orders; Psocoptera: The 'Bark'Lice; Phthiraptera: The True Lice; Fringe Wings: Thysanoptera (Thrips); The Sucking Bugs: Hemiptera; Section 9: The Holometabola; Problematic Fossil Orders; The Origins of Complete Metamorphosis; On Wings of Lace: Neuropterida; Section 10: Coleoptera; Early Fossils and Overview of Past Diversity; Archostemata; Adephaga; Myxophaga; Polyphaga; Strepsiptera: The Enigmatic Order; Section 11: Hymenoptera: Ants, Bees, and Other Wasps; The Euhymenoptera and Parasitism; Aculeata; Evolution of Insect Sociality; Section 12: Antliophora: Scorpionflies, Flies, and Fleas; Mecopterida: Mecopterans and Relatives; Siphonaptera: The Fleas; Evolution of Ectoparasites and Blood-Feeders; Diptera: The True Flies; Section 13: Amphiesmenoptera: The Caddisflies and Lepidoptera; Trichoptera: The Caddisflies; Lepidoptera: The Moths and Butterflies; Section 14: Insects Become Modern: Cretaceous and Tertiary Periods; The Cretaceous; Flowering of the World: The Angiosperm Radiations; Plant Sex and Insects: Insect Pollination; Radiations of Phytophagous Insects; Austral Arthropods: Remnants of Gondwana?; Insects, Mass Extinctions, and the K/T Boundary; The Tertiary; Mammalian Radiations; Pleistocene Dispersal and Species Lifespans; Island Faunas; Section 15: Epilogue; Why so Many Insect Species?; The Future; Glossary; References; Index.