Hidden Kingdom - (Zona Tropical Publications) by Piotr Naskrecki (Paperback)

About the Book

Encounter some of the most beautiful creatures in Costa Rica in Piotr Naskrecki's Hidden Kingdom. This book is a visual journey into the world of the insects and their relatives that dominate all terrestrial habitats in Costa Rica through their sheer numbers, biomass, and the ecological functions they perform. Naskrecki's stunning photographs...

Book Synopsis

Encounter some of the most beautiful creatures in Costa Rica in Piotr Naskrecki's Hidden Kingdom. This book is a visual journey into the world of the insects and their relatives that dominate all terrestrial habitats in Costa Rica through their sheer numbers, biomass, and the ecological functions they perform. Naskrecki's stunning photographs serve as both a tool to help identify the insects that a visitor to Costa Rica is likely to encounter, and as an illustration of their diverse behaviors and ecological roles.

Through high-impact imagery and engaging narrative about insects and their evolutionary history, this book, an ideal companion on a visit to Costa Rica, reinforces or awakens in the readers their innate curiosity about the less appreciated elements of life on Earth. Each section of the book presents fascinating and useful facts about Costa Rica's insects. Naskrecki's photographs show the variety of morphological adaptations, survival strategies, and interlocking roles that insects play in tropical ecosystems.

Review Quotes

I recommend this volume to both biologists and anyone with an aesthetic interest in nature. Naskrecki's high-quality photographs, on appropriately sized pages (10 x 10 inches), should convince even the most ardent Web surfers and app aficionados that there is still a place for books.

-- "The Quarterly Review of Biology"

The text is excellently written and scientifically accurate, yet thoroughly accessible and engaging for lay readers. Many photographs were taken in natural environments, and a few under controlled lighting, but all images are of high quality, revealing details that highlight the unique beauty of each specimen. This work would make an excellent educational coffee-table book.

-- "Choice"

About the Author

Piotr Naskrecki is Associate Director of the E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Laboratory at Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, and Research Associate at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. He is the author of The Smaller Majority and Relics and photographer of A Window on Eternity by E. O. Wilson. E. O. Wilson is Faculty Emeritus Pellegrino University Professor at Harvard University. He is the author most recently of Half-Earth, and his books The Ants and On Human Nature were both Pulitzer Prize winners.