Blood-Feeding Bugs and Beasts

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6An introduction to a bevy of bedeviling bloodsuckers. Among the 15 kinds discussed are such common pests as mosquitoes, bed bugs, lice, ticks, biting flies, etc., as well as the more exotic assassin bugs, tsetse flies, vampire moths, and bats. The lucid text briefly describes the subjects' habitats, major physical characteristics (with particular emphasis on mouth parts), feeding methods, behavior, and their importance as vectors of human disease. At least one sharp, full-color, close-up photograph appears on about every other page. Particularly fascinating are the shots of creatures engorged with human blood. Miscellaneous facts are also provided in highlighted blocks. The last few pages explain scientific classification and give the order, genus, and family of some of the animals. While the text is clearly written and well organized, there are some inconsistencies in the amount of material offered. For instance, the author specifies the average size of only half the beasts considered. In the section devoted to the assassin bug, its mouth parts are not described, although this information is provided for the other species. Also, there is no photo of the vampire moth. More detailed information is available in Cheryl Halton's Those Amazing Leeches (Dillon, 1990) or Elaine Landau's Lyme Disease (Watts, 1990). Kite's book, despite its minor flaws of omission, provides a useful overview of some of the small creatures that have caused so much human misery through the ages.Karey Wehner, San Francisco Public Library