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The Sting of the Wild

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The Sting of the Wild

By: Justin O. Schmidt
Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
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About this listen

Entomologist Justin O. Schmidt is on a mission. Some say it's a brave exploration, others shake their heads in disbelief. His goal? To compare the impacts of stinging insects on humans, mainly using himself as the gauge.

In The Sting of the Wild, the colorful Dr. Schmidt takes us on a journey inside the lives of stinging insects, seeing the world through their eyes as well as his own. He explains how and why they attack and reveals the powerful punch they can deliver with a small venom gland and a "sting", the name for the apparatus that delivers the venom. We learn which insects are the worst to encounter and why some are barely worth considering.

The Sting of the Wild includes the complete Schmidt Sting Pain Index. In addition to a numerical ranking of the agony of each of the 83 stings he's sampled so far (from below one to an excruciatingly painful four), Schmidt describes them in prose worthy of a professional wine critic: "Looks deceive. Rich and full-bodied in appearance, but flavorless" and "Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your heel."

©2016 Johns Hopkins University Press (P)2017 Tantor Animals Biological Sciences Biology Outdoors & Nature Science Africa

Critic reviews

"Schmidt's tales will prove infectiously engaging even to entomophobes." ( Publishers Weekly)
All stars
Most relevant
Justin's writing style sets the tone brilliantly, bridging storytelling with the natural history of Hymenoptera.

Brilliant

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I have really enjoyed this book. This was my first foray into the world of entomology or at least reading about it.
I found this book by Justin Schmidt very interesting, I was worried I might get bored - but he really has an ability to make the world or insects more specifically the stinging kind very interesting and engaging. His stories are tremendously insightful, at times funny and engaging. I had no problem motoring through this book, which I hadn't expected I would.
I will be buying this as a gift book for family and friends.

What a great find!

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Thoroughly enjoyed the way this book intertwines storytelling and technical biological knowledge. Fantastic, would recommend to any Hymenoptera enthusiasts.

Captivating

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You can either listen to the whole book, or dip into the various chapters. Either way it is both informative and entertaining.

A great listen

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