Insect Conservation and Urban Environments

Abstract

Insect Conservation and Urban Environments Tim R. New 2015; 244 + xiii pages Springer International Publishing, Cham, Switzerland ISBN: 978-3-319-21224-1 $159.00 (hardcover); $119.00 (e-book) ![Graphic][1] For decades, the phrase “urban entomology” has invoked the study of termites, cockroaches, and nuisance ants—the insects that make life in the city unpleasant or dangerous for people. But there's a second urban entomology that deals with the ecology and conservation of rare, innocuous, and beneficial insects in cities. The earliest seminal works in urban entomology did note cities’ ability to both harbor surprising diversity and snuff out populations of rare butterflies and moths (e.g., Frankie and Koehler 1978). But only recently, with the growth of urban ecology and the concept of ecosystem services, has the study of urban non-pests become a mainstay of entomology. At the Entomological Society of America's annual meetings, the number of presentations addressing this subject grew more than 10-fold from 2008 to 2015 (the years in which meeting programs are searchable for the word “urban”). In Insect Conservation and Urban Environments , entomologist and conservation biologist Tim R. New encapsulates the resulting progress through … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif