I'm pretty sure I picked this up at a Chapters, either in Ottawa or Victoria. I just remember seeing the cover, snatching it up, reading the back, and becoming so enchanted with the idea of a science-bug-book being made to sound fun. I bought it, read it, and was not disappointed. This book is such a fun read, you won't even notice you're learning a little something! :)

From the back cover:

The fascinating, bizarre world of bugs in love!

Why should scientists have all the fun? wonders entomologist James Wangberg, as he muses over the weird and interesting sexual behaviors of insects. In Six-Legged Sex: The Erotic Lives of Bugs, readers will find a rollicking, readable series of portraits of bugs in their most intimate moments. In fact, this book may deserve an "R" rating, or at least "PG-13", because it does contain adult language, sexual content, nudity, and violence. But none of it is gratuitous, and all of it is fun and informative.

Here are some tantalizing facts from SIX-LEGGED SEX:

- Insects release pheromones to attract partners - male moths can catch the scent after it has drifted in the wind for over a mile!

- There are lots of romantic serenades among bugs - certain moths and a common water bug create song with their genitals!

- When it comes to sexual stamina, the soapberry bug holds the record for staying in its mate's embrace for up to 11 days!

- The male mantid may literally lose his head to his mate. Once decapitated, he can still function as a lively sexual partner, then a post-coital snack!

Kinky? Yes. Just more of nature's interesting handiwork? Yes. This look at love, lust, and heartbreak among insects makes Six-Legged Sex a true page-turner. And the scientifically accurate, often whimsical, illustrations of Marjorie C. Leggitt gives readers a fantastic peeophole from which to view the sexual antics of these fascinating creatures.

Author James K. Wangberg is a professor of entomology at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. He previously published a natural history for readers of all ages called Do Bees Sneeze? (Fulcrum Publishing)

I have decided to turn this book into my first bookring! It seems the ideal candidate. Not only is it a quick & fun read, I currently have the only registered copy on bookcrossing.

Ring will remain open to new paticipants (PM me to join!), but if you are a latecomer, please be open to shipping internationally.

Bookring participants so far:

Originator...
nwpassage, formerly compscigirl (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) (ship INT)

Ring...
ann-718my (Malaysia) (ship INT)
gwendy (New York, USA) (ship USA/CAN)
Mom-of-one (Pennsylvania, USA) (ship INT) *incommunicado; skipped*
talon2claw (Ohio, USA) (ship USA) *added!*
mlbish (Illinois, USA) (ship INT)
copchic905 (Missouri, USA) (ship USA/CAN) *busy; skipped*
cmbohn (Utah, USA) (ship ?)
spacedog (Massachusetts, USA) (ship USA) *moved down by request*
florafloraflora (Washington, DC, USA) (ship INT) *added!* <-- WE ARE HERE

Back to Originator...
nwpassage (Prince George, British Columbia, Canada)

This bookring is FINALLY on its way! Mailed today... hope you all enjoy it!

surprise! i just received this! thought it had already lost in transit. one could only imagine what had ever happened to the poor book during its mysterious journey.

anyway, it is in good condition. thanks nwpassage for sharing the book. hmm...i wonder what had happened to compscgirl?? =) i'll read it asap so that others wont have to wait longer.

UPDATE (August 30): i enjoyed reading the book so much! the facts are sometimes funny sometimes bizarre sometimes sceptical but most of the time amusing. thanks nwpassage for sharing the book.

i already have gwendy's address. spacedog asked to be skipped (will be out of BC for a while). will mail this out this week

forgot to make a journal entry. i've mailed this book a week ago to gwendy.

i found this amusing, but after a while it got to be a bit much. perhaps because of my science background. i also kept wondering whenever the author spoke of virgin females, if the males actually prefered virgins for some reason (and why) or if he just liked talking about virgins. i wish he would have expanded on that point.

posted to talon2claw--

I got this book in the mail today, and I am looking forward to reading it. I've got one bookring to finish reading and then I will be reading this one. Thanks for adding me to the bookring!

This book ended up being a "light read" for me. It was very amusing and not overly scientific. There were many points when I thought it might be nice if the author would expand on the very short chapters, but then it might have gotten cumbersome to read. I did learn some interesting facts. I had no idea about what a blister beetle was, that it is theorized that Wolbachia (bacteria) causes some species of insects to become parthenogenetic (reproduction without males), or a host of other little facts. Quite fascinating. And I think when the author refers to "virgin" females, he is refering to species where the female typically only mates one time.

Released on Monday, November 01, 2004 at about 9:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Bookring in Bookring, A Bookring Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

This bookring is in the mail!

This was such a fun book! I'm so glad I got a chance to read it. It was really very interesting. I am a huge science nerd, so I really got into it. I was a little surprised at how kinky it was. Definitely not one for the kiddies. It's a teeny bit explicit, and the jokes are uh...'grownup jokes'! Fun stuff!

I have been having a lot of late nights in the past month, and this one was something I could just pick up and read for a little while before I went to sleep. It was perfect for this time in my life.

Copchic seems to be busy these days, so I've PM'ed cmbohn.

Released on Wednesday, December 08, 2004 at about 2:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at US Postal Service in Chicago, Illinois Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to cmbohn. Enjoy!

Got this in mail just as I was sick in bed and dying for something amusing to read. Boy, did this fit the bill. At times engrossing, at times just plain gross, this account of "the erotic lives of bugs" is always interesting. I liked learning about lightning bugs, for example. I remember catching them as a child at my grandma's house and saving them in a jar overnight. Who knew what they were really up to! Great illustrations make it even more fun.

Thanks for the chance to read this one!

finally mailed this last Saturday, along with a friend, as I felt bad about keeping it so long. Sorry everyone! I just got swamped all of a sudden and I kept it long thatn I'd planned.

CMB

got this friday (1/21/05). will prob. read later this week. thanks!

---
2/1/05: finished this today. the content was good, but i didn't really like the format of this book; it seemed geared toward middle school students rather than adults. the short chapters, the "storytelling" tone, and the jokey drawings were distracting to me. w/ that said, i did enjoy the content (although it never went into much depth) and have a new appreciation for the sex life of bugs.

will be mailing this tomorrow.

This just came in. It looks like it will be fun to read, what with the illustrations and the endearing jokes sprinkled liberally throughout. Maybe pitched at a younger audience than I had expected, but hey, if I enjoy Harry Potter I can enjoy this too. Thank you, nwpassage, spacedog, and everybody else who has passed this book on.

I had fun reading this book. The anthropomorphizing didn't always work, especially in the section about insect sex crimes: what does incest or pedophilia really mean in the insect world? As a plant person, I enjoyed the section on the role of plants in insect mating. The short, funny chapters made a nice light read of some fascinating, but potentially heavy, material. Thanks, everybody!

Oh Dear! This book has been added to the Lost BOok Island under most frustrating circumstances. It seems that the bookring was nearly finished and just one mailing away from being safely home when it disappeared and it hasn't been heard from in a journal entry for some 8 months now.

The Lost Book Island thinks that perhaps this book needs just a bit of rest and relaxation so that it can continue on its journey and return safely home. We are prepared to offer a friendly place full of fun and games, sand and surf, and lots of tropical island atmostphere. It is hoped that very soon a journal entry will come to let us know that this book is safe and sound and headed home again.