THE BUG SCIENTISTS

Jackson (Wildlife Detectives: How Forensic Scientists Fight Crimes Against Nature, 2000, etc.) profiles four people for whom there’s no “ugh” in “bug.” Ted Schultz studies ants, particularly the kinds that have been “farming” fungi for millions of years; Valerie Cervenka gathers insect evidence from corpses for law-enforcement agencies; Tom Turpin teaches entomology—but also organizes an annual “Bug Bowl” that features such crowd-pleasers as a cricket-spitting contest; and Steven Kutcher is a bug wrangler for films and TV. Big, bright color photos of the last two happily posing with a variety of creepy-crawlies on their bodies aren’t the only pictures here with great grossout potential, and Jackson also tucks in the basics of insect anatomy, a look at the monarch butterfly’s life cycle, and a page of insect world records. Bug-happy young readers will come away with both general information about insects, and an idea of how a fascination with them can turn into a career path. (Nonfiction. 10-13)