The Most Beautiful Photographs of Beetles [Japanese]

About this book

Language: Japanese with scientific nomenclature

Beetles are the most diverse of insects. The world of insects is said to be a world of diversity, and among them, the diverse colours and forms of beetles are rich in variety and worthy of astonishment. Coleoptera contains a wide variety of insects, including chafers, stag beetles, longhorn beetles, ground beetles, weevils, leaf beetles, and jewel beetles. The colours and shapes of the beetles are both beautiful and mysterious, making them a pleasure to look at. The beautiful wings of the jewel beetle are also known for the Tamamushi Zushi housed in Horyuji Temple.

In this book, among the 400,000 species of beetles that inhabit the world, the authors carefully selected those with brilliant integument colours and mysterious and attractive shapes, and organized them according to the taxonomy of beetles. A pictorial book that focuses on the charm of beetles and their beauty. The photos are by Kazuo Unno, who represents Japan as an insect photographer, while Hibiki Hoshihito and Takataka Fukui, a specimen artist, created the specimens. The world of mysterious formations revealed by the world's most beautiful photographs of specimens, and the mysterious ecological photographs taken all over the world arouse the viewer's sense of beauty and are also valuable materials for insect fans and researchers. There are about 800 specimens and ecological photographs in total, and scientific names are written on almost all of them.

Summary in Japanese:
甲虫は昆虫の中でも最も多様性に富んでいる。昆虫の世界は多様性の世界と言われるが、その中でも甲虫の多様な色彩や形態は変化に富み、驚嘆に値する。甲虫類は、昆虫綱・有翅昆虫亜綱・コウチュウ目(甲虫目、鞘翅目)に分類される昆虫の総称。コガネムシ、クワガタムシ、カミキリムシ、オサムシ、ゾウムシ、ハムシ、タマムシなど、非常に多様な昆虫が所属する。甲虫の色や造形は美しくも不可思議で、見るものを楽しませてくれる。タマムシの美しい翅は法隆寺に収蔵されている玉虫の厨子でも知られている。

本書では世界中に生息する40万種の「甲虫」の中でも、きらびやかな羽色、不可思議で魅力的な造形をしたものを厳選してまとめた、甲虫の分類群に沿った構成としたが、甲虫の持つ魅力を、美しさにこだわって構成した図鑑。写真は、昆虫カメラマンとして日本を代表する海野和男氏。若手新進気鋭の法師人響氏、標本制作は標本制作アーティストの福井敬貴氏。世界で一番美しい標本写真が見せる不思議な造形の世界、世界中で撮影された、不可思議な生態写真は、見る者の美意識をかきたて、虫のファンや研究者にとっては、貴重な資料にもなる。標本と生態写真は計800点ほどにも及び、ほぼ全てに学名を記した。

Customer Reviews