June 02, 2026
Provided image/Workman Publishing/Hachette Book Group
Science writer Margie Patlak makes the case that bugs aren't all that bad in her new book 'Insect Safari,' which debuted Tuesday.
If anyone needs a better publicist, it's the praying mantis — specifically, the female ones.
The bugs have long been seen as wicked, bloodthirsty maneaters because of the one widely known fact about them. While mating, the female praying mantis will bite the head off the male. Only this decapitation kink isn't actually common. It mainly happens when the insect is desperate for nourishment to feed their future babies. Most of the time, everyone gets to keep their heads, antennae and all.
This is just one of the misconceptions that Margie Patlak would like to clear up. In her new book "Insect Safari," out Tuesday, the Philly-based author makes the case that bugs aren't all that bad. Even the everyday green bottle fly, she argues, is a bit of a miracle.
"It's a thing that people turn their eyes from because they often see it on dog poop or dead things in the city," Patlak said. "Because they do have an important role in recycling nutrients. But if you zoom in on them, they're incredibly beautiful. They're iridescent, sort of a turquoise green, and they have these beautiful contrasting black patterns on their backs.
"So they're actually one of my favorite insects, even though a lot of people look askance at them."
Patlak, who splits her time between Center City and the forests of Down East Maine, didn't always think this way. As she writes in her book, she was initially "a little put off by how strange insects are." But a growing awareness of diminishing populations, paired with an encounter with "the cutest" tricolored bumble bee, inspired the science writer to learn more about fuzzy, flying creatures in her garden.
With the help of the app iNaturalist, Patlak began taking regular "insect safaris" with her smartphone. She'd look for bugs flitting around her home, then wait until they landed on a leaf or petal to snap a photo. She ended up logging 1,262 insects across 474 species this way. Books, classes, workshops and membership in the Maine Entomological Society followed.
'Insect Safari' by Margie Patlak details the lives and anatomy of bugs.
"I was just so amazed by what I discovered, that they were highly evolved creatures, and they consequently had these amazing superpowers and unusual anatomies," Patlak said.
Those superpowers are exemplified by bugs like the diabolical ironclad beetle, which can survive being run over by a car. Readers will also learn about the fruit fly's surprisingly elaborate mating dance, and how hard the male bugs take it when they're rejected. (Hint: They consume more alcohol.) Luna moths ward off bats with their long tails, which scramble the sonar signals the predators use to find food.
Philadelphians with a keen eye can spot mason and carpenter bees (there's a difference!) this time of year. Patlak even caught a black swallowtail caterpillar on a piece of parsley outside her townhouse and watched it grow into a butterfly. A few flowering plants, she said, are enough to attract multiple species — even in a tiny, mostly concrete city backyard.
For those still reluctant to approach an invertebrate, Patlak has some advice. Knowing that most insects, even wasps, "are not out to get you" is half the battle, she says. Getting up close with something a little freaky can also expand your mind.
"The other part is just getting more of a respect for a critter that's different than you but is still incredible," she said. "And learning to appreciate that just because somebody looks different, and they have these eyes that bulge out in many different facets, or they have six legs instead of two ... even I sometimes get a little creeped out when I look at the closeup anatomy of some insects, but I think it's so cool in a certain way.
"I was just thinking about that movie 'Project Hail Mary,' where the guy had the coma for like 13 years before he could encounter another alien out in space. And you don't have to do that. You could just go look in your backyard."
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