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Thieves, Deceivers, and Killers: Tales of Chemistry in Nature

By William Agosta

Product Description:

The tobacco plant synthesizes nicotine to protect itself from herbivores. The female moth broadcasts sex pheromones to attract a mate, while a soldier ant deploys an alarm pheromone to call for help. The carbon dioxide on a mammal's breath beckons hungry ticks and mosquitoes, while a flower's fragrance speaks to the honey bee. Indeed, much of the communication that occurs within and between various species of organisms is done not by sight, sound, or touch, but with chemicals. From mating to parenting, foraging to self-defense, plant and animal activities are accomplished largely by the secretion or exchange of organic chemicals. The fascinating and fast-developing science that encompasses these diverse phenomena is introduced here, by William Agosta, in a series of remarkable stories absolutely accessible to the general reader yet revelatory to chemists and biologists.

Among Agosta's characters are the organisms that steal, counterfeit, or interpret the chemical signals of other species for their own ends. We learn of seeds that mimic ant odors to facilitate their own dispersion and flies that follow the scent of truffles to lay their eggs. We read about pit vipers that react in terror when their flicking tongues detect a king snake, and slave-making ants incapable of finding their own food. And we meet ice-age people who ate birch fungus to relieve whipworms and early human hunters who used the urine of wolves to maneuver deer to favorable sites.

Agosta also chronicles the rapid development of the applied science that makes use of chemical ecology. As researchers deepen our understanding of the biological world, they are making economically significant discoveries (such as enzymes that remain stable in extreme heat), finding ways to reduce our reliance on manufactured pesticides, identifying new uses for traditional medicines, and developing sophisticated new pharmaceuticals effective in treating malaria and several cancers. On the horizon are antiviral agents derived from the chemical defenses of marine species.

From the exploits of flies to the high-stakes effort to cure human disease, Agosta's tour of chemical ecology grants any reader entrance to the invisible realm where chemistry determines life and death.

Amazon.com Review:

After sucking in the reader with a thrilling anthropomorphic account of an ant slave raid, Thieves, Deceivers and Killers relates tales of beetles, flowers, mussels, bacteria, and other organisms that eavesdrop on the chemical messages other species use to communicate. Not only do they eavesdrop on each other, they subvert the intercepted messages for their own ends, often killing the sender.

In contrast to Dr. Agosta's previous books on chemical messengers, wherein the material was organized by complexity or function, here he presents anecdotes demonstrating a particular biological interaction. There is the story of hawk moths, the only pollinators of western-prairie fringed orchids because their eyes are spaced just so; the one about ant-decapitating flies, who lay their eggs between an ant's head and abdomen (the decapitating occurs when the egg hatches into a maggot, which eats the ant's brain); and the case of parasitic wasps that can detect, from above ground, caterpillars hiding in ants' nests--although the ants themselves cannot detect the disguised caterpillars.

These episodes are followed by a glossary, so they are accessible to everyone. And though the anecdotes may seem to be very obscure or to involve overly exotic (and gross) creatures, Dr. Agosta amply demonstrates their relevance to human endeavors. Most notable are advances in the realms of pharmaceuticals (the discovery of new antibiotics in ants) and agriculture (the use of a fungus to control wild oats). Thieves, Deceivers and Killers ends with areas of active research and some unanswered questions, leaving us waiting eagerly for the sequel this title deserves. --Diana Gitig

This book is an information feast, digestible in small bites but too rich to be downed in a single gulp. It's an incredible collection of stories bound together by the thread of `chemistry in nature.' In fact, one of the stories concerns threads---the ancient Romans used to weave a sheer fabric called `linen mist' from the byssal threads of a large mollusk known as the noble pen shell (`Pinna nobilis').

Many of the lessons in chemical ecology concern ants and their sophisticated use of biochemicals to take slaves, grow crops, and manufacture antibiotics. In another chapter called "Real-World Complexities," the author maps the annual fluctuation of Lyme disease as dependent on the interaction of deer, bacteria-carrying deer ticks, mice, oaks, and gypsy moths. If only we could learn from these chemical interactions, before we destroy their ecology.

The author gives tantalizing glimpses at antibiotics, extremophile enzymes that don't break down when used as catalysts, fishing nets that are made out of spider webs, and many other ways we could capitalize on ecology if we took the time to learn from it.

There are many good science project ideas in "Tales of Chemistry in Nature." The book can be profitably read by adults and young adults. For adults already advancing down their chosen career paths, this book is a fascinating look at what the biochemists and ecologists may be learning from nature.

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