Africa's Bugged!

By Ray Harris

An entertaining account of the experiences of Author Ray’s personal experiences with the insects of his home country, South Africa, together with incredibly detailed stippled drawings in black ink (and some using watercolours) of these amazing creatures.
It is an unusual book in many ways, and a must have for the discerning reader and art lover!

Africa Bugged is a sort of ‘sequel’ to Ray’s book ‘Whispers of Africa’, which can be found on Kindle Select (Amazon.com) - it is a sequel only in terms of the drawings, as Whispers is an altogether different book to this one.
Whereas Whispers of Africa depicts drawings of the animals of Africa, this one is of the insects of Southern Africa that Ray has come into contact with and had personal experiences with.
Whispers of Africa took Ray ten years to complete – this was not only because the many drawings were complex, but because he was busy (then, as now) writing a whole range of other books simultaneously.
You will note that Africa Bugged only covers twelve insects, and this is because Ray decided that instead of waiting ten years for this book to appear, that he would present the first twelve, and then upgrade the book with the following ten, and the ten after that, until complete. This way, the reader will have the advantage of seeing some of these amazing creatures much earlier. Another reason for doing the book this way, is because Ray doesn’t believe that he will see another ten years of life – he has a heart condition, and having suffered three serious heart-attacks already, he contends that it is possible that he may die at any moment. Thus, he feels it is best that he presents the book as far as he’s been able to get, then add to it as he goes along.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ray Harris
• Release date: Dec 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463848968

Book preview

Africa’s Bugged!

Ray Harris

Copyright 2018 Ray Harris

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for any recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favourite eBook retailer and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Warning

The images in this eBook are the copyright of Ray Harris, and may not be copied, reproduced, duplicated or stored by any means, electronic or otherwise. Permission to do so, may be granted by the author if applied for in writing.

Cover

A collage of two paintings/drawings in watercolour and black ink dot matrix done by the Author.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my sister, Marcelle, who shared my growing up years and who witnessed my insectoid tampering as well as my myriad adventures. She is an avid supporter of all my writing and artwork, and has given me enough ego strokes to ensure encouragement. I am thankful for her loving role in my life!

Note

All characters in this book are the imagination of my figments – they bear every resemblance to many people who have the appearance of living, but are mostly dead.

Index

Foreword

Introduction

Table of contents – Bugs!

Footnote

List of other books by the Author

Foreword

Bugs!

Who likes bugs?

We crush them underfoot, swat them, or spray them with insect killer, don’t we?

Sadly, that is the relationship between insects and man, for the most part.

Fortunately, it does not apply to all insects, like bees, for instance. Hopefully those of you who read this book will develop a new and appreciative, if not a favourable view, of these amazing creatures.

All drawings in this book are mine – they are dot matrix renderings, sometimes referred to as ‘stippling’. They consist of thousands, and in some cases millions of dots, especially sized and spaced to produce the images – a hugely difficult and time consuming process!

As an accomplished artist, I could have chosen any other style or medium to reproduce the images of these creatures, but I chose this one for three reasons: First, because it is difficult and challenging, second, because very few people in the world draw this way, and third, because it allows for detail that would be lost by any other drawing method. Unfortunately, in this regard, some of the ultra-fine details have been lost in scan, but the images you see, do at least show ninety percent of the creature’s minutia.

Africa’s Bugged is a sort of ‘sequel’ to my book ‘Whispers of Africa’, which can be found on Kindle Select (Amazon). It is a sequel only in terms of the drawings, as Whispers is an altogether different book to this one.

Together with my drawings, I offer rare and little known insight to these amazing creatures – some that will blow you away!

Mostly, the information reflects my personal contact, knowledge and experiences with the insects