Book excerpt: "This book is intended to introduce readers to the great beauty, diversity and ecological importance of South African insects as found on the so-called Diamond Route. This is a range of nine properties scattered across South Africa that are owned by De Beers and the Oppenheimer family and that exist primarily to promote conservation and research. The invertebrates investigated in this book were observed in the range of habitat types found on the Diamond Route, which include mopane woodland, riverine forest, bankenveld grasslands and the evocative sandscapes of the Kalahari."--P. xv.