A fascinating exploration of the awe-inspiring, weird, and unsettling ingenuity of evolutionOn a barren seafloor, the pearlfish swims into the safety of a sea cucumber’s anus. To find a meal, the female bolas spider releases pheromones that mimic a female moth, luring male moths into her sticky lasso web. TheGlyptapanteles wasp injects a caterpillar with her young, which feed on the victim, erupt out of it, then mind-control the poor (and somehow still living) schmuck into protecting them from predators.These are among the curious critters of The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar, a jaunt through evolution’s most unbelievable, most ingenious solutions to the problems of everyday life, from trying to get laid to finding food. JoinWired science writer Matt Simon as he introduces you to the creatures that have it figured out, the ones that joust with their mustaches or choke sharks to death with snot, all in a wild struggle to survive and, of course, find true love.

Matt Simon is a science writer at Wired magazine, where he specializes in zoology, particularly of the bizarre variety. He is one of just a handful of humans to witness the fabled mating ritual of the axolotl salamander, as is detailed in this here book that he suggests you buy.