A About deserts and poisons 1 Acknowledgements vii Ants 17-19 _Aphonopelma_ 13 _Apis mellifera_ 20 Arizona coral snake 24-25 Arizona mountain kingsnake 24-25 Assassin bug 14 _Avicularia_ 13-14 B Back-fanged snakes 30 Banded gecko 35 Bees 17, 19, 21-22 Bellows bug 14 Black-headed snake 30 Black widow spider 7-10 _Bombidae_ 16 Brown house spider 10 Brown recluse spider 10-12 Brown spider 10 Bumblebee 17, 19 C Centipede 2-3 _Centruroides_ 4-7 Chacho 36-37 Child-of-the-Earth 36-37 _Coleonyx variegatus_ 35 Conenose bug 14-17 Coral king snake 24-25 Coral snake 24-25 _Crotalus_ 25 D Desert, a definition 1 Desert hairy scorpion 5 Desert scientists vii Deserts of the United States (map) viii _Dugesiella_ 13 E _Eremobates_ 36 F Fiddleback spider 10 _Formicidae_ 17