Before Fabre, people were writing about their studies of insects as if it was above all important to be boring. In his response to those "critics", he said: "They fear lest a page that is read without fatigue should not always be the expression of the truth. Were I to take their word for it, we are profound only on condition of being obscure."

In his retirement from actively teaching chemistry, he began studies of insects, and he used a scientific but still conversational style, with personal stories.
Many of his books are titled "The Life of..." and would be details of the Grasshopper, Wasp, Beetle, and Spider, etc. ( )