Book Description

Insect-related evidence is one of the most powerful, least understood examples of modern forensic science. Entomology and the Law is a detailed roadmap from crime scene to courtroom--for entomologists, law enforcement personnel and lawyers preparing for trial. Part I focuses on carrion flies as forensic indicators, exploring relevant biology clearly and concisely illustrated by real-life cases. Part II is a thorough examination of the law of scientific evidence worldwide, complete with caselaw, applicable code provisions, and legal issues relevant to the admissibility and use of forensic entomology in litigation. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

C.S.I. comes to life!
If you're a fan of the hit television series C.S.I., then this book is for you. It explains in clear, understandable terms exactly how C.S.I. professionals use scientific evidence to solve crimes. It is fascinating to see how insects can actually provide the key to murder mysteries.

Forensic Entomology made understandable!
This is a superb work of immense scope and brilliance. The authors leave no aspect of forensic entomology a mystery. Splendid for experts, both scientists and lawyers alike.

This is what CSI is really about!
Bugs are excellent crime solvers. This terrific book explains how and why, in a way everyone can understand. Great for everyone from experts to novices.

CSI made easy!!!!
This book makes it easy for even a layperson to understand the forensic entomology evidence so often featured on the C.S.I. television series! Kunich and Greenberg take insect-related evidence and make it come alive. What an amazing book!

Comprehensive? Hardly¿
Entomology and the Law by Greenberg and Kunich was promoted to be "the first comprehensive book on forensic entomology." This book certainly does not live up to that description, though it is a decent book in its own rights. At [the price], the book seems a little thin and incomplete.

The first section of the book, written by Dr. Greenberg, deals with the history, biology, identification, and use of forensically important flies. Dr. Greenberg's knowledge of flies is indeed extensive, and he has included keys to species of adults and larvae (pupae are ignored) of carrion flies from many parts of the world. Note that only flies are covered in this book, and all of the other forensically important insects are ignored. Also there is no mention of insect succession on the corpse outside of the preface to the first section of the book. This aspect alone limits the application of this book to the early postmortem interval.

The second section of the book, written by John Kunich, focuses on the legal applications of forensic entomology. This section deals with the laws behind scientific evidence, the admissibility of insect evidence, and how to optimize the use of such evidence. Placing the legal aspects into the prospective of forensic entomology made this section useful to the scientist who is interested in that aspect of the criminal justice system alone.

This book is far from being comprehensive. Nowhere are the details of the collection of entomological evidence presented, successional patterns of insects are largely ignored, and the temperature information included in the book is incomplete. Though lawyers and entomologists with experience in the field of medicocriminal entomology will benefit from this book, the curious lay person or law enforcement official should save their money and purchase either Catts & Haskell or Byrd & Castner. ... Read more

Book Description

There is much more to black flies than you can learn in the woods on a warm spring day. This book compiles the authors’ previously unpublished research and nearly all of the published information on North American black flies. All aspects of black flies are treated within the context of a worldwide perspective, including natural history and ecology, cytology and morphology, phylogeny and classification, economic impact, pest management, natural enemies, history of research, study methods, and identification.

Each of the 254 species known from the continent north of Mexico, including 43 new species, is treated in detail. Each species account summarizes all pertinent information on taxonomy, morphology, cytology, physiology, molecular systematics, and bionomics. The book is copiously illustrated with more than 1,100 figures, including color drawings of larvae and adult thoraxes, by some of the world’s foremost scientific illustrators. Additional figures and photographs show chromosomal and morphological features, portraits of important researchers, control efforts, natural enemies, oviposition behavior, and cladograms. Detailed distribution maps show the range of each species.

A Comstock Book published in Association with the Royal Ontario Museum ... Read more

Book Description

Among the most ancient and powerful of insects, dragonflies fascinate scientists and nonspecialists--in part because they are large enough for the behavior of individual insects to be observed and interpreted. Indeed, so much useful information exists about dragonflies that they serve as valuable models for interpreting the behavior and ecology of other taxa. Philip S. Corbet has devoted a lifetime to their study. His book A Biology of Dragonflies has been a standard text for more than thirty-five years. This latest book establishes a new benchmark for the Odonata, providing a comprehensive, critical review of past and current knowledge--both published and unpublished--about species from all biogeographical regions in both functional and evolutionary contexts.The volume emphasizes the diversity found in dragonfly behavior as well as unifying patterns. It describes the behavioral strategies that influence the fitness of individuals in physical and biotic environments and in all stages of the life cycle, and identifies the biological principles reflected in those strategies. The book also examines behavior associated with processes such as habitat selection, foraging, seasonal regulation, migration, territoriality, mating, and sperm competition, emphasizing the interdependence of all developmental stages as well as relationships among dragonflies and other animals, including humans.Dragonflies represents a remarkably thorough and searching appraisal of a single taxon, featuring 252 drawings and black-and-white photographs, 96 color plates, nearly 100 appendix tables, and more than 4,000 bibliographic citations to original sources. The wealth of information and its integrated treatment will indisputably make the book the definitive source on dragonflies for years to come. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent
It is a masterpiece, bound to remain indispensable to biologists for years to come.

A New Standard in Odonatological Literature
I am a fourth-year biology undergrad at the University of Toronto. My program has consisted largely of ecology, evolution, and behavior, and throughout it I have attempted to incorporate my lifelong fascination with dragonflies into many of my research projects, essays, etc. Recently, while drafting a paper on the conservation of rare/significant dragonflies for a Conservation Biology class, I came across (and relied heavily upon) P.S. Corbet's book, Dragonflies: Behavior and Ecology of Odonata. I was beyond impressed. Having sifted through as much primary and secondary literature as I could get my hands on, his book quickly found the top of the pile, being by far the most current, comprehensive, and well-written study of dragonfly ecology and life history. In fact, my enthusiasm for his work must have been quite apparent, as my girlfriend thoughtfully gave me a copy for Christmas, so I could avoid any further library fines for a book I simply couldn't give back! I consider this book a must-have for any aspiring odonatologist, and highly recommend it to anyone who is awed (as I am) by these wonderful insects. Dragonflies: Behavior and Ecology of Odonata affords not only an educational, but a truly pleasurable read--a combination that only someone with personal enthusiasm and lifetime experience in a subject could produce. Anyone with a copy of Walker on the shelves should be sure to place Prof. Corbet's work next to it, as it truly represents a new standard in Odonatological literature.

Cory Robertson University of Toronto Hon. B.Sc. Biology ... Read more

Book Description

Insect Molecular Genetics, 2nd edition, is a succinct book that briefly introduces graduate and undergraduate students to molecular genetics and the techniques used in this well established and important discipline.The book is written for two converging audiences: those familiar with insects that need to learn about molecular genetics, and those that are familiar with molecular genetics but not familiar with insects.Thus, this book is intended to fill the gap between two audiences that share a common middle ground.

* Up-to-date references to important review articles, websites, and seminal citations in the disciplines
* Well crafted and instructive illustrations integral to explaining the techniques of molecular genetics
* Glossary of terms to help beginners learn the vocabulary of molecular biology ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A fascinating overview
The genetic engineering of insects is now commonplace, and for those who want to understand the details behind this exciting and practical technology, this book gives an excellent overview. The goal of this reviewer, who is not a professional biologist, was primarily to understand the efficacy of transgenic strategies in the genetic manipulation of insects. For those with similar interests and backgrounds, the book fills the need, and after reading it, such readers will have a better understanding of just what is possible in the technology of genetic transformation of insects, along with obtaining a stronger background in genetics. This technology is improving and getting more powerful as this book went into print, and no doubt many more fascinating discoveries will take place in the near future. The genetic manipulation of insects shows much promise in not only reducing the threat of malaria but also in controlling unwanted insect populations. The risks involved in this technology are thankfully also addressed in the book.

A thorough review of a book of this size and detail would take many thousands of words, and so attention here will be concentrated on the things that this reviewer found particularly interesting and the surprises in the book. One of these involved the discussion of the RNA era and its role in the early evolution of life. The author views this time as one where RNA organisms, which had multiple-copy double-stranded RNA genomes, these genomes later fragmenting into chromosomes. The interactions between the RNA and amino acids evolved into the present DNA world. Another interesting fact brought out is that DNA can form more than twenty different variations of right-handed helices, and can form left-handed helices in some regions.

The author also discusses the role of exons and introns in molecular genetics, and the 'introns-early' and 'introns-late' hypotheses. Their role is still not completely understood, and there are many open questions in their study, as is brought out in the discussion.

Still another interesting discussion concerns the role of telomeres in preventing the loss of DNA during replication and their role in ensuring the stability of linear chromosomes. It turns out that telomerase, an enzyme that is responsible for adding these telomeres to the ends, is, interestingly, a reverse transcriptase, meaning that it can transcribe DNA from an RNA template.

The 'C value paradox' is also discussed by the author, which she describes as a situation where there is more DNA then is needed by the organism. Surprisingly, the genome size is not correlated with the complexity of the organism or the number of genes encoded. The insect genome size varies widely among the insect species, with 250-fold differences in C values being common. The composition of insect DNA is apparently very different for insects than for vertebrates, with the author quoting the guanine and cytosine bases making up only 32-42% of the DNA, as compared to 45% for vertebrates.

The many roles of heterochromatin is discussed in detail by the author, such as in chromosome mechanics, centromere function, and position effect variegation in Drosophila melanogaster. In the latter, this silences the euchromatic genes that have been moved to regions adjacent to heterochromatin by chromosomal rearrangements. This change in the location of the gene within the nucleus modifies significantly the amount of 'gene silencing'. In the context of transgenic strategies, the transgenes inserted into the insect genome can be silenced because they become heterochromatized.

A particularly fascinating discussion is given of the role of transposable elements in the insect genome. These can alter the gene structure and function, and can transfer horizontally between species. The microbial symbiont Wolbachia's role in insect evolution is discussed, and the amazing fact that insects contain three or four genomes, namely the nuclear, mitochondrial, gut symbionts, and Wolbachia, raising the question of just what constitutes a biological individual. Some species of insects can have diploid males and females, or haploid males and diploid females, or only females. In addition, diploid males may undergo chromosome heterochromatimization and loss during development and become haploid.

A very detailed overview of transgenic strategies and their role in pest management is given at the end of the book. Giving examples of what has been accomplished in traditional breeding for beneficial insects and in sterilization techniques for pest insects, the author discusses the justifications for using transgenic methods. Mention is made of using green fluorescent protein as a molecular marker to track sterile insects. The author argues that fluorescent dusts currently used are not satisfactory since they can reduce the fitness of the insects and do not always adhere to the insects, biasing the results of the sterilization program. The author is clearly supportive of transgenic strategies to perform pest management, but she gives many references that take more cautionary stances on this technology. The author also makes the point that insect transgenesis is most appropriate for traits that are determined primarily by a single gene. The manipulation of traits determined by more complex genetic mechanisms are not yet feasible using transgenic strategies. Briefly discussed, but with many references given, are the different methods for transforming the insect germ-line, such as P-element vectors, Hermes, hobo, mariner, Minos, piggyBac, baculoviruses, densonucleosis viruses, pantropic retroviral vectors, polydnaviruses, retrotransposons, and sindbis viruses. Also discussed are paratransgenesis, which involves the genetic transformation of insect symbionts, and FLP-mediated recombination, which involves the introduction of cloned genes into the germ line at a predictable chromosomal site. This latter technique, the author argues, is very desirable for the reason that the likelihood of position effects on gene expression is considerably reduced.

Gene silencing, an evolved mechanism to prevent high-level expression of transposable elements, presents a challenge to transgenic strategies. The author discusses briefly some examples of transgene silencing in D. melanogaster. She points out that gene silencing might however be exploited positively by turning off specific genes in insects. References are given that discuss gene silencing in D. melanogaster. Horizontal gene transfer, hotly debated in the press these days, is discussed briefly. ... Read more

Amazon.com

You'll never look at beetles the same way again. When masterful paperengineer Robert Sabuda works his pop-up magic, you're sure to find beauty andwonder in the thorniest of creatures. About 350,000 kinds of beetles creepacross the surface of our world, but don't worry, Sabuda and cocreator MatthewReinhart only include a few here, including dung scarabs (move the pages to"roll" the dung!) and the giant horned Hercules beetle of Central and SouthAmerica. The colorful, metallic exoskeletons explode to life with everywell-designed page, causing even the most beetle-phobic to marvel at theirintricate anatomy. Funny, accessible sidebars ("Don't talk with your mandiblesfull") are sure to engage young naturalists in search of factoids about theeclectic, leggy group Coleoptera. To top it all off, each pop-up book comes witha paper frame with a plastic-encased, paper-engineered specimen ofPhalacrognathus muelleri, the Australian stag beetle. (Beetles were notharmed in the making of this book.) A wonderful gift for the young naturalist onyour list! (The YoungNaturalist's Pop-Up Handbook of Butterflies is also quite fetching.)(Ages 6 to 10) --Karin Snelson ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Beautiful Illustrations and good learning too!
This is an exceptionally beautifully illustrated book. It holds the interest of my 6 yr and 3 yr sons. The pop-ups work well and with different textures the children can learn with the sense of touch as well as sight. We love this book

good GIFT Idea..."Butterflies:fluttering flowers; moths:all
in the family; Life cycle: look at how you've grown; behaviour; defense: poisons, points and pretenders; diversity: all the colors of the rainbow"!

LESS APPROPRIATE words are sometimes better. I will therefore apply the K.I.S.S. ("keep it simple, stupid/silly) principle with regard to my review for this lovely book--
"Young Naturalist's pop-up Handbook: BUTTERFLIES" will make both your heart and soul "FLUTTER!!!"

My daughter
My daughter loves this book,not just because I love it. It came with a framed paper butterfly she absolutely loved. When I was reading it to her she was asking questions and was so into the book and she learned all about butterflies.

'Pop' Full of surprises
My soon to be four year old son (and Mommy) LOVES this pop up book. It is a wonderful work of art and informative! Two BIG thumbs up on this one!

Excellent, Beautiful, Fun
My five year old budding naturalist loved it. ... Read more

Book Description

The knowledge of citizen scientists, biologists, and naturalists informs this book’s coverage of every aspect of the monarch butterfly’s life cycle (breeding, migration, and overwintering) from the perspective of every established monarch population (western North American, eastern North American, and Australian). In addition to presenting the most recent basic research on this species, The Monarch Butterfly contains the first publication of data compiled from two established citizen science projects, Journey North and the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project. It also reports for the first time on two major events of long-term importance to monarch conservation and biology: the creation of a larger protected area in the Mexican overwintering sites and a weather-related mortality event during the winter of 2002.

Monarch butterflies are arguably the most recognized, studied, and loved of all insects, and the attention that scientists and the general public have paid to this species has increased both our understanding of the natural world and our concern about preserving it. The unique combination of basic research, background information, and conservation applications makes this book a valuable resource for ecologists, entomologists, naturalists, and teachers. ... Read more

Book Description

This magnificent field guide is the latest addition to the exciting series that is revolutionizing the way we look at butterflies. Greatly expanding on Butterflies Through Binoculars: The Boston-New York-Washington Region--identified by Defenders of Wildlife Magazine as "the first to focus on netless butterflying" and called " a clear winner" by the Audubon Naturalist--Glassberg here shows us how to find, identify, and enjoy all of the butterflies native to the eastern half of the United States and southeastern Canada. This guide:

*Combines the immediacy and vividness of actual photographs of living butterflies with the traditional field guide format

*Emphasizes conservation over collection

*Includes 630 color photographs, arranged on 72 color plates, of butterflies in the wild

*Provides adjacent color maps that show where each species occurs in a given locality and for how much of the year

*Supplies entirely new field marks for butterfly identification

*Demonstrates how to identify subjects by way of the key characteristics butterflies are likely to display in their natural settings

*Shows how species can be recognized both from above and below

*Explains how to differentiate between males and females.

For butterfly enthusiasts, for bird watchers who want to add a new dimension to their hobby, for anyone who is simply interested in exploring the wilds of their own back yard, this new field guide offers hours of delightful help and instruction. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Best Butterfly id book!
Without comparison, this is the best butterfly id book around. It is really easy to navigate and find specific butterflies quickly, even for the novice. It has maps as well as larval foods for the different butterflies. Quite complete. I keep it sitting right here on my desk so that when I see a butterfly flitter by I can run outside and id it. Its also has tips on identifying butterflies that may look similar which is helpful. I'd buy it again for sure!

Best book out there right now.
If you are interested in butterflies on any scale, you must have this book! The pictures are really good for comparison in the field. A must have for anyone who participates in butterfly counts. This book will make you addicted to watching butterflies like it did me! Be careful! :-)

Solid primer, somewhat awkward field guide
This book provides perhaps the best available set of basic instructions for butterfly watching. As some of the other reviews mention, it's not just a field guide; it's also a very thorough and pleasing introduction to how to go about the hobby. What type of binocs to choose (close focus please) is, for example, the sort of basic thing it covers well.

That being said, Butterflies through Binoculars shares a lot of the same traits I find mildly frustrating in the current set of Audubon's bird guides. It uses photographs, which I've always found less useful than thoughtful artist's drawings in my bird books. All the plates, moreover, are stacked together in front of the book. Maybe others find it handy to flip through pictures only, but I'd much rather see things like the better bird guides do it: color plates on one side, succinct species description with range map on the other. Whenever I use a guide like this in the field I end up flipping back and forth in my field guide like I can't make up my mind.

For that reason, I'd recommend this as an introductory title, but I'd say we're still waiting for a really wonderful field guide.

One of the Best Field Guides!
An absolute must have! Glassberg, who is president of the North American Butterfly Association, shares his knowledge of these delicate creatures and makes identifcation easy and fun. Includes 625 color photos (most by Glassberg) of free-flying butterflies. The first butterfly guide to use plates showing correct size relationships among species. Also features sections on binoculars, photography, biology, conservation, and gardening. You won't be sorry you purchased this fine book!

I Agree-- This One Makes it Easy and Fun
Yes, this is a superior field guide, whether one is collecting or watching. And, the texts are also pithy and contain some great and timely information on the butterflies and especially conservations situations. The butterfly enthusiast crowd is lucky to have had such an upsurge in interest in its subject, and Glassberg is to be credited with kindling much of this. Speaking of Butterflies through Binoculars-- a wonderful narrative about same, through the binoculars of history, is the recent Nabokov's Blues by Kurt Johnson, another prominent lepidopterist. Its time to look at butterflies, appreciate them, and increase our knowledge as well. Get out with Glassberg's book and then go home and read some "sit-down" informative entomology. Enjoy. ... Read more

Book Description

Notorious nuisances and major transmitters of disease, mosquitos are also important experimental animals. This book provides detailed descriptions of the functioning of mosquito sense organs and of the behavioral patterns that enable mosquitoes to survive in a variety of habitats and to find and attack their vertebrate hosts. ... Read more

Book Description

Life scientists are increasingly drawn to the study of comparativeevolutionary biology. Insect Development and Evolution is the first synthesis ofknowledge of insect development within an evolutionary framework and the firstto survey the genetic, molecular, and whole organism literature. Bruce S. Hemingprovides a detailed introduction to the embryonic and postembryonic developmentof insects. Topics include:

- reproductive systems, - male and female gametogenesis, - sperm transfer and use, - fertilization, - sex determination, - parthenogenesis, - embryogenesis, - postembryogenesis, - hormones, - and the role of ontogeny in insect evolution.

Summaries for each of these topics cover structural events; comparative aspects(inserted on a phylogeny of the insect orders); and hormonal, genetic, andmolecular causal analyses.

Insect Development and Evolution treats examples throughout the hexapods withfrequent reference to the evolution and development of other invertebrates. Italso compares insects to vertebrates and places insect development into contextwith fossil evidence and earth history. Heming's book will become an essentialtool for students and teachers of entomology. It will also interest insectsystematists and paleontologists, insect behavioral ecologists, insectpathologists, applied entomologists, developmental and invertebrate biologists,and all scientists who use Drosophila as a model organism. ... Read more

Book Description

Social insects and arachnids exhibit forms of complex behavior that involve cooperation in building a nest, defending against attackers or rearing offspring. This book is a comprehensive, up-to-date guide to sociality and its evolution in a wide range of taxa.In it, leading researchers review the extent of sociality in different insect and arachnid groups, analyze the genetic, ecological and demographic causes of sociality from a comparative perspective, and suggest ways in which the field can be better understood. The book contains fascinating accounts of the social lives of many different insects and arachnids, as well as tests of current theories of the evolution of social behavior.The Evolution of Social Behaviour in Insects and Arachnids provides essential reading and insight for students and researchers interested in social behavior, behavioral ecology, entomology, and arachnology. ... Read more

Book Description

This report traces the development of the 22 performance indicators, or benchmarks, that form the basis of the QualServe Benchmarking Clearinghouse program for water and wastewater utilities. The 22 indicators are are organized by QualServe's framework of five business areas: ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Organizational Best Practices Index Employee Health and Safety Severity Rate Training Hours Per Employee Customer Accounts Per Employee, MGD Water Delivered Per Employee, MGD Wastewater Processed Per Employee CUSTOMER RELATIONS Customer Service Complaints and Technical Quality Complaints Disruptions of Water Service Residential Cost of Water and/or Sewer Service Customer Service Cost Per Account Billing Accuracy BUSINESS OPERATIONS Debt Ratio System Renewal/Replacement Rate Return on Assets WATER OPERATIONS Drinking Water Compliance Rate Distribution System Water Loss Water Distribution System Integrity Operations and Maintenance Cost Ratios Planned Maintenance Ratio WASTEWATER OPERATIONS Sewer Overflow Rate Collection System Integrity Wastewater Treatment Effectiveness Rate Operations and Maintenance Cost Ratios Planned Maintenance Ratio ... Read more

Book Description

This is the first book that focuses on the behavior ofhost-plant selection by plant-feeding insects. It describes thepatterns of host use, the chemical features of plants that determinehost selection, the physiology of insect sensory systems, and theinsect behaviors, with an emphasis on mechanisms. The book alsodiscusses genetic variability and the effects of experience, and itconcludes with a review of the evolution of host plant ranges. This is a one-of-a-kind book for everyone interested in plant-feedinginsects, and an important reference for undergraduates, graduatestudents, research scientists and agriculturists. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A welcome contribution to Jungian Studies reading lists
Insightfully written by Anthony Stevens (a Jungian analyst, and psychiatrist of 30 years' experience), Archetype Revisited: An Updated Natural History Of The Self is now in a greatly expanded and updated edition. Dr. Stevens provides Jungian students and scholars with a thorough exploration and stimulating study of the connections between archetypes of the fields of ethology and sociobiology, while addressing archetypes in practice such as the family, the mother, the father, masculine and feminine images and more. Archetype Revisited is a worthy and welcome contribution to Jungian Studies reading lists and reference collections.

The Overdue Marriage of Darwin and Jung (Updated)
Fabulous! "The findings of the two new disciplines, evolutionary psychology and evolutionary psychiatry, in no way contradict or supersede Jung's original insights into the nature and influence of the archetypes which make up the human collective unconscious. On the contrary, they corroborate and amplify them. They confirm that human experience and human behavior are complex products of environmental and hereditary forces . . . . What evolutionary psychology is studying is the psychic unity of humankind. This is not, as some critics have suggested, a reductive universalism but an attempt to establish those psychic structures and functions, those strategies and goals, which we all have in common by virtue of our humanity. Far from diminishing our uniqueness as individuals and rendering us prisoners of our genes, this perspective enables us to celebrate with deeper appreciation the ways in which people living in widely different environmental circumstances work out variations of great complexity on similar sets of archetypal themes . . . . In the presence of pervasive cultural uncertainty, it becomes a matter of urgency to understand the basic archetypal needs and resources of humankind." ... Read more

Book Description

Here is the first and only guide to a subject of great interest to gardeners, small children, and lepidopterists: caterpillars, the immature form of butterflies and moths. This guide describes 120 common species of these fuzzy creatures. All the caterpillars, their adult forms and many of their host plants are illustrated. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Very Comprehensive and Useful!
Our childrens librarian recommended this book to us and it has been so helpful. We are always finding caterpillars, cocoons, butterflies and have found the illustrations in this book very helpful in identifying them. My son is five and the illustrations are good enough so that he can identify the caterpillars and butterflies even though he can't read yet. I would highly recommend this guide!

Great reference book on Caterpillars
Our 6-year old daughter is a budding entomologist, and has been fascinated with butterflies in particuluar for the last two years. Each spring she has a great time running around our garden collecting caterpillars and raising them into butterflies. The problem we always had was how to identify them before they actually became butterflies...

Well, this book is a great help in that respect. It lays out the various broad categories of caterpillars in order to simplify identification. A very nice feature is that it also often includes information on the plant species that both the caterpillar and the adult butterfly feed upon.

Also, a great small size - perfect as a "field guide". We keep a copy in the glove box of our VW camper so that it is always handy on family outings.

The Only Caterpillar Field Guide!
If you've been looking for a book to help you identify caterpillars, you may have noticed that field guides for butterflies and moths are nearly useless in this regard. Entomologists don't seem to be nearly as fascinated with the larvae of these creatures as they are with the adults. But this is the guide you've been looking for! Although the First Guides are written for children, this book is suitable for adults as well and is by no means remedial. The book is made to take along at 3 3/4x7 1/4 inches in size and 128 pages long. It begins with an introduction to caterpillars which explains their structure, life cycle, protective mechanisms, and gives brief instructions for attracting and caring for caterpillars. This is followed by pictures and descriptions of 120 caterpillars. Each caterpillar is clearly illustrated for easy identification. Illustrations of the adult moths and butterflies are included, so you will know what the little critter will turn into. (All illustrations are drawings.) There is a description of each caterpillar which includes details of its appearance, size, diet, and where it is found. A few caterpillars that are dangerous to handle are marked with don't-handle signs. (They won't kill you; they cause skin irritation, pain, and rashes, at worst.)

Recommended for everyone who would like to know just what those caterpillars are and what they will become. A great gift for kids who like the outdoors. The book's only real shortcoming is that it is not comprehensive. We can always hope that the publisher will add more species in a later edition. In the meantime, this guide will enable you to identify most common species of caterpillar.

Good beginners guides.
I foun this one a very good book, it doesnt have any photos, but color illustrations are very descriptive and useful.
Its a must have for beginners because you will find almost any caterpillar out therem of course so many of them are not in this book, but the common ones seen around there are in this book.
You wont find any problem to identify among them, they are very well differenced in the book.

It is a good book considering its size, and its price, youll find it practical.

Wonderful
The kids have a wonderful time identifying all those catterpillers. They used to bring each one to me to help them identify what they were. Now they can do it themselves. ... Read more

Book Description

This magnificently illustrated volume does double-duty as a field guide and a handsome reference volume. It shows more than 500 butterfly species and instructs nature lovers on how to identify each of them. Organized into the major butterfly family groups, the book's easy-reference format points out the key characteristics that identify each butterfly type, and describes its habitat, life cycle, and migration season. Every entry is presented with an at-a-glance guide to the butterfly's size, location of origin, and conservation status. A detailed color photo of each specimen clearly shows its unique, intricate markings. Nature lovers and butterfly collectors will find practical tips for locating and studying these beautiful and fragile insects in the wild. More than 500 magnificent color photos and reliable descriptive text combine to make this a must-own reference guide for butterfly enthusiasts everywhere. ... Read more