Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States [Hardcover]

John L. Capinera (Author), Ralph D. Scott (Author), Thomas J. Walker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2004

In much of North America, crickets and katydids provide the soundtrack to summer nights, and grasshoppers frequent the fields and roadsides of midsummer days. Although insects from this group have long been the bane of those who make their living from the land, grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets are themselves crucial food sources for many species of birds, reptiles and amphibians, and other creatures.

Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States introduces readers to the biology, behavior, and ecological significance of one of the most obvious (abundant, large, and colorful) and important (ecologically and economically significant) insect groups in North America, the order Orthoptera. A simple, illustrated identification guide assists the reader in distinguishing among the various groups and narrows down the options to expedite identification. The book treats more than a third of the species found in the United States and Canada in brief, easy-to-understand sections that provide information on distribution, identification, ecology, and similar species. Distribution maps accompany each profile, and 206 species are pictured in color. Black-and-white drawings highlight distinguishing characteristics of some of the more difficult-to-identify species. Sonograms provide a graphic representation of the insects’ distinctive sounds, which may be heard on Thomas J. Walker’s website.

This is the first treatment of North American grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets to portray the insects in full color, and it will be the first time many amateur naturalists and students have the opportunity to see the amazing and colorful world of Orthoptera, because many are cryptically colored (their bright colors evident only in flight) or cryptic in behavior (nocturnal in their habits). John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, and Thomas J. Walker designed their book for amateur naturalists who wish to know the local fauna, for students who seek to identify insects as part of entomology and natural history courses, and for professional biologists who need to identify invertebrates. This invaluable field guide will be a useful supplement for laboratory and field activities and a reference for classrooms at every level.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Orthoptera, or grasshoppers and their relatives, are more frequently heard than seen. But once one starts looking, the most "obvious (abundant, large, colorful, noisy)" of insect groups, as the authors describe them, becomes readily apparent. The problem is, as the authors point out in the preface, many orthoptera are either "cryptically colored" (showing their stripes only in flight, or blending in with surrounding flora) or "cryptic in behavior (noctural)"; only the more dedicated amateur naturalists-for whom the book is designed-will seek them out. For those who do, this book is a perfect companion. Scott is a biologist and scientific illustrator; Capinera and Walker are professors of entomology and nematology at the University of Florida and have spent long hours in the fields differentiating the pygmy spurthroated grasshopper from the round-winged spurthroated grasshopper. After introductions to the parts of the orthoptera body, and to its life cycle, ecological impact, sound production capabilities and viability as a pet, the authors evaluate the orthoptera species by species. Each entry includes the "distribution" of a species (where it's found, shown on individual shaded maps), major means of identification, the ecology (what kinds of places a species likes) and the species that can be called cousins. In addition, Capinera's and Walker's department maintains a Web site (buzz.ifas.ufl.edu) where readers can match the "songs" they hear in the field with recordings, using the book's terrific color "pictorial key" to the various noisemakers as a visual guide. But the highlight is certainly the 50 pages of Scott's color illustrations-this is apparently the first book to feature the full spectrum of North American orthoptera in color. For those who want to know what's plaguing them when locusts descend, this is the book.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

"Finally--a definitive guide to the identification of grasshoppers, crickets, and their allies from all corners of the country: with this book, a jar, and a sharp ear, alert naturalists can now track down and identify insect songsters."--Darryl T. Gwynne, University of Toronto at Mississauga, author of Katydids and Bush-Crickets: Reproductive Behavior and Evolution of the Tettigoniidae

"This book is a great addition to the literature on Orthoptera: broad enough to cover a wide range of insects, but not so broad as to leave out important details. The identification sections of the species accounts are eminently readable, adding to the value of the book and broadening its appeal."--Kevin O'Neill, Montana State University, author of Solitary Wasps: Behavior and Natural History

"This book is for anyone who has ever hiked or strolled through the open fields and forests of the U.S. in search of solitude and the sounds of nature. A walk in the sun through nearly any open field will put you in aural contact with high pitched `sizzling,' ticking, or buzzing sounds from the many kinds of grasshoppers that inhabit those fields. On those summer days too hot for a stroll, perhaps an evening walk is more congenial: you might hear the very loud buzzes, or soft ticks, of the katydids or the sonorous chirps and trills of the many kinds of crickets that fill the night air with their tonal `songs.' This book will provide readers with the means to deepen their understanding of the exact identity of each singer--it is both fun and challenging to test your ears against a world of sound that is comforting to hear and fascinating to understand. After all, those sounds are mostly produced by males which are singing to attract females for mating and if one is lucky, one can hear territorial and aggression songs produced by contesting males. For the dedicated birders who pride themselves in their ability to pick out birds by their songs alone, here is a new challenge. I can recommend this book for anyone interested in more than a surface understanding of the natural history of a remarkable group of insects--the acoustic insects. Moreover, it's about as authoritative a book as you'll ever find because the authors are unquestionably experts in their field."--Ron Hoy, Cornell University --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University Press (November 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801442605
• ISBN-13: 978-0801442605
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,749,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Small things make the world go round, August 18, 2005

By 

Christen Wemmer (Magalia, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States (Paperback)

If you are interested in "the small things that make the world go round', this new field guide is a "keeper". Capinera, Scott, and Walker's user-friendly reference covers most of the common "orthops" in the US. That's about a third of the American grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets known in the lower 48. The book relies on 48 excellent color plates to aid identification. How do you use the book? Well, learning about grasshoppers and their kin is a little different from birding. You've got to have a specimen in hand, dead or alive. So, go check out your car's radiator grill for a grasshopper, or turn on the back porch lights to attract some katydids. Okay, with your dried grasshopper or a cricket in a jar you can begin by using the pictorial key. It will help you to learn what suborder and family your critter belongs to. After you do that a few times you'll be able to distinguish a spur-throated from a banded-wing hopper, or a cone-headed katydid from a hump-winged grig. When you reach this stage, which is a no-brainer, you use the book pretty much like a bird guide. Just compare your specimen with the plates. Wing and hind leg color are key characters for grasshoppers, while more subtle features distinguish katydids and crickets. When you find a good match, go to the species accounts to see if the critter occurs in your state. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't. Go back to the plates and keep looking. A lot of species look alike till you get up close and personal, which is the only way you are going to identify most orthops. It's amazing how quickly you can start to recognize species when you know their key characters. It's also quite satisfying. But very few of your hiking friends will believe you when you start spouting off the names of trailside orthops.

I hope that future editions will print the page number of the species account next to the species' picture in the plate. But you can always write the page in, as I do for those species I have identified. Did you ever wonder what makes those chirps and buzzing sounds on a summer night? Well, get out there with your flashlight and a jar and have some fun. There is a wealth of information in this field guide, and it can open up a new world of biological pursuit, whether you're a recreational naturalist or a professional entomologist.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars pretty good beginning, August 5, 2008

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D. Gregg (RI, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States (Paperback)

This book sounds great when you read the description and when you get it, it looks like it will be another in the current wave of amazing field guides for previously obscure insect taxa exemplified by Ed Lam's 2004 Damselflies of the Northeast. When you try to use it, however, as I did on several recent occasions, you run into limitations. The keys are great to a point but I kept getting stuck at genus level or higher. Also, because you're often trying to identify a congener to the species illustrated, you have to "squint" a bit. Of course once you've had to do that once or twice you lose faith in the fine points of the illustrations even when you're pretty sure you're looking at the same species as illustrated. This book is great if you want to learn to separate the higher organization of the katydids, grasshoppers, and crickets and it is very useful for the information it provides on a particular species (habitat, life history, etc.) once you've got one identified, but for IDing a lot of grasshoppers to species, you'll need more.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Introduction to American Orthoptera, February 9, 2006

By 

David B Richman (Mesilla Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States (Paperback)

Grasshoppers, crickets and kadydids are well-known, but often overlooked by amateur naturalists because of the apparent lack of good guides. Actually Helfer wrote a very good guide to the orthopteroid orders many years ago, which is still available from Dover, but the taxonomy is a bit out of date.

John Capinera et al., have now produced a beautiful guide a selection of the U. S. species to the true Orthoptera (minus walkingsticks, mantids, and cockroaches) that will serve as an good introduction. I am surprised at some of their choices, but then one never totally agrees with the authors of books containing selected species descriptions. Those who would like more can get Helfer, which is still very useful, if dated, and is much more complete (it not only includes most of the known grasshopper, katydid, and cricket species, but also the other orders formally placed in the Orthoptera, and the termites and earwigs as a bonus!). However the color illustrations in "Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States" are reasonably accurate and beautiful. Why not get both books (the Helfer book is still available for less than $15.00) if you really want to identify your fauna of grasshoppers and their relatives?

I recommend this book to anyone interested in the fauna beyond their back door. I hope, however, that a revised and updated version of something like Helfer's book will eventually be published.