How to Know the Insects (Pictured Key Nature Series) [Spiral-bound]

Roger Bland (Author), Mabel Cuthbert (Author), Martha Cutkomp (Author), Wm. Jaques (Author), Jean Lemieux (Author), Francesca Stoner (Author), John Bamrick (Author), Edward Cawley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0697047520 | ISBN-13: 978-0697047526 | Publication Date: May 1, 1978 | Edition: 3

Students of entomology at every level need to be able to identify and classify the insects they study. How to Know the Insects has helped generations of readers learn to do just that. The key to insect orders the largest section of the book uses both written text and myriad illustrations to provide identification details down to the family level as well as for common species of each family. In addition, Bland and Jaques provide accounts of insect natural history, the basic biology of each order and of most families, and extensive material in finding, collecting, and preserving insects. The handbook serves as a valuable learning tool or reference for undergraduate and graduate students of entomology, science educators, insect collectors, and anyone interested in the diversity of insects.

--This text refers to an alternate Spiral-bound edition.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 432 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 3 edition (May 1, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0697047520
• ISBN-13: 978-0697047526
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #579,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book for Insect Collectors!, June 19, 2000

By 

Amy M Rice (Illinois) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Know the Insects (Pictured Key Nature Series) (Spiral-bound)

I bought this book for my summer Etomology class. It is a very helpful book when you are trying to identify insects, however some of the insect characteristics are hard to see in the diagrams compaired to the real insect. A disecting microscope is strongly recommended when useing this book, since most of the characteristics deal with segments on the legs or antennae, as well as wing veins. These structures hare very hard to see with the naked eye. If a mistake is made in classification it is easy to back track and find your mistake, becuase each step has the number of the previous step. This book also gives you a good description of the insect's charachteristics, habitat, and other usefull information to verify the insect being classified. With this book I was able to classify all of my insects for my collection. I did need some help from the professor and the proctor, however most was just to double check myself. I also used the Peterson's Insect Guide to double check my classification. If you are looking for a book to identify insects for a collection, I strongly recommend this one. However, if you need a book for quick identification in the feild, this isn't the best book for that purpose. For feild purposes use a insect feild guide.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of How to Know the Insects, March 14, 2002

By 

al ternan (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Know the Insects (Pictured Key Nature Series) (Spiral-bound)

I have owned a copy of this book for many years and consider it to be the best classification guide available for undergraduates and serious amatuer collectors. An index\glossary provides hundreds of terms related to external morphology that can be memorized and the identification procedure is both simple and efficient. There are plenty of detailed illustrations.
The only downside is that this book has not been revised in many years. It most likely contains errors, because systematics is an ever-changing field. Most of it is accurate, however, and any serious insect collector can compensate for the outdated information by visiting a public library or museum.
This book is probably out of print. Get it now!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, September 8, 2003

By 

merrymousies (Waterford, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Know the Insects (Pictured Key Nature Series) (Spiral-bound)

I've gotten interested in insects just because of my own curiosity but wanted to learn a bit about their Families and species so I picked up this book (recommended by a teacher of a naturalist class on insects). It is an incredibly complete book with excellent drawings, discussions of common species, easyu to understand layout of orders and families without getting tooooo technical. Just what I needed to get my feet wet in being able to id and learn about specific insects I come across in the garden and elsewhere.