Customer Reviews

Insects of the Great Lakes Region (Great Lakes Environment)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was very disappointed to find only black & white drawings of the insects.....a key part to identifying is color. I returned it for a refund.

The biggest flaw of this book should be mentioned right away: it has no color illustrations except on the cover. There are rather small black-and-white drawings and descriptions of an insect's range of colors, but for an interested amateur like me ninety percent of a bug's identification is its color.

On the other hand, the author quickly taught me how to tell the difference between a damselfly and a dragonfly (size and the way they hold their wings at rest). I also learned that most of the moths banging against the screens at night are cutworm moths. I'm probably doing the local farmers a favor by luring them to my window.

The book is stuffed with interesting facts but because of its size (324 pages) it must necessarily go lightly over the ground for each family of insects. For instance ants (Family Formicidae) are disposed of in two pages, and I'm still without a clue as to the species of tiny red ants that seem to sneak into the house around the window frames.

"Insects of the Great Lakes Region" is divided into five chapters, plus glossary, appendices, bibliography, and a heavily Latin, sometimes confusing index. Antlions are listed by their English name, but not ants. Fireflies are listed as lightningbugs in the index, but as 'Firefly Beetles' in the header to the text.

Chapter 1 is a 'geological and biological history of the Great Lakes Region.' Chapter 2 covers this region's entomological history, and Chapter 3, the distributional patterns of its insects.

Perhaps to make up for this book's lack of color, Chapter 4 teaches the principles of insect classification. Look for distinctive shapes such as a thrip's fringed wings, or unique body appendages such as pincers. Does the insect sting you or chew holes in your clothes? Does it reach through the screen with its nasty little proboscis and try to suck your blood?

Chapter 5, "Insect Fauna of the Great Lakes Region" comprises the major portion of the book. This is where the reader can browse through some fascinating natural histories. Although the tenor of this review might seem anti-insect, there are some wondrous six-legged Arthropoda in this region--even a species of mosquito that spends its larval stage in the bog pitcher, and somehow manages to avoid being digested by this unique, carnivorous plant.

The appendices guide the reader to entomological organizations, periodicals, insect collections, collecting regulations, as well as indicating which insects are endangered or threatened.