Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (Kaufman Field Guides) [Turtleback]

Eric R. Eaton (Author), Kenn Kaufman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0618153101 | ISBN-13: 978-0618153107 | Publication Date: February 28, 2007 | Edition: 1

Comprehensive yet compact, authoritative yet easy to understand, this is the perfect guide for anyone who wants to know more about the fascinating and diverse insects of North America.

 

Many insects are difficult even for the experts to identify, but here readers will find a wealth of information on the amazing observable behaviors of insects and their fascinating life histories. Naturalists Kenn Kaufman and Eric R. Eaton use a broad ecological approach rather than overly technical terms, making the book accessible and easy to use. Their lively and engaging text emphasizes the insects that are most likely to draw attention and also includes helpful details on a wide array of lesser-known but recognizable groups. The guide is lavishly illustrated, with more than 2,350 digitally enhanced photographs representing every major group of insects found in North America north of Mexico. 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

KENN KAUFMAN is the originator of the Kaufman Field Guide series and author of Lives of North American Birds, Kingbird Highway, and Flights Against the Sunset, among other books. Long recognized as an expert on bird identification, he has been teaching popular workshops on the subject since 1980 and has written hundreds of ID articles for Birder's World, American Birds, and other publications. A field editor for Audubon and a contributor to every major birding magazine, he has also led nature tours on all seven continents. He and his wife, Kimberly, make their home in northwestern Ohio.
 

 

Product Details

• Turtleback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (February 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618153101
• ISBN-13: 978-0618153107
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Biology > Entomology
  • #52 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Animals > Insects & Spiders

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, Great for a Backyard Entomolgist, February 16, 2007

By 

J. Clark (Fairfax, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (Kaufman Field Guides) (Turtleback)

This Field Guide sticks to the same tried and true format as the other Kaufman Field Guides (Birds, Butterflies, and Mammals). Every odd page is packed with digitally touched-up pictures of various insects and the even pages contain brief descriptions of the species/family, their habits, etc... Given the enormity of the insect fauna in North America north of Mexico (the region covered by this guide) it is obvious that a field guide such as this is not going to be able to cover but a fraction of what is out there. Additionally the target audience is not entomologists but rather more causal insect and nature lovers. As a result the selection of insects that are covered is limited. The authors in the introduction state that the guide focuses on "naked-eye entomology".

There are a few pages in the beginning devoted to non-insect invertebrates (spiders, millipedes, ...). It would have been nice if this section was a bit more comprehensive, then again maybe this foreshadows a future Kaufman Spiders field guide!

The pictures are all very nice and the book overall is very pleasing to the eye. The cover and binding seem like they will stand up to field use. Overall I am very pleased with this book and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in insects.

61 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Pictures, Not Enough Substance., February 15, 2007

By 

Nemo T. Ocera (Ames) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (Kaufman Field Guides) (Turtleback)

Alas, a good insect field guide is hard to come by. When I ordered the Kaufman guide I was optomistic that it could replace the badly outdated Peterson's guide; sadly this is not the case.

For a neophyte looking to ID your common backyard bugs this would suffice. There are plenty of wonderful pictures that can't otherwise be found in printed form. But for a serious student of entomology this 'guide' is of minimal use. There is virtually no information given to help in IDing a specimen. The guide goes with a purely visual approach which is simply not efficient for studying the great diversity of North American Hexapoda; unfortunately there is still no good choice for an up-to-date compact guide. For exhaustiveness, try picking up a copy of Borror & Delong's.

Even with its faults, I would still recommend picking this one up. The Kaufman guide is a good value, even if it will only be useful for the weekend entomologists out there.

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Photos Not Much Else, February 18, 2007

By 

Kyle Roberts "Entomologist in training" (Muncie, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (Kaufman Field Guides) (Turtleback)

The pictures in this book are wonderful, the info is solid, but where are distriution maps, or any helpful info for finding the specimen? There is the occasional "It occurs in most of the mideastern states" or something along that line, but thats not narrow enough for me, plus all the info on the insects is just a paragraph or two about that insect family, not really specifing on individuals. All in all its a very nice book, but I guess I was looking forward to more, and I was let down, but I would still recommend it to anyone who is interested in seeing beautiful insect pictures and learning the very basic information about them.