Customer Reviews

Photographic Atlas of Entomology & Guide to Insect Identification

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A picture is truly worth a thousand words. This is perfect for students to use as a study guide or for others who find, like I did, that they need to learn how to identify insects (for a job, gardening pest control or other reason).

After chapters on insect life cycles, coverage of each type of body part, and distinguishing insects from creatures of other Classes (each section full of photographs for comparison), Castner then covers each Order of insect -- with short descriptions of Families and magnified photos of examples from each family. Of the chapters devoted to a specific Order, you find a key to the families of each Order. Should you need to identify by species, you will have to then refer to a field guide; however Castner's book speeds up the process tremendously.

Unlike most books that give confusing written descriptions of different types of body parts, this one shows pictures (though it is missing clear photos showing the difference between Hemiptera and Homoptera mouthparts, which would be my one complaint, but may end up in later editions). Although it is not meant to REPLACE field guides, esp. in the area of Genus and species identification, it does clear up many things that you'll need to know in order to understand the written ID descriptions in field guides.

Although there seems to be some variation in the field on Orders, I hope professors will seriously consider recommending this book as a study guide/supplement -- just pointing out any differences expected on the test.

I wish I had more space to say more good things about this spiral-bound guide and its beautiful & helpful pictures. I will say that if I had had it for my Forest Entomology class several years ago, my grade of "C" would have been an "A".

This is a great introduction and guide to the understanding of insects. As the title says, it is an atlas, not an encyclopedia; it provides a beautifully illustrated (photographically) basis to understanding the fundamental aspects of insect taxonomy. It is a 'what and why' guide to types and classifications. And, while not intended to be a complete identification guide, it really is pretty good at that also. I highly recommend the book to anyone wanting to _learn_ about insects.

This book has excellent photographs of insects and the various stages of their life cycle. Great anatomy and an easy to follow Table of Contents. It also lays flat when opened because of the ring binder. Kids love the photos of the really exotic to the ugly, scary ones. It encourages young readers to try and identify insects they have seen or caught and learn anatomy, metamorphosis and other life stages.

This book was great. It was like having the main points of my first two Entomology courses rolled into one beautifully illustrated book. It is a great reference book for those who are really into insects or those just getting started. I would recommend this book to anyone.

This book was very helpful in letting me learn more about insects for my Entomology class. The pictures are so vivid and colorful it looks real to some point. It goes down into detail explaining the different parts of an insect and its functions. This book is great for anyone wanting to learn more about insects or just as a hobby. It was a great buy for me.

Found it to be helpful in identifying insects.I used this book more than the other books I had for the class

If you are into insects this is a great book. Lots of entomological information. Lots of great pictures.

Beautiful pictures, great set up. Came promptly, was notified that it was shipping sooner than expected. Well packaged. Great price too!

The product arrived well before the end of the delivery window that was given. Very satisfied!