National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders (National Audubon Society Field Guides) (Imitation Leather)

by NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
There are about 100,000 kinds of insects in North America, so obviously they can't have a field guide in the same way the 650 species of birds do: something both portable and complete. The National Audubon Society has produced a remarkably useful compromise. This guide has photographs and descriptions of 550 insect species and 60 kinds of spiders. Most of the families of arthropods on the continent are covered, as are all of the most common species. It's a very useful resource for any North American naturalist, and the best choice for an adult who is not an expert entomologist. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Product Description
Spiders, bugs, moths, butterflies, beetles, bees, flies, dragonflies, grasshoppers, and many other insects are detailed in more than 700 full-color photographs visually arranged by shape and color. Descriptive text includes measurements, diagnostic details, and information on habitat, range, feeding habits, sounds or songs, flight period, web construction, life cycle, behaviors, folklore, and environmental impact. An illustrated key to the insect orders and detailed drawings of the parts of insects, spiders, and butterflies supplement this extensive coverage.

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Product Details

• Imitation Leather: 992 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (November 12, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394507630
• ISBN-13: 978-0394507637
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 3.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,799 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Books > Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Invertebrates
  #4 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Fauna > Insects & Spiders
  #47 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Ecology > Animals

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Valuable reference and field guide for the amateur, June 30, 2000

By	Alan R. Holyoak (Idaho) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

The Audubon Society has put together a helpful field guide to the insects and spiders of North America. The book contains just over 700 photographs of insects and spiders in the front section of the book divided into 22 more or less taxonomic divisions. There is section of descriptive information nearly 600 pages long in the back of the book. The format of the book is such that it can fit into a back pocket or jacket pocket without a lot of bother.

The reference material is helpful in identifying insects/spiders, but I have one significant criticism about the book...why in the world didn't the editors include the scientific names along with the common names of these animals by the photographs in the front section? If one wants to use this book as an aid in scientific identification it becomes an exercise in page flipping -- though those engaged in serious taxonomic identification will doubtless use taxonomic keys for that purpose. Still, for the advanced amateur collector, the page flipping can get annoying.

The photographs are of generally good quality, though no photograph is the equal of a quality illustration.

While 700 photos sounds like a lot, that number is nowhere near the number of photographs it would take to do a comprehensive field guide to insects and spiders of North America. Still, this guide provides good introduction to the diversity of North American insects and spiders. This book will get you in the ballpark when you try to identifying these animals, but you'll have to use other reference materials if you are serious about taxonomy.

A helpful book, though it has a few flaws. You might consider using this book and the Peterson Field Guide to Insects together -- the latter book relies on illustations, and it includes a form of taxonomic keys that are not that hard to use.

4 stars -- well worth the price.

Alan Holyoak, Dept of Biology, Manchester College (IN)

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another Frustrating Insect Guide, November 23, 2004

By	Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

At the risk of repeating myself to readers who are searching for an insect field guide, I said in another review:

Consider the lucky birders. In North America there are less than 900 species of birds. While some may be only 3 or four inches long, others are measured in feet. New birding guides are issued every year. And while a few species, like the empidonax flycatchers may be difficult to tell apart, all of the species are illustrated in most guides, and 90% are identifiable if the birder gets a good look at them.

Now consider the amateur entomologist. There are over 80,000 species of insects in North America. Most insects are relatively small. Telling the difference between species may require examining the vein pattern in wings. The field guides to insects illustrate at most 700 insects. No wonder there are more bird watchers than insect watchers. And no wonder there hasn't been a major insect field guide published since 1981!

A field guide to insects then probably can't help you identify most specific species. The authors feel they have done their job if they can help you identify the family.

Unfortunately most, including this Audubon Guide, may not even do that.

To test insect guides I took a series of photographs of each of three insects and then tried to identify them with the help of the guides. They were pictures of a butterfly-like insect, a bee and a fly. To find an insect in Audubon one first looks through an index of over 100 different insect and spider silhouettes. Located next to the silhouettes are the pages in the guide where insects resembling the silhouette are grouped. One can also use a thumb tab located on the page edge of each set of plates to find the desired silhouette. Next one goes through the individual plates adjacent to the silhouette to find the picture of an insect resembling one's target. The text page relating to each insect shown is listed under its picture. The text provides a description of the insect family and behavior but no illustrations. The plates are ordered by color and shape and not by insect order to make it easy to identify an insect without knowing anything about its taxa. However, because of the literal nature of a photograph, one may not be able to identify the family of an insect not pictured.

In the case of my butterfly-like insect I was not able to identify it, although because I knew from other research that it was a Brown Skipper, I did find the picture of a different looking skipper. For my bee and my fly, I saw several similar insects but was unable to identify either as to family.

Unlike the other insect guides, the Audubon includes a section on spiders, which are not in the insect family. Since one is likely to encounter arachnids while searching for insecta, this may be convenient.

The Audubon has one of the easiest to use methods of finding an insect of any of the insect guides. However, if the guide doesn't include a picture of your insect in its 627 plates (it also has 63 spider plates), one may be unlikely to identify a specimen or its family. This may leave you as frustrated as any of the other insect guides.

Users who prefer drawings to photographs might want to examine the Peterson Field Guide, "Insects" by Donald Borror and Richard White. However, it too will probably leave you feeling unsatisfied.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great color photographs but underinclusive, June 19, 2001

By	T.K. Perry (Mt. Hood, OR USA) - See all my reviews

The color photographs are vivid and in focus. The descriptive text is interesting and useful. However, this book ought to have been called our 25 favorite spiders and 75 favorite insects. I haven't been able to find a single local spider in the book (and we have many to choose from). It's really less of a field guide and more of a coffee table book.