Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So much more than a reference book!, July 25, 2004
My wife knew I wanted this book as a reference guide to the insects in our house and yard, so she surprised me with it on our anniversary. It made a wonderful gift! When I'd seen it at the bookstore, I hadn't had time to do anything but skim the pages, and so I was pleasantly surprised to find it's actually a readable book. I never thought I'd read a book on insects cover to cover, but this one I finished in a few days (even the chapter on Ticks and Mites).
Most reference books -- you know, the North American Guide to Seashells or whatever -- are dense and hard to use, with keys and indices and all the pictures collected onto the fewest number of pages possible, to save printing costs. But this book has pictures or drawings of every insect listed, right next to its listing. And while it doesn't cover every insect of the LA basin -- no book could -- I've yet to find one that isn't in this book.
But what really sets this book apart is the writing. Charles Hogue was the entomology curator at the LA Natural History Museum until his death in 1992. Surely, he had hundreds or thousands of people bring in pictures or specimens, asking, What is this? And he's written a book for that type of people, those who would never study entomology, but would notice and wonder at some unusual bug.
As you wend your way through the chapters, Hogue anticipates what you might find interesting, what you might ask, and he's right there with some details or answers. He'll mention how Belkin's Chigger played a role in a murder investigation in Ventura County, or recount how Black Witch moth (with a wingspan of 6 to 7 inches) was common around the Coliseum during the 84 Olympics, even though you won't find its caterpillars in the basin.
It's fun reading about dragonflies and whatnot. It's fun learning that the daddy longlegs in your cupboard isn't a daddy longlegs at all, it's a cobweb spider. It's not so much fun reading about earwigs. But telling your friends that earwigs can fly, and that the tubular lawn furniture on their patio might be housing large populations of them? That's great fun.
After reading this book, I knew I had to get on Amazon and give it a five star review. How nice that so many other people beat me to it!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Face Your Fear!, May 21, 2001
If you want to know more than just the names and habitat of Southern California insects, then this is the book for you. If the insect is non-native, what is its origin and when was it introduced? If it stings or bites, what does it feel like and does the toxin affect the nerves like a black widow or just dissolve the local tissue like a brown recluse? Do they jump or dart? Why is it always showing up in a certain room or part of the yard? "Insects of the Los Angeles Basin" will answer these questions. Read this book and become the lone rational mind in a roomful of hysterical screaming humans recoiling from the sight of one of these magnificent little creatures.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insects in L.A., August 21, 2000
By A Customer
A magnificent book. Hogue details all of the more important insect species, and some the of the lesser known, as well. Did you know that L.A. is home to 3 species of fireflies? There are numerous photos, black and white, and color, along with several line drawings.
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