Entomology Books

The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies

Bert Holldobler, Edward O. Wilson

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Editorial Review:

The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of The Ants render the extraordinary lives of the social insects in this visually spectacular volume.

The Superorganism promises to be one of the most important scientific works published in this decade. Coming eighteen years after the publication of The Ants, this new volume expands our knowledge of the social insects (among them, ants, bees, wasps, and termites) and is based on remarkable research conducted mostly within the last two decades. These superorganisms—a tightly knit colony of individuals, formed by altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and division of labor—represent one of the basic stages of biological organization, midway between the organism and the entire species. The study of the superorganism, as the authors demonstrate, has led to important advances in our understanding of how the transitions between such levels have occurred in evolution and how life as a whole has progressed from simple to complex forms. Ultimately, this book provides a deep look into a part of the living world hitherto glimpsed by only a very few. 110 color and 100 black-and-white illustrations.

The Backyard Beekeeper: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden

Kim Flottum

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Comprehensive in a traditional way 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This was hard for me to put down, and appeared to cover all the things a beginning bee keeper should know and included recipes for using honey. It was well written and interesting. However, after reading it, I did decide not to try to keep bees in the city, as I don't want to create problems for my neighbors. I will wait til we have our homestead in the country.

The bee diseases were addressed in what appeared to me to be a conventional, western medical model. I am interested in learning if there are effective alternative 'holistic' approaches to managing bees, so have also purchased a book on natural bee keeping. I have heard that some natural bee keepers address some diseases by using paper towels soaked in coconut oil. I would like to learn how to produce our own honey without exposing my bees and family to chemicals.

Vicki

Editorial Review:

This book isnÆt only a guide to beekeeping or a honey cookbook; itÆs both. No other book on the market provides an in-depth review of beekeeping and what honey is good for and how to use it.

Beautifully illustrated, The Backyard Beekeeper is perfect for the health conscious person who wants to sweeten up their life by saying no to processed sugars and yes, to eating organic, natural healthy food.

This book is the complete "honey bee" resource with general information on bees, a how-to guide to the art of bee keeping and how to set up, care for and harvest your own hives, as well as tons of fun facts and projects that are bee related. The second half of the book is the complete guide to honey. It reviews the different types of honey, health effects as well as provides 100s of ideas and recipes for using honey in recipes, cosmetically in facemasks and shampoos, and for medicinal uses.

Beekeeping for Dummies

Howland Blackiston

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Believe it or not, bees are one of the oldest species of domesticated animals. Archeologists have found evidence of beekeeping, or apiculture, in the Middle East dating back more than five thousand years. If you’ve ever tasted good clover honey, it’s not hard to understand why. But it’s not just for the honey that more than 125,000 people (and growing) in the United States, alone, keep hives. Anyone interested in nature can’t help but be fascinated by those buzzing yellow bundles of energy and the exotic world they inhabit, with all its weird rituals and incredible efficiency. Also, dedicated gardeners appreciate the extra bounty that pollinating bees bring to their fruits, flowers, and vegetable gardens.

In this easy-to-follow guide, Howland Blackiston, one of the nation’s most respected authorities on the subject, takes the mystery (and the sting) out of beekeeping. Taking a step-by-step approach to successful backyard beekeeping, he gets you up and running with all the information you need to:

• Build a hive
• Establish your first colony
• Inspect your hives with confidence
• Maintain healthy colonies
• Deal with pests and fix common problems
• Harvest and enjoy fresh homemade honey
• Bottle and market your honey

Howland Blackiston covers all the bases, from bee anatomy, society, and behavior, to identifying and healing common illnesses afflicting bees. He also offers inventive solutions to most common and many uncommon problems you’re likely to run into. Among other things, you’ll discover:

• Where to put your hive, basic equipment you’ll need, and how to assemble a hive
• The best and safest way to inspect and enjoy your bees
• Year-round tasks a beekeeper must perform to maintain a healthy colony
• How to recognize and deal with common problems with brood production and the precious queen
• How to harvest honey and decide what kind of honey you’d like to make
• Making products from beeswax and propolis

For both fun and profit, beekeeping has become a booming enterprise. A real honey of a book, Beekeeping For Dummies gets you on the road to enjoying this ancient, highly-rewarding, and oh-so-tasty hobby.

Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (Kaufman Field Guides)

Kenn Kaufman, Eric R. Eaton

Amazon Price: $12.89 List Price: $18.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 53 new & used starting at $7.79

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Grown-Up Golden Guide! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I think this book is perfect. It has just enough of everything so that the book is affordable and light enough to really be a FIELD guide. The pictures are terrific...there are just enough on a page so your eye can easily scan when you are looking for a particular insect.

This guide has about 400 pages and more than 2,350 images so OF COURSE it isn't going to have lots of details about every insect. And since, according to one reviewer, there are about 10,000 insects in North America, OF COURSE it isn't going to have every insect. What it DOES have is enough illustrations so you can find something VERY close if you can't find the exact insect. With that information, you can go to the internet and look up the details without wading through lots of irrelevant material--I was spending FAR too much time on whatsthatbug dot com and bugguide dot net before I got this book.

This is the handiest insect book I have had since I was about 6 and wore out my Golden Guide! If you are debating about getting the book, just do it--it's only about $13 and this is Amazon--you can send it back if you don't like it. I'm betting you won't be sending it back.

Editorial Review:

Many insects are difficult even for the experts to identify. In the
new Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, 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 understandable for everyone. The lively and engaging text emphasizes the insects that are most
likely to catch our attention but includes information on all groups that
can be recognized. 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. 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.

Caterpillars of Eastern North America: A Guide to Identification and Natural History (Princeton Field Guides)

David L. Wagner

Amazon Price: $19.77 List Price: $29.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Princeton University Press Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $18.72

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This lavishly illustrated guide will enable you to identify the caterpillars of nearly 700 butterflies and moths found east of the Mississippi. The more than 1,200 color photographs and two dozen line drawings include numerous exceptionally striking images. The giant silk moths, tiger moths, and many other species covered include forest pests, common garden guests, economically important species, and of course, the Mescal Worm and Mexican Jumping Bean caterpillars. Full-page species accounts cover almost 400 species, with up to six images per species including an image of the adult plus succinct text with information on distribution, seasonal activity, foodplants, and life history. These accounts are generously complemented with additional images of earlier instars, closely related species, noteworthy behaviors, and other intriguing aspects of caterpillar biology.

Many caterpillars are illustrated here for the first time. Dozens of new foodplant records are presented and erroneous records are corrected. The book provides considerable information on the distribution, biology, and taxonomy of caterpillars beyond that available in other popular works on Eastern butterflies and moths. The introductory chapter covers caterpillar structure, life cycles, rearing, natural enemies, photography, and conservation. The section titled "Caterpillar Projects" will be of special interest to educators.

Given the dearth of accessible guides on the identification and natural history of caterpillars, Caterpillars of Eastern North America is a must for entomologists and museum curators, forest managers, conservation biologists and others who seek a compact, easy-to-use guide to the caterpillars of this vast region.

• A compact guide to nearly 700 caterpillars east of the Mississippi, from forest pests to garden guests and economically important species
• 1,200 color photos and 24 line drawings enable easy identification
• Full-page species accounts with image of adult insect for almost 400 species, plus succinct text on distribution and other vital information
• Many caterpillars illustrated here for the first time
• Current information on distribution, biology, and taxonomy not found in other popular works
• A section geared toward educators, "Caterpillar Projects"
• An indispensable resource for all who seek an easy-to-use guide to the caterpillars of this vast region

Six-Legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War

Jeffrey A Lockwood

Amazon Price: $18.45 List Price: $27.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Oxford University Press, USA Amazon Marketplace: 37 new & used starting at $15.85

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The emir of Bukhara used assassin bugs to eat away the flesh of his prisoners. General Ishii Shiro during World War II released hundreds of millions of infected insects across China, ultimately causing more deaths than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. These are just two of many startling examples found in Six-legged Soldiers, a brilliant portrait of the many weirdly creative, truly frightening, and ultimately powerful ways in which insects have been used as weapons of war, terror, and torture.
Beginning in prehistoric times and building toward a near and disturbing future, the reader is taken on a journey of innovation and depravity. Award-winning science writer Jeffrey A. Lockwood begins with the development of "bee bombs" in the ancient world and explores the role of insect-borne disease in changing the course of major battles, ranging from Napoleon's military campaigns to the trenches of World War I. He explores the horrific programs of insect warfare during World War II: airplanes dropping plague-infested fleas, facilities rearing tens of millions of hungry beetles to destroy crops, and prison camps staffed by doctors testing disease-carrying lice on inmates. The Cold War saw secret government operations involving the mass release of specially developed strains of mosquitoes on an unsuspecting American public--along with the alleged use of disease-carrying and crop-eating pests against North Korea and Cuba. Lockwood reveals how easy it would be to use of insects in warfare and terrorism today: In 1989, domestic ecoterrorists extorted government officials and wreaked economic and political havoc by threatening to release the notorious Medfly into California's crops.
A remarkable story of human ingenuity--and brutality--Six-Legged Soldiers is the first comprehensive look at the use of insects as weapons of war, from ancient times to the present day.

The Songs of Insects

Lang Elliott, Wil Hershberger

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 58 new & used starting at $2.45

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great resource for insect identification! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I have long wanted to know what insects I am hearing every summer and now have a chance of knowing which ones they are. The imagery is fantastic. The range maps will be a blessing to my students as they try to determine what type of katydid or cicada and so on they have nabbed for their bug collection.

The audio CD is great too! The only drawback there is that the holding compartment in the back of the book is poor. Right after I got this book I was taking it to school and the brand new CD fell out of the pouch and onto the pavement. Now its scratched and I don't know what to do. I usually make a backup of all my CDs right away but failed to do so with this one!

This book came to my attention when I wrote in my blog about the microphone I positioned in my backyard. I use it to listen to crickets and lots of other creatures out back, sometimes all night long.

Editorial Review:

The Songs of Insects is a celebration of the chirps, trills, and scrapes of seventy-seven common species of crickets, katydids, locusts, and cicadas native to eastern and central North America. The photographs in this book will surprise and delight all who behold them. Many of the insects' colors are brilliant and jewellike, and they are displayed beautifully here. This book and accompanying CD provide a unique doorway to enjoyment of the insect concerts and solos that dominate our natural soundscape during the summer and autumn. The text includes information on the natural history of insects, identification tips, and an appreciation of insect song. A seventy-minute audio CD features high-quality recordings of the songs of all species, track-keyed to the information presented in the text.

Parasite Rex : Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures

Carl Zimmer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Many books provoke a visceral reaction, but few really make you itch. Science writer Carl Zimmer's Parasite Rex does just that, provoking a deliciously creepy sense of paranoia in the reader as it explores a long-misunderstood realm of science. While entomologists love to announce that there are more species of insects than all other animals combined, few parasitologists choose to trump that by reminding us that "parasites may outnumber free-living species four to one." That figure is based on the multicellular chauvinism of the 19th century, which excludes bacteria and fungi from consideration (athlete's foot, anyone?), but Zimmer looks at the E. coli in our guts as well as the worms, flukes, mites, and other critters that earn a healthy living at our expense--and the expense of our domesticated plants and animals.

The author traveled to Africa to see firsthand the effects of sleeping sickness and river blindness. He learned from physicians and researchers that the parasites that wreak so much havoc are much more than the simple degenerates we've taken them for. Their complex adaptations to their environments--us--are as lovely and awe-inspiring as any eye or wing. The examples of hormonal and other behavioral control of hosts, causing changes in feeding habits and other life essentials, are chilling when personalized. Zimmer knows his subject well, and his writing, while robust and affecting, never descends to the all-too-easy gross-out. You wouldn't expect to find respect for a tapeworm, but Parasite Rex will show you how beautiful Earth's truly dominant life forms are. --Rob Lightner

Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration

Bert Hölldobler, Edward O. Wilson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Look to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise," says the proverb. Bert Hölldobler and E.O. Wilson have joined together to tell how they took this advice and to share the fruits of their wisdom. As Nature said, they "have done for ants what Levi's did for denim." Not just a good-parts version of their magisterial, Pulitzer-winning The Ants, Journey is also a double autobiography--the history of how early enthusiasm developed into an enormously fruitful scientific collaboration. "We, having entered our bug period as children, were blessed by never being required to abandon it," the authors write. Their devotion to their chosen field shines through.

Journey to the Ants gives an outstanding overview of the enormous variety and fascination of myrmecology, from the primitive bulldog ants of Australia to the complexities of weaver ant societies, slave-making ants and agriculture, army ants, and the social parasites concealed within anthills. There is an appendix with practical instructions for collecting individual ants or whole colonies, dead or alive. Hölldobler and Wilson clearly want other children to follow in their footsteps, growing from simple bug love to insights into evolution and society. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Peterson First Guide to Insects of North America (Peterson First Guides (R))

Christopher Leahy

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Perhaps the best field guide to the insects of North America 5 out of 5 stars.
16 of 19 people found this review helpful.

This is a great book for both the beginner as well as those who are at the intermediate level of their study of insects.
It makes for a good first exposure to the taxonomic key. I professor who I knew who taught entomology at Loyola University in Chicago had this book as one of the course texts for his students. I am sure he is not alone. Illustrated with both line drawings and photographs it is the standard work on insects of North America.

Best beginners' guide 4 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I have quite a few `bug' guides and the Peterson guides are always my favorite. The drawings are excellent, the writing is clear, and I like the behavioral and collecting notes added. There are more flashy guides with more pictures but they tend to be more limited - you can only put so many pictures in a book. They also usually cost much more. This is the book I would buy for someone wanting to learn more about the entire insect world and begin identifying the bugs they find. If their interest grows I would simply move up the full version of the same book.

Editorial Review:

Peterson First Guides are the first books the beginning naturalist needs. Condensed versions of the famous Peterson Field Guides, the First Guides focus on the animals, plants, and other natural things you are most likely to see. They make it fun to get into the field and easy to progress to the full-fledged Peterson Guides.