Science and Nature
Spiders
Spiders of North America (an identification manual), Ubick, Paquin, Cushing and
Roth
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A new manual of all the US genera
with keys to the genera. Black and white drawings of virtually all
representative genera. Not a guide with species lists. And the keys are full of
genital characters so it is not for the feint of heart. There is currently no
good purely photographic guide to the US spiders. |
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Spiders of the Eastern United States, W. Mike Howell and Ronald L. Jenkins
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A selected photo based guide to the
east. Good for starters and for classifying spiders broadly with some excellent
text information. Contains some behavior and ecology notes as well as some
information on other spiders in the related groups. |
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Reptiles and Amphibians
The Amphibians and Reptiles of Arkansas, Trauth, Robison and Plummer
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An amazing natural history guide.
Should set new standards in the world of state guides. I wish they were all like
this one. If you live in the south and are interested in these animals, this is
the guide for you. Impressive written and photographic content. These guys
deserve an award for this book which took many, many years to complete. |
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Reptiles and Amphibians Eastern/Central North America, Peterson Field Guides, Conant and Collins
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The Peterson Field guide format
perfected. This is what you want if you live anywhere in the east for your
pocket or backpack. The above Arkansas guide should stay home in your library.
Good plates and illustrations. Maps for everything. Updated in 1998. |
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Texas Snakes, Werler and Dixon
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Yes, this is a magnificent book.
And, yes, you need it. Fireside reading and photos of high quality. The maps are
even better than Trauth and that is saying something. Though they are similar
format. |
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Birds
The Beak of the Finch, Jonathan Weiner
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One of the wonders of the world in
bird and genetic research. Darwin would be proud. Makes all of us wish we were
bird researchers. |
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Ravens In Winter, Bernd Heinrich
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Essentially a long dissertation on
one of the most intriguing birds in nature. Bernd witnesses a Raven calling
others of his kind to a large food cache. This is a behavior unlike any other
birds. Generally birds are selfish not clannish. Bernd's fascination with the
birds and the almost comical way they play with his attempts to study them makes
for one lovely book. And, Bernd, by the way, can write with best of them. |
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Shorebirds of North America, Dennis Paulson
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The newest addition to the shorebird
shelf. And it covers virtually every shorebird possible in the US with
photographic images on all. Voice, behavior and flight tips as a bonus. Almost
pocket sized. |
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The Sibley Guide to Birds, David Sibley
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Serious guide masterpiece. Hard to
imagine going without it in the truck anymore. Some still prefer the more
extensive bird list of the Geographic guide. But unless you are headed for the
Alaskan islands, this is the book to study and refer to for field questions. |
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The Birds of Costa Rica, Richard Garrigues
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My new favorite non-US guide.
Superior in size and image quality to the older guide. This is the one to take
to La Selva or any fine jungle in the country of Costa Rica. If you haven't
been, ponder it. Reward the countries that are now making an effort at
preservation. |
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Insects
Butterflies and
Moths of Missouri, J. Richard and Joan E. Heitzman
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This may be out of print. And the
images are specimen photos but they do show difficult to see characters on all
the Missouri species, including many of the day-flying moths. Information on
food plant use. A great book for everyone in the boundary states. |
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Butterflies through Binoculars, The East, Jeffrey Glassberg
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The book that changed the butterfly
watching landscape. Butterfly scientists may not get along with him because of
his collection aversion but his book remains the best field and yard book for
identifying live, free-ranging butterflies. Get the east or west version, of
course, based on your location. |
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Caterpillars of Eastern North America, David L. Wagner
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My new favorite guide. Wow. Filled a
great void and the photos and text are wonderful. I want to go out in the field
with this guy. Peterson-guide sized for easy backpack carrying. And includes foodplant preferences and images of the moths
and butterflies. |
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Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States, John
Abbott
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John's new book is excellent and his
website is perhaps equally as valuable. If you live in the states covered by
this book, you need this book. Maps are slightly out of date due to the rapid
increase in knowledge in this area recently but this is a fine book for your
nature collection. |
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Dragonflies through Binoculars, Sidney Dunkle
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Mister Dunkle changed my life with
this book. The only other comparable dragonfly book was the giant textbook from
Needham, Westfall and May. It was not a pocket photo guide. This is. These
insects are more challenging ID problems than butterflies but are a great
pleasure once you get to know them. Covers the whole US. |
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Evolution of the Insects, Grimaldi and Engel
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An impressively comprehensive
looking treatise that is receiving nothing but excellent reviews from the
people who, well, you know who you are. Probably not a mystical page turner
but I will read it with pleasure. |
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A Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of the United States, David L. Pearson
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New book in the insect canon and
looks highly promising. There are some fine sites out there for Tiger's on
the web. This should probably be in the car. Most states have less than
forty species. And they are always interesting animals to watch. |
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For Love of Insects, Thomas Eisner
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This guy could write about anything
and I think I would read it. This book was a revelation. It is not a field
guide. It is for reading and being amazed by. Some of the photos are
jaw-dropping. He has a new book as well. |
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Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States, Capinera, Scott and
Walker
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The first real visual guide to this
group of insects. The painted illustrations are very fine. Weak on the
Pygmy-grasshoppers due to the confusion apparently. But excellent for those
adult species in the other groups. As with spiders, the nymphal stages can be
tough and this guide cannot cover them all. Range maps included. |
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Life in the Undergrowth, David Attenborough
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The newest of the Attenborough
guidebooks that takes a look through one of his most anticipated filmed
series. None of these books have been poorly written or photographed. Get
yours while it is hot. |
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Solitary Wasps: Behavior and Natural History, Kevin M. O'Neill
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Okay, only get this if you are a
serious wasp fan. Not light reading. But not a textbook either. A compendium of
info and an excellent bibliography. Many tables of serial information and
includes quite a bit of spider wasp info as well. |
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Dragonflies and Damselflies of Georgia, Giff Beaton
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A new entry in the Odonate category
but a climber quickly if you are comparing quality of photographs. Striking and
useful book. You find yourself praying your fauna overlaps with Georgia
everywhere it can. |
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Insects, Stephen Marshall
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The new giant in pictorial insect
guides. Wow. Bible sized. Murder weapon sized. But what images. And ONE MAN
responsible. It does tend to slant toward the NE US insects but still, if you
are shooting or studying insects, get this for your shelf. |
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The Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, Kenn Kaufman & Eric Eaton
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The book for the car. Don't drag
Marshall around it will cut down on your gas mileage. This is a fine and very
thorough romp through the insect groups in NA with many many representative
images that should get you very close if you are looking at a bug and just don't
know. Eric did a fine job. It was painful, I know, editing the known world. |
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