Peterson First Guide To Insects Of North America

Minimal species listed in book

Not as complete as the Field Guide, but breaks the class into 19 groups (orders?) & them into manageable subgroups (22 types of beetles: the scarab subclass mentioned ~a half dozen) by their common, recognizable (w/Magnifying glass) features & interesting facts to help remember them. When I've memorized these 210 (?), I'm starting on the Field Guide. One page a day, I'm loving it! It's my exercise against Alzheimers. When I can't sleep, I name the 7 flying insect orders & I'm asleep before 5th or 6th, dreaming of butterflies. Small enough to stay on the window ledge near where I sit.

As the name implies, this is a First Guide for beginners. It is an introduction to life cycles, nomenclature, the differences between spiders, true bugs, and insects; insect anatomy, and family groupings such as "ground beetles." Laying a foundation with such basic identification skills is vital to further entomology! It is the same with any field, in botany, it helps me to recognize the characteristics of Chenopodiaceae vs. Asteraceae, etc. Similarly, it is helpful to narrow down the field of suspects to dung beetles vs. ground beetles vs. click beetles. I grew up with this book but eventually purchased several other insect guides because there are just SO MANY insects out there. Personally, I find illustrations much more revealing than photographs. Great for kids and also adult beginners!

Got this guide for my kids to use in the backyard and to learn a little about bugs. The setup is similar to other Peterson Field Guides, but this book is much smaller and has less insects in it than I thought it would. I hoped there there would be quite a few butterflies and moths as the kids are very interested in that topic. Apparently, you need to purchase the butterfly and moth book if that is what you are mainly interested in. Quite a few of the pictures were in black and white which was another disappointment compared to the bird guides I am used to. Overall, good information that isn't overwhelming for beginners, but a bit brief for my expectations.

If you or your kids like bugs, this is the book to start with. Easy to use; Peterson's system is shapes based.

really good book but came used and damaged :(

Product was good quality, but was seen as bent at the lower right end upon opening the package; this possibly occurred during delivery, as the package had been crammed into my mailbox.

This would be excellent if it contained more insects. I guess there are just too many to include, but this is the only First Guide by Peterson I have not found helpful.

An excellent book in good condition.

Exelente libro para los que inician en el mundo de la entomología buen tamaño y practicidad

livret broché souple format poche de 1987; après 13 pages d'introduction sur les insectes nord-américains et les créatures ressemblantes, l'ouvrage décrit les principales familles courantes d'insectes (1 à 5 par double page) avec un court article non systématisé à gauche illustré par un dessin couleur sur la page d'en face à droite indiquant les points clés d'identification; pas de carte de répartition; index à la fin; ce très joli petit guide micro-format destiné aux débutants nord-américains s'avérera vite insuffisant, même sur le terrain, il devra immanquablement être complété par un guide compact plus complet; pour la bibliothèque on préférera une encyclopédie plus complète

Ideal para coleccionistas de insectos amateurs, pero ni para trabajo científico

The drab, blanched and substandard illustrations in this guide will surely make immediate visual identification of any insect impossible.I will not purchase ANY additional Peterson Guides.