Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Varneria postremella - The Little Ruby - Hodges#6029


Classification of Insects
By C. T. Brues, A. L. Melander, and F. M. Carpenter
Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, Vol. 108, 1954
Subtitle: Keys to the Living and Extinct Families of Insects, and to the Living Families of Other Terrestrial Arthropods

Full text

Plant Galls of the Western United States
By Ronald A. Russo
Princeton University Press, 2021
An eagerly-awaited (and now much-celebrated ;-) update of the author's previous field guide(1). Currently this is probably the best book resource for overall info on galls of the western U.S., with coverage of diverse gall taxa on a wide range hosts groups, as well as abundant insights into their biology and ecology.

The publisher's web page is here. A good amount of info, and a taste for the quality of content & presentation, can be gleaned from the "Look Inside" preview accessible through the Amazon web page for the book.

Tree and Shrub Insects of the Prairie Provices
By W.G.H Ives and H. R. Wong
Canadian Forestry Service, Northern Forest Centre, Info. Rep. NOR-X-292, 1988
Abstract
"More than 600 species of insects and mites that feed on trees and shrubs in the prairie provinces are discussed ..."

Biology of the Carrion Beetle Silpha ramosa Say
By Brewer, J.W. & Bacon, T.R.
Annals of the Entomological Society of America 68(5), 786-790, 1975
Details of a lab study of adults of Silpha ramosa and description of egg-laying and larval development. Adults were collected in the field from dead house mice and were maintained in the lab on a diet of hamburger or chicken liver.

Revision of the Blastobasidae of North America
By Dietze, W.G.
Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 1910
Dietze, W.G., 1910. Revision of the Blastobasidae of North America. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 36: 1-72.

A Field Guide to Insects and Diseases of California Oaks
By Tedmund J. Swiecki & Elizabeth A. Bernhardt
Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2006
A USDA publication, available at:

  https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr197/psw_gtr197.pdf

Good survey of insects & diseases of California oaks...useful for those interested in CA oak ecology.

Stability in Lepidoptera names is not served by reversal to gender agreement: a response to Wiemers et al. (2018)
By Van Nieukerken, E.J., O. Karsholt, A. Hausmann, J.D. Holloway, P. Huemer, I.J. Kitching, M. Nuss, G.R. Pohl, H. Rajaei, E. Rennl
Nota Lepidopterologica, 42(1): 101-111., 2019
Van Nieukerken, E.J., O. Karsholt, A. Hausmann, J.D. Holloway, P. Huemer, I.J. Kitching, M. Nuss, G.R. Pohl, H. Rajaei, E. Rennland, J. Rodeland, R. Rougerie, M.J. Scoble, S.Y. Sinev & M. Sommerer, 2019. Stability in Lepidoptera names is not served by reversal to gender agreement: a response to Wiemers et al. (2018). Nota Lepidopterologica, 42(1): 101-111. https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.42.34187

Praying Mantises of the United States and Canada
By Kris Anderson
Independently published, 2018
This peer reviewed text includes a dichotomous key to all 15 genera of Mantodea found in the U.S. and Canada. Extremely detailed descriptions are provided for each of the 27 species found within this region, including two newly listed invasive species and two newly described species. One new genus is established along with several taxonomic revisions and clarifications. Species treatments include taxonomic illustrations, precise morphological descriptions, accurate morphometry, complete natural history documentation, exhaustive historical literature review, and detailed distribution range maps.