American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico

Why is this so expensive?

Would love to get this book but OMG... $150

… Helen Fincham Gregory, 30 April, 2024 - 9:58am

Don't pay full price for it

Honestly, this book really isn't worth shilling out that sort of money for, especially not with how full of errors it is (a number of which remained uncorrected from the first edition). For some families, the errors outweigh accurate statements. Many of the figures, where they exist, are also too poor quality to be of much use. This is particularly true for the sketches. If you really want to look at it, I would recommend borrowing it from a library. Looking at WorldCat, both the University of Virginia and Piedmont Virginia Community College have a copy and should be right in your area. If it still suits your needs, there are some used copies floating around sites like Amazon for around $15-17.

… Jonathan Hoskins, 5 July, 2024 - 2:15am

How accurate are the identification keys?

For a book attempting to cover all in one stop, I guess that kind of problem is inevitable, especially for such a massive subject as all known insect species on a continent. My primary concern is whether the errors mainly occur in the general description or identification keys. If the book can be a reliable reference for IDing specimens, preferably down to the genus level, it might still be worth having.

… Xiaoguang Ouyang, 14 September, 2024 - 3:51pm

Those are mostly absent

The details you mention are mostly absent. Keys are typically limited to orders and families. There are sparse keys to subfamilies and fewer keys to genera. In fact, I'm only seeing keys to genera in parts of Neuropterida. Hemerobiidae, for instance, uses several genus names that were already at least a couple decades out of date at the time of Arnett's publication. The keys aren't cited, and a few points do disagree with the actual taxonomic literature ("humeral vein straight" in Arnett versus "without distinct humeral vein" in Klimaszewski & Kevan(1)). There are more current keys to those genera that are accessible for free. Most genera only appear in lists, lacking any sort of description. Where descriptions for genera do appear, those are often very short blurbs. Just from working guide pages here, what species I've checked in Arnett's work often don't even get body length correct (far too many aren't even in the right ballpark).

… Jonathan Hoskins, 6 December, 2024 - 10:23pm

Additional errata

I've had to correct a number of species counts for wasps cited to this book that just don't match any of the literature at all. A few are significantly inflated and don't even add up by counting subspecies. I do wonder how much the older bibliographic sources may affect that, especially if an older source were used for a family and a newer for a genus, or vice versa. For instance, this book sites over 140 spp. of Dasymutilla, whereas the current count is only 98 (111 prior to the 2020 revision). I have good reason to believe that the total count for Mutillidae is also wrong by a statistically significant margin, though this may require some manual counts to correct.

I've located the book at a nearby university, but access to any books is still closed due to COVID-19. When they finally open back up, I also plan on looking through what it includes for Neuroptera due to how much inaccurate information is published online (I've even caught several university websites giving misidentifications at the genus level).

… Jonathan Hoskins, 4 June, 2021 - 9:34am

Further errata - erroneous measurements

I've also been having issues with numerous of the measurements cited to the book. Just for one example, Arnett claims the length of Sympherobius barberi to be 12-15 mm. The actual length reported in the literature is 3.56-5.69 mm (forewing length).(1) Even the body with antennae (not to be included in body length measurements) won't get anywhere close to that length. The authors seem to have just made up the number without any familiarity to the species.

… Jonathan Hoskins, 6 December, 2024 - 9:55pm

caveat

all too often the numbers don't add up -- e.g., a family description may say, '188 spp. in NA' but the combined sp. counts of genera can easily give you a total of 700...
of course, some sections are much more reliable than others, but errors abound, so use the book with great caution and double-check the facts --which may take a lot of research.

… v belov, 24 January, 2010 - 12:03pm

Description

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Google Book preview

Offering a complete accounting of the insects of North America, this handbook is an up-dated edition of the first handbook ever compiled in the history of American entomology.

By using American Insects, A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico, Second Edition, the reader can quickly determine the taxonomic position of any species, genus, or higher taxon of insect known to occur in America and Canada. Every order, family, and genus is conveniently numbered and indexed, making this volume the only complete single source for all of the names of orders, families, and genera currently available.

This book fills the need for an accurate way to identify, with the several hundred drawings and photos, the common insects of all orders. Now there is a tool available to those working without a major collection and library; and those who would like to have a general knowledge of insect life without becoming overwhelmed by the vast number of minute insect species.

This usable guide provides sizes, shapes, color patterns and salient features of some species of each major family by pointing out those groups most likely to be encountered, including all North America pests.

It contains more than 1,200 photos and drawings.

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Ross Harold Arnett, Jr. (1919-1999) was an American entomologist noted for his studies of beetles, and as founder of the Coleopterists Bulletin. - Biography per Wikipedia and the Florida Entomologist
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… Mike Quinn, 13 December, 2008 - 1:02pm

bug

… Joe Belmont, 28 May, 2013 - 7:01pm

scorpion

… SpinosaurusRocks, 1 April, 2019 - 1:47pm

Thank you

This is going on my wish list!

… Brittanie McCormack, 16 July, 2007 - 12:22am

welcom

your welcome

… Joe Belmont, 28 May, 2013 - 7:02pm