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

Species Dictya pictipes


Identification Guide to the Mosquitos of Connecticut
By Theodore G. Andreadis, Michael C. Thomas, John J. Shepard
The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 2005
A summary of Darsie and Ward and Carpenter and LaCasse for the mosquitos of Connecticut which is almost the same for all of New England.

The Insects and Arachnids of Canada: Part 1, Collecting, Preparing and Preserving Insects, Mites and Spiders
By J.E.H. Martin
Biosystematics Research Institute, Agriculture Canada, 1977
A guide to collection and preservation techniques for terrestrial arthropods.
Link here: https://esc-sec.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/AAFC_insects_and_arachnids_part_1_eng.pdf

Invertebrates Of Central Texas Wetlands
By Stephen Welton Taber, Scott B. Fleenor
Texas Tech University Press, 2005
Companion book to Insects of the Texas Lost Pines (1). Has some color photographs, apparently, though I have not seen the book.

Host plants of leaf beetle species occurring in the United States and Canada
By Clark et al.
Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 2, 476 pp., 2004
Full PDF

The leaf beetles are among the most conspicuous beetles on plants. They are perhaps best known for their phytophagous habit, a trait that has assured for them an enduring place of importance. Many species are quite host-specific, feeding only on a single plant species or on several closely related plants. However, others are generalists that feed on a wide variety of plants.

This host list is a cross-indexed catalog to the known plant associations for the leaf beetles (Megalopodidae, Orsodacnidae, Chrysomelidae excluding Bruchinae) of America north of Mexico and of Hawaii. Plant association records from the literature are summarized for 1,341 leaf beetle species occurring in the region. Under each beetle species, associations are briefly recounted, typically listing the plants as they were originally cited, sometimes as common names and sometimes as antiquated scientific names. The modern scientific names are given as well.

WHAT GOOD ARE BUGS? INSECTS IN THE WEB OF LIFE
By Gilbert Waldbauer
Harvard Unviversity Press, 2003
This book is aimed at the general public and as such the text is very lightly sprinkled with scientific names. Should you wish to investigate something further, then the carefully selected reading list for each chapter becomes very useful. I've already used it with great advantage.
In it I found something profoundly true and worth bearing in mind when you next spot a bug:
"For every insect we see, there are tens of thousands that we do not see, because they are small or hidden beneath the soil, within a plant or an animal, under a rock, or in some other "crack or crevice" of the environment."

Exploring The Nature Around You
By Greg Dodge
Brownbag/Catbird Productions, 2005
An interesting and entertaining medley of natural history videography with informative, but non-technical narration. There are five features of about ten minutes each on this DVD. Of most interest for BugGuide is Bees and Wasps. This has excellent footage of several common eastern hymenoptera. The sped-up sequence of nest construction by a Eumenes is particularly neat. Also notable are beautiful sequences of a nesting Great Golden Digger Wasp and of an Isodontia, nesting in an old garden hose!

Other features have substantial arthropod footage: River Walk, Field Trip: Meadows, Fields, and Pastures, and What's going on in YOUR backyard?.

Butterflies of British Columbia
By Crispin S. Guppy, Jon H. Shepard
UBC Press, 2001
A magnificent volume!
"The authors describe all 187 species and 264 subspecies of butterflies in the province and surrounding areas, highlighted with colour photographs. They also discuss the biology, life history, range, habitat and conservation status for each. Ideal for beginners and serious butterfly watchers." More details here:
http://www.ubcpress.ubc.ca/search/title_book.asp?BookID=1856

Introducing the Dragonflies of British Columbia and the Yukon
By Robert A. Cannings
Royal British Columbia Museum, 2002
An absolutely indispensable guide to the Dragonflies of British Columbia (and the Yukon I suppose). Excellent text, identification keys and photographs. More details here:
http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/serv_prod/friends/publicat/zoology.html