(Part 2) Best biology of insects & spiders books according to redditors

One species also has guys assigned to simply go outside, walk around a bit and then come back inside. When these guys are experimentally removed whilst walking around, no other ant will leave the nest. Theory is that these guys just check the weather outside, if it's so dangerous that they die, no one else leaves.

Disclaimer: I'm no ant expert, I just read this book.

I have this guide book and I love it:

http://www.amazon.com/Beetles-Field-Guide-North-America/dp/0395910897/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311629419&sr=8-1

It's got keys for the more technical entomologist and plenty of pictures and descriptions for the more casual entomologist.

I've been meaning to pick these 2 up as well, but then I saw the price lol:

http://www.amazon.com/American-Beetles-Archostemata-Myxophaga-Staphyliniformia/dp/0849319250/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

http://www.amazon.com/American-Beetles-Polyphaga-Scarabaeoidea-Curculionoidea/dp/0849309549/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311629507&sr=1-5

An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles is a great book about beetles, for iding them i like the peterson guides.

Stream insects will still be around, if you can get the kids to brave the cold water. Do you have access to a kick seine or a couple of D-nets through your university? I have probably fifty resources related to taking kids in creeks and poking around and looking at what comes out.

Also, get yourself a copy of this book because it is an awesome resource for off-season bug-hunting.

What part of the SE? Just curious. You may find that the litter layer is still pretty active in November, if you're in a warm enough area.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

Sure, here!

Got a Kindle?

Two Bucks

It's an older book - but at one time was considered "the Bible" of beekeeping. Be aware, things have changed a tad since 1913.

I'd also recommend A Dazzle of Dragonflies. High resolution pics and very informative. Full disclosure: I used to work with the two authors, so I might be biased. Entomology is a small world though.

Sorry if my post sounded rude, it was not intentional, I shouldn't post late at night.

I have worked as an entomologist specialising in pollinators in the UK for nearly 10 years, and I have never heard of a bumblebee queen surviving more than one colony life cycle. This is very interesting. I've just had a look through some of my books (this one, this one, and this one) and they all state that bumblebee queens don't survive their colony, the latter book suggesting an average lifespan of about 6 months for Bombus terrestris. Perhaps the longer lifespans which you refer to is something specific to a small number of atypical species found outside of Europe? Somewhere sub-tropical perhaps, where the pressures relating to the onset of winter are not present. Do you know of any specific examples in the literature? I did a quick google search and everything that came up says the same thing: "annual lifecycle" and "old queen dies before winter". However, when I switched to the suggested search "how long do queen bumble bees live", the first result is: "All being well, a honey bee queen could live for 3 to 4 years, as long as she is free from disease. This is much longer than bumblebee queens or the solitary bee species." So perhaps you saw the 3-4 years bit (which was bolded) and understandably thought that it referred to the organism you were actually searching about?

I think perhaps your experience as a honeybee keeper has confused our conversation a bit. I suspect we are each more familiar a different type of bee! Although I am working on a honeybee project at the moment which is rectifying the gap in my knowledge :)

More importantly, do you watch Red Dwarf Season 2 or read The Bugs of Washington and Oregon?

... (Trollface goes here)

Here is a great little (PDF) guide for Ohio that covers a lot of common NE species

The 2 most popular books are these:

Common Spiders of North America (Bradley)

Spiders of North America (Ubick, et al.)

The Bradley book is probably the more accessible of the two.

edit: fixed first link

The guy I bought my house from built those. He instead used sections of bamboo that he sealed on one end and glued together in blocks like that. He raised blue orchard bees. Apparently when it comes to pollination, they are about as good as honeybees and much easier to maintain. He was a bee researcher, and is partly the reason I decided to get into beekeeping.

Here's his book for some good reading on the subject

I enjoyed Fish Food: A Fly Fisher's Guide to Bugs ... http://www.amazon.com/dp/0811732193/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_PjBwub17288MV

Some general entomology-related books that I've enjoyed in the past:

• Wicked Bugs
  
  
• The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar
  
  
• A Buzz in the Meadow
  
  
• Buzz Sting Bite

It's a great book. I can't think of any other that comes close to having as many images of regional insects, plus the text is well written. The one potential downside is that it's very large, so not good for taking in the field with you. However, I never take reference materials outside, with the exception of bird field guides. If you happen to be interested in flies Stephen Marshall recently came out with a massive and excellent book on them too. I don't own a copy yet, but a friend does and it is impressive.

The Science Times Book of Insects?

https://www.amazon.com/Science-Times-Book-Insects/dp/1558217029

This is not all that surprising. In the book "Life on a Little Known Planet" (http://www.amazon.com/Little-Known-Planet-Howard-Ensign/dp/1558212493), a fascinating book on insects, the author mentions that by just leaving a trap out in his backyard to catch flying insects in the summer, he has found several new species.

We simply aren't anywhere close to having discovered all the species of insects, even in areas of heavy human population.

I don't know what digital formats may be available, but here are a few good ones:

• Spiders and Their Kin by Herbert and Lorna Levi: This is a good beginner's field guide for common spiders in the U.S.
  
  
• PCT Field Guide for the Management of Urban Spiders by Stoy Hedges and Rick Vetter: Although the intended audience is pest control professionals, this little book has a lot of good information and tries to counter some of the fear-mongering and ignorance that are often encountered in the industry.
  
  
• Spiders of the Carolinas by L. L. Gaddy: This is a good field guide for spiders that are commonly encountered in North and South Carolina. The pictures are good, and there is a nice summary about each spider.
  
  
• Biology of Spiders by Rainer Foelix: This is dense reading, but if you ever wanted to know how spiders work, this book is a good investment.

Boot about the same topic:

That Gunk on Your Car
by Mark Hostetler

Looks like they changed the cover later.