A comprehensive, fully illustrated guide to every dragonfly species found in North America

Dragonflies are large and beautiful insects, diverse in color and pattern. This premier field guide provides all the information you need to identify every male and female dragonfly found in North America, whether in the field, in the hand, or under the microscope. The extensive illustrations are the heart of the book. Close-up color portraits of each species, often several times life size, show the best possible specimens for close examination. Each sex is depicted using multiple images, with postures and viewpoints consistently maintained to aid comparison. Dragonflies of North America is the ultimate guide to these extraordinary insects.

• Covers all 329 North American species, including distinctive subspecies and variations
• Features nearly 1,900 highly detailed paintings and drawings, providing clarity and consistency that photographs cannot match
• Illustrates each species with multiple views for easy identification and comparison
• Gives an invaluable introduction to dragonfly anatomy, behavior, and life cycle
• Offers additional guidance for the most challenging species that defy field identification, highlighting anatomical characteristics to aid identification in the hand
• Includes a distribution map for every species

Enjoy and Learn
Expert Knowledge
Easy-to-Read

This handy guide to the most common, important and showy North American insects will help the novice begin a fascinating study. Includes:
A key to insect groups
Mature and immature forms
How insects grow and develop and what they eat
How to find and observe them

Full color pictures, nontechnical language, and up-to-date range maps make this a gem of a guide for beginners at any age.

Did you know that insects are essential to life on Earth? Without them, we simply couldn't exist--they pollinate our crops, break down dead matter, and play a vital role in our ecosystems. Yet their numbers are plummeting in the face of changing climates, pesticide use, and threats to their essential habitats. This cutting-edge book, grounded in the latest research by the Royal Entomological Society, teaches you all you need to know about bugs, beetles, butterflies, and more--revealing how vital they are to us and we are to them.

From a look at Ancient Egyptian beekeeping, to the use of insects in medicines, to their importance in art and literature, this fascinating book knits together science, food, culture, and natural history.

With advice on spotting insects in a range of habitats, species identification notes, a guide to attracting beneficial insects to your outdoor space, and more, this book is the ultimate wildlife lover's companion.

A beautifully illustrated guide to the natural history and breathtaking diversity of spiders around the world

Spiders are dominant predators in virtually every terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. A marvel of evolution with species numbering in the tens of thousands, they have been walking the earth since before the dinosaurs. Spiders manipulate the silk strands of their webs to act as a sensory field, which vibrates across wide frequencies that they can read in detail, while young spiders spin silk lines that interact with the electrical fields in the atmosphere, enabling them to balloon across huge distances. Some spiders even gather in groups to impersonate ants in astonishing displays of collective mimicry. The Lives of Spiders explores these and other wonders, blending stunning imagery, lively writing, and the latest science to explore the natural history of the world's diverse arachnid life.

• Features a wealth of color illustrations
• Sheds invaluable light on the life history, ecology, and stunning diversity of spiders
• Covers silk and web building, venoms, predators and prey, mating and dancing, spider cognition, and much more
• Discusses the impacts of human activity on spiders

A charming, richly illustrated, pocket-size exploration of the world's spiders

Packed with surprising facts, this delightful and gorgeously designed book will beguile any nature lover. Expertly written and beautifully illustrated throughout with color photographs and original color artwork, The Little Book of Spiders is an accessible and enjoyable mini-reference about the world's spiders, with examples drawn from across the globe. It fits an astonishing amount of information in a small package, covering a wide range of topics--from anatomy, diversity, and reproduction to habitat and conservation. It also includes curious facts and a section on spiders in myths, folklore, and modern culture from around the world. The result is an irresistible guide to the amazing lives of spiders.

• A beautifully designed pocket-size book with a foil-stamped cloth cover
• Features some 140 color illustrations and photos
• Makes a perfect gift

A charming, richly illustrated, pocket-size exploration of the world's beetles

Packed with surprising facts, this delightful and gorgeously designed book will beguile any nature lover. Expertly written and beautifully illustrated throughout with color photographs and original color artwork, The Little Book of Beetles is an accessible and enjoyable mini-reference about the world's beetles, with examples drawn from across the globe. It fits an astonishing amount of information in a small package, covering a wide range of topics--from anatomy, diversity, and reproduction to habitat and conservation. It also includes curious facts and a section on beetles in myths, folklore, and modern culture from around the world. The result is an irresistible guide to the amazing lives of beetles.

• A beautifully designed pocket-size book with a foil-stamped cloth cover
• Features some 140 color illustrations and photos
• Makes a perfect gift

This warm-hearted book offers fascinating science and captivating storytelling to persuade readers to fall in love with--or at least tolerate--these eight-legged wonders.

Eight-Legged Wonders unveils the remarkable lives of one of the most misunderstood and maligned creatures on the planet: the spider. With over 50,000 species, spiders play vital roles in our ecosystems and the vast majority are harmless to humans. With this in mind, shouldn't we at least try to set aside our creepy-crawly associations, and cultivate a deeper appreciation for these truly wonderful beings?

Eight-Legged Wonders helps us do just that. In this affectionate and surprisingly giddy ode to spiders, James O'Hanlon, a scientist and spider expert, introduces spiders that we may never have noticed before, including spiders that cosplay as ants, balloon through the air, and scuba-dive. He describes the peacock spider's colorful dances and the Portia jumping spider's cunning hunting techniques. He dispels bite concerns, highlights groundbreaking research using spiders for human benefit, and aims to shift perceptions, ultimately revealing spiders as truly remarkable beings worthy of our admiration.

Hugely impressive, a major work.--NPR

A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity's fate.

Why was gin and tonic the cocktail of choice for British colonists in India and Africa? What does Starbucks have to thank for its global domination? What has protected the lives of popes for millennia? Why did Scotland surrender its sovereignty to England? What was George Washington's secret weapon during the American Revolution?

The answer to all these questions, and many more, is the mosquito.

Across our planet since the dawn of humankind, this nefarious pest, roughly the size and weight of a grape seed, has been at the frontlines of history as the grim reaper, the harvester of human populations, and the ultimate agent of historical change. As the mosquito transformed the landscapes of civilization, humans were unwittingly required to respond to its piercing impact and universal projection of power.

The mosquito has determined the fates of empires and nations, razed and crippled economies, and decided the outcome of pivotal wars, killing nearly half of humanity along the way. She (only females bite) has dispatched an estimated 52 billion people from a total of 108 billion throughout our relatively brief existence. As the greatest purveyor of extermination we have ever known, she has played a greater role in shaping our human story than any other living thing with which we share our global village.

Imagine for a moment a world without deadly mosquitoes, or any mosquitoes, for that matter? Our history and the world we know, or think we know, would be completely unrecognizable.

Driven by surprising insights and fast-paced storytelling, The Mosquito is the extraordinary untold story of the mosquito's reign through human history and her indelible impact on our modern world order.

Readers will be awestruck by the hive as superorganism and how the individual bee lives and behaves within it, perfectly suited to each specific job it performs. From their intricate dances and information-rich pheromones to how they sense and respond to their environment, learn, and remember, this immersive journey into the world of bees offers an entirely new perspective on the wisdom of nature and our relationship to it.

The ultimate photographic field guide to North American insects

This amazing field guide enables you to identify all 783 families of insects currently recognized in the United States and Canada. Richly illustrated with more than 3,700 stunning photos along with keys to families for many of the orders, Insects of North America features a comprehensive introduction that discusses classification and nomenclature, insect diversity, global threats, the latest collecting and curatorial techniques, and the many ways these remarkable organisms impact society. Combined with in-depth taxonomic coverage, this is the essential resource for both professionals and amateurs interested in the most diverse group of animals on the planet.

• Covers all 783 insect families known to occur in the United States and Canada
• Features more than 3,700 color photos, with nearly every photo identified to species level
• Includes an illustrated glossary for easy reference in the field
• The first field companion of its kind since the publication of the Peterson guide in 1970
• Ideal for entomology courses of all levels
• An invaluable resource for anyone interested in insects

A marvelously illustrated guide to the world's moths

With more than 160,000 named species, moths are a familiar sight to most of us, flickering around lights, pollinating wildflowers about meadows and gardens, and as unwelcome visitors to our woolens. They come in a variety of colors, from earthy greens and browns to gorgeous patterns of infinite variety, and range in size from enormous atlas moths to tiny leafmining moths. Moths of the World is an essential guide to this astonishing group of insects, highlighting their remarkable diversity, miraculous metamorphoses, marvelous caterpillars, and much more.

• Features hundreds of breathtaking color photos of moths from around the world
• Covers anatomy, evolution, life cycle, behavior, ecology, and conservation
• Profiles species from every major family, showcasing their endless variety of sizes, colors, shapes, and fascinating life histories
• Discusses habitats, distribution, and hostplant associations
• Written by a world-renowned expert

Comprehensive yet compact, authoritative yet easy to understand, this is the perfect guide for anyone who wants to know more about the fascinating and diverse insects of North America.

Many insects are difficult even for the experts to identify, but here readers will find a wealth of information on the amazing observable behaviors of insects and their fascinating life histories. Naturalists Kenn Kaufman and Eric R. Eaton use a broad ecological approach rather than overly technical terms, making the book accessible and easy to use. Their lively and engaging text emphasizes the insects that are most likely to draw attention and also includes helpful details on a wide array of lesser-known but recognizable groups. The guide is lavishly illustrated, with more than 2,350 digitally enhanced photographs representing every major group of insects found in North America north of Mexico.

A beautifully illustrated guide to the vibrant and richly diverse world of bees

The Lives of Bees provides a one-of-a-kind look at the life and natural history of bees. Blending stunning photographs and illustrations with illuminating profiles of selected species, this incisive guide takes readers inside the world of these marvelous insects, exploring their physiology, behavior, ecology, evolution, and much more. The Lives of Bees is essential reading for nature lovers everywhere.

• Features a wealth of stunning color images
• Covers everything from the social lives of bees to their conservation
• Written by two leading experts in the field
• Discusses the cultural, ecological, and economic interconnections between humans and bees
• Highlights strategies to support bee populations in backyards, farms, and natural areas

A biologist's up-close account of how he and fellow biologists cracked long-standing puzzles about honey bee behavior

Piping Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz-Runners takes readers inside a world seldom seen even by beekeepers, shedding light on twenty of the most compelling mysteries of honey bee behavior.

Thomas Seeley has devoted a lifetime to the study of honey bees and their colonies, unraveling the secrets of these wondrous insects in a career spanning six decades. In this book, he weaves illuminating personal stories with the latest science, explaining such mysteries as how worker bees function as scouts to choose a home site for their colony, furnish their home with beeswax combs, and stock it with brood and food while keeping tens of thousands of colony inhabitants warm and defended from intruders. Along the way, he shares the experiences that drew him to these studies, the small observations that led to big breakthroughs, and the sense of excitement that came with probing each mystery.

Richly illustrated, Piping Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz-Runners provides a rare look at how a singularly passionate scientist and his colleagues deciphered the pipings, shakings, and puzzling tremble dances of honey bees, and how this journey of scientific discovery continues to shape our understanding of these remarkably intelligent and vitally important insects.

The ultimate bee book for bee enthusiasts and experts alike

The Bees in Your Backyard provides an engaging introduction to the roughly 4,000 different bee species found in the United States and Canada, dispelling common myths about bees while offering essential tips for telling them apart in the field.

The book features more than 900 stunning color photos of the bees living all around us--in our gardens and parks, along nature trails, and in the wild spaces between. It describes their natural history, including where they live, how they gather food, their role as pollinators, and even how to attract them to your own backyard. Ideal for amateur naturalists and experts alike, it gives detailed accounts of every bee family and genus in North America, describing key identification features, distributions, diets, nesting habits, and more.

• Provides the most comprehensive and accessible guide to all bees in the United States and Canada
• Features more than 900 full-color photos
• Offers helpful identification tips and pointers for studying bees
• Includes a full chapter on how to attract bees to your backyard

Learn how to identify spiders found across the United States and Canada with this handy quick guide.

Some people love them, while others fear them. One thing is certain: spiders play an essential part of a healthy ecosystem. They are key predators of insect pests--like fleas and mosquitoes--and they serve as prey for beloved animals, such as birds. If you see spiders in your area, keep this convenient guide close at hand. Designed for ease of use, the spiral-bound booklet is organized by type of spider web for quick identification. Narrow your choices by the web you see, and view just a few spiders at a time. Plus, you'll also find sections for spiders that don't utilize webs. The professional photographs showcase 158 species. Written by debut author Dr. Sebastian Alejandro Echeverri--co-host of the BBC Earth Podcast--the Spiders of the United States & Canada guide features the most common and important species to know.

Book Features

• Pocket-size format--easier than laminated foldouts


• Professional photos showing key markings


• Easy-to-use information for even casual observers


• The author's three steps to identifying spiders

Improve your identification skills and learn more about spiders and their webs, with this lightweight quick guide.

A fun and fact-filled A-Z treasury for the insect lover in all of us

Insectpedia introduces you to the wonders of the insect world while inviting you to make discoveries of your own. Featuring dozens of entries on topics ranging from murder hornets and the insect apocalypse to pioneering entomologists such as Margaret James Strickland Collins and Douglas Tallamy, this beautifully illustrated, pocket-friendly encyclopedia dispels many common myths about insects while offering new perspectives on the vital relationships we share with these incredible creatures.

This entertaining collection celebrates the long and storied history of entomology, highlights our dependence on insects for food and ecosystem services, and explains the meaning behind various entomological terms. With Eric Eaton as your guide, you will circle the globe in search of African Toktokkies and Australian beer bottle beetles, and witness the peculiar spectacle of cricket fighting in Asia. Profiles of influential figures in entomology provide insights into the curious minds that animate this extraordinarily broad field of scientific inquiry, while the book's portable size makes it the perfect travel companion no matter where your own entomological adventures may lead you.

With captivating illustrations by Amy Jean Porter, Insectpedia is an engaging blend of insect facts and folklore that will inspire anyone who delights in the marvels of nature.

• Features a cloth cover with an elaborate foil-stamped design

For budding apiarists, this introductory book offers fascinating information about honeybees and everything you need to know to begin your own beekeeping journey. For example, did you know that from birth, female bees are promoted through roles such as nurse, baker, and guardian of the hive? Or that male bees' primary purpose is simply to mate with a queen, but only 0.1% of them ever will?

In these pages, you'll discover the inner workings of the beehive, the properties of honey, the basics of keeping bees, and the joys that come from this meditative hobby, including a thriving garden, environmental stewardship, and a supportive community (not to mention delicious honey!). A whole world awaits--and it's just outside your door.

FOR BEEKEEPERS AND BEE ENTHUSIASTS: This petite and brightly colored book will appeal to anyone interested in bees and beekeeping, whether they're just starting their journey or well on their way. Don't let the size fool you--this compact bee book is packed with insightful information and helpful tips for novices and experts alike.

WHY BEES MATTER: We need bees. According to Greenpeace, bees are responsible for one in every three bites of food humans consume. Without them, Earth, and our daily existence, wouldn't be the same. The active Save the Bees movement that has erupted in recent years shows that people are adamant about bee justice and committed to spreading awareness and knowledge about bees. This pocket guide is a practical and inspiring addition to the cause.

HIGHLY GIFTABLE NATURE BOOK: Filled with appealing illustrations, calming meditations, and tidbits about honeybees that will make your jaw drop, this is a lovely gift for bee lovers, nature enthusiasts, and others who want to learn more about these incredible specimens. Pair with jars of honey or other books in the Pocket Nature series to delight a friend, colleague, parent, or sibling--anyone who loves learning about our amazing natural world.

Perfect for:

• Bee enthusiasts, apiarists, and beginner beekeepers
• Nature lovers and hikers
• Mindfulness practitioners
• Followers of @bowserbee on TikTok
• Birthday, anniversary, housewarming, or seasonal gift for nature lovers

Smithsonian Handbook of Interesting Insects presents striking photographic profiles of insects, each one specially selected from the 34 million specimens found in one of the oldest and most important entomology collection in the world, held by London's Natural History Museum. The book showcases more than one hundred significant bug species, including the ruby-tailed wasp, the garden tiger moth, the jewel beetle, the flying stick insect, the orchid bee, and many others.

Magnificent full-color photographs show the bugs in detail, so that readers can learn to distinguish, for example, the translucent abdomen of the great pied hoverfly from the yellow or orange markings on a giant scoliid wasp. Each detailed and dazzling photograph is accompanied by a caption describing the bug's lifestyle, distribution, size, and key characteristics. An insightful introduction also explores the different orders and families found in the insect classes and an explanation of how they have evolved. Based on the most up-to-date science and accessibly written, the book will appeal to scientists and amateur science readers alike.