Product Description

Garden Insects of North America is the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to the common insects and mites affecting yard and garden plants in North America. In a manner no previous book has come close to achieving, through full-color photos and concise, clear, scientifically accurate text, it describes the vast majority of species associated with shade trees and shrubs, turfgrass, flowers and ornamental plants, vegetables, and fruits--1,420 of them, including crickets, katydids, fruit flies, mealybugs, moths, maggots, borers, aphids, ants, bees, and many, many more. For particularly abundant bugs adept at damaging garden plants, management tips are also included. Covering all of the continental United States and Canada, this is the definitive one-volume resource for amateur gardeners, insect lovers, and professional entomologists alike.

To ease identification, the book is organized by plant area affected (e.g., foliage, flowers, stems) and within that, by taxa. Close to a third of the species are primarily leaf chewers, with about the same number of sap suckers. Multiple photos of various life stages and typical plant symptoms are included for key species. The text, on the facing page, provides basic information on host plants, characteristic damage caused to plants, distribution, life history, habits, and, where necessary, how to keep "pests" in check--in short, the essentials to better understanding, appreciating, and tolerating these creatures.

Whether managing, studying, or simply observing insects, identification is the first step--and this book is the key. With it in hand, the marvelous microcosm right outside the house finally comes fully into view.

• Describes more than 1,400 species--twice as many as in any other field guide
• Full-color photos for most species--more than five times the number in most comparable guides
• Up-to-date pest management tips
• Organized by plant area affected and by taxa for easy identification
• Covers the continental United States and Canada
• Provides species level treatment of all insects and mites important to gardens
• Illustrates all life stages of key garden insects and commonly associated plant injuries
• Concise, clear, scientifically accurate text
• Comprehensive and user-friendly

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23741 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-08
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 4.22 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

From Booklist
Here's a sobering statistic: there are more than 100,000 species of insects and related garden pests in North America, and to gardeners it must often seem that the vast majority of them are eating, crawling, and flitting their way through treasured plants and flowers. Knowing what's doing the damage is more than half the battle in winning the pest-control war, and to that end Cranshaw has developed an impressive, encyclopedic guide to identifying everything from acorn weevils to zebra caterpillars. Understanding the way gardeners think, Cranshaw has logically organized the information according to the type of damage inflicted. The chapter on leaf chewers, for example, lists more than three-dozen likely insect culprits. Insect groups are then further characterized by host plant, range, appearance, and habits to precisely pinpoint the offending pest. Methods of controlling insect populations, in-depth discussions of beneficial insects, a comprehensive at-a-glance appendix of common plant-insect associations, and more than 1,400 color photos make this a marvel among insect identification manuals. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
An impressive, encyclopedic guide to identifying everything from acorn weevils to zebra caterpillars. Understanding the way gardeners think, Cranshaw has logically organized the information according to the type of damage inflicted. . . . Methods of controlling insect populations, in-depth discussions of beneficial insects, a comprehensive at-a-glance appendix of common plant-insect associations, and more than 1,400 color photos make this a marvel among insect identification manuals. -- Booklist

Know thine enemy,' a time-worn caveat lifted from Sun-tzu's treatise, The Art of War, is sage advice for the organic gardener hoping to emerge victorious in the battle of the bugs. Acquiring such knowledge has just become easier with the release of Garden Insects of North America. . . . [Cranshaw] has packed his book with concise, organized information on all the common and not-so-common insect pests of turf, orchards and gardens in North America. The overwhelming emphasis is on recognizing and categorizing the insects themselves, using appearance, type of destructive damage encountered and target food hosts as clues. . . . With detailed, high-quality photographic plates conveniently adjacent to the standardized insect descriptions, identification of suspected insect enemies is straightforward. -- Jack Aldridge, San Francisco Chronicle

An exceptionally well organized and complete text on garden insects. . . . Almost every insect is illustrated, with well over 1,000 full-color photographs showing them in various life cycle stages. Its very simple but complete explanations, diagrams and photographs make this the best reference I have read for diagnosing virtually all insect problems. It will make you the neighborhood entomologist. -- Joel M. Lerner, The Washington Post

If you've ever wondered what's eating your garden besides yourself and the woodchuck, this is the book for you. I know that sometime this summer I will carry a bug of some sort into the house to identify it in this volume. And I know that I'll lose at least an hour looking at photographs of all the other bugs that might lie hidden in the herbage. -- Verlyn Klinkenborg, New York Times Book Review

[Cranshaw is] an entomologist with perhaps a skewed affection for all kinds of bugs, but no one will argue with his desire to demystify insects and their world so that people understand better whether and how to react to a problem, and to enjoy this Lilliputian drama. -- Adrian Higgins, The Washington Post

An impressive garden reference that doubles as a field guide. Wherever you live in North America, your insects are included her. . . . The more than 1,400 color pictures of insects and their damage are truly impressive and will be invaluable in helping readers track down the culprits of their plant injury. . . . This wonderful reference will certainly become a classic. . . . Whether you are a professional or a home gardening enthusiast, this is an indispensable reference. -- Jeffrey Hahn, The American Gardener

Garden Insects is destined to become the new bible for horticulturalists and home gardeners alike. I've added it to the few books I keep close at hand while I am in the garden. Luckily, Garden Insects is also an exceptionally well-made paperback with water-resistant cover and 656 pages that fall open without cracking the spine and stay open without having to balance a rock on top. At $29.95, it's a bargain. -- Patricia Jonas, Plants and Garden News

Insects are the most diverse and widely distributed life-forms on the planet. Gardens, and the diverse gardeners that tend them, are similarly widely distributed. Succinctly capturing this diversity, Cranshaw has constructed a lucid and well-illustrated text to allow gardeners to identify insects they encounter. . . . Breadth of synthesis, high quality, and effective formatting justify this work as a valuable addition to the popular literature. -- Choice

A must-have reference for any gardener. -- San Francisco Chronicle

Cranshaw has produced a wonderful guide whether the reader is interested in understanding, managing, or just observing theses insects. Identification is the very first step in the process of opening the door of appreciation, and this book is the key. -- Biology Digest

From the Back Cover

"Garden Insects of North America is a tremendous contribution and is destined to be a staple on any gardener's bookshelf. Readers will find it overflowing with color pictures and informative yet easy-to- read descriptions. If this isn't the one book you must have, it comes pretty close!"--Casey Sclar, Integrated Pest Management Coordinator, Longwood Gardens

"Whitney Cranshaw's Garden Insects of North America is the most comprehensive book on insect and mite pests of vegetable, fruit, and ornamental plants now in print. Working from experience and the scientific literature, Dr. Cranshaw delivers information on a huge variety of pests in an entirely engaging manner."--James R. Baker, Professor Emeritus, North Carolina State University

"Whitney Cranshaw is probably the only entomologist who could pull off such a large undertaking! His clear, concise writing style, his completeness, and his attention to proper illustration will put this book ahead of any other in the field."--David Shetlar, Ohio State University

"A quick diagnostic tool for identifying pest insects by host plant, Garden Insects of North America will appeal to a wide audience, including home gardeners, master gardeners, entomologists in diagnostic clinics, and students."--Jody Fetzer, University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum