Insect Books – Suggestions

Q: Recently on your television show you mentioned a book on insects. I believe it would make a great gift for our granddaughter. She lives near Savannah and is VERY curious about insects as well as other natural life. What is the book’s name?

A: I really like the “National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders” (Knopf, $19.95). It’s organized so that even a kid could identify an insect. The book begins with basic insect shapes and refers the reader to specific color photographs of insects that are similar to a specific shape. Once the correct photo is found one can find further details about the creature.

I also like “Garden Insects of North America” by Whitney Cranshaw (Princeton University Press, $29.95). It doesn’t have quite the same slant toward initial identification but contains excellent photographs of hundreds of insects and the damage they do to landscape plants.