I just ordered two Kaufman Field Guides;
Caterpillars in the Field and Garden
Butterfies of North American
They seemed like good books for newbee butterfly watcher like me. Your opinons are greatly welcomed.
P
Input on new book purchases
Another good book is David Wagner's book on caterpillars of Eastern North America
Is that caterpillar book by Brock, Allen and Glassberg? If so, that is an excellent book as well as is the Kaufman Focus Guide for Butterflies of North America.
I always keep one in my truck and have an extra copy at home. Must haves for any butterflier and caterpillarite. :o)
~ Cat
Caterpillar book is by Allen,Brock and Glassgerg. Butterfly book is by Brock and Kaufman.
P
Any book on butterflies by Jeffrey Glassberg should be good.
Good luck with your new purchases...
Chuck
Got the butterfly book earlier this week. Lots of butterflies in the yard but they flippy flap so fast I can't tell one from the other. Is there a safe way to catch and release them so I don't do any damage?
P
Looks like you have some good reference books now bigred. How many species do you have host plants for this year?
Deb
I'll have to do an inventory but I can already tell you...not enough.
P
Chuck is right...any book by Jeff Glassberg is an asset. I have numerous books of his as well as gobs by others. Jeff comes down to south Texas several times a year as our local North American Butterfly Association International Butterfly Park (NABA IP) is his pet project.
The main thing is to learn what butterflies are known to frequent your location. They you'll start to recognize wing shape and size. The Kaufman Focus Guide Butterflies of North America shows the main butterfly families. From there you'll learn to associate certain colors with certain butterflies as well as what your first impression is - striped pattern, dots, spots, bars, metallic looking, tails or lack of, flight patterns etc.
Don't fret...before you realize it you will be able to spot and identify butterflies even if you're speeding on the highway :o)
Must repeat...both the books you have ordered are in my opinion the best available for identifying North American butterflies and caterpillars. Am sure there are other books that are specific to your state or area. I have several that are specific to only the butterflies seen in south Texas (but considering we get 320 species - they are big books!!!)
If you're interested in watching/studying the butterfly life cycle and have or plan to plant larval hosts in your yard another excellent book is "The Life Cycles of Butterflies" by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards. It has excellent...I mean excellent! color photographs and covers 23 common garden butterflies. It also has more information and photos for identifying other species but not the complete cycle.
It has really awesome full page identification charts for eggs, cats and chrysalids too. Also provides wonderful information with regards to nectar and larval host plants. I highly recommend it. It's perfect for adults and truly inspirational for children with inquiring minds.
http://www.butterflynature.com/
~ Cat
This message was edited Apr 12, 2007 9:02 AM
Peggy - Another good reference by state and county is this website which will tell you which butterflies frequent your area:
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/map?ds=4&_dcs=1
You can check specifically by choosing your county on the upper right of the screen.
Got to test drive my caterpillar book yesterday when a neighbor's 4 yr.son found a caterpillar. Turns out it was just a tent caterpillar but examming it up close was interesting. Never knew they had so much color and pattern.
Deb,
I have more host plants than I thought but still not near enough.
Cat,
I think I need that book on life cycles. Neither of these books gives pictures of eggs(maybe 2 pix) and only one of 3 instar stages.
becky,
Thanks,I'll check the link out.
I hope to get close enough to take pictures so I can see pattern and color without all that flippy-flapping...LOL
P