Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States

by John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, Thomas J. Walker

Book Overview

In much of North America, crickets and katydids provide the soundtrack to summer nights, and grasshoppers frequent the fields and roadsides of midsummer days. Although insects from this group have long been the bane of those who make their living from the land, grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets are themselves crucial food sources for many species of birds, reptiles and amphibians, and other creatures.Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States introduces readers to the biology, behavior, and ecological significance of one of the most obvious (abundant, large, and colorful) and important (ecologically and economically significant) insect groups in North America, the order Orthoptera. A simple, illustrated identification guide assists the reader in distinguishing among the various groups and narrows down the options to expedite identification. The book treats more than a third of the species found in the United States and Canada in brief, easy-to-understand sections that provide information on distribution, identification, ecology, and similar species. Distribution maps accompany each profile, and 206 species are pictured in color. Black-and-white drawings highlight distinguishing characteristics of some of the more difficult-to-identify species. Sonograms provide a graphic representation of the insects' distinctive sounds, which may be heard on Thomas J. Walker's website: Singing Insects of North America.This is the first treatment of North American grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets to portray the insects in full color, and it will be the first time many amateur naturalists and students have the opportunity to see the amazing and colorful world of Orthoptera, because many are cryptically colored (their bright colors evident only in flight) or cryptic in behavior (nocturnal in their habits). John L. Capinera, Ralph D. Scott, and Thomas J. Walker designed their book for amateur naturalists who wish to know the local fauna, for students who seek to identify insects as part of entomology and natural history courses, and for professional biologists who need to identify invertebrates. This invaluable field guide will be a useful supplement for laboratory and field activities and a reference for classrooms at every level.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801489482
• ISBN13: 9780801489488
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Comstock Publishing
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

grahoppers

A good addition to a library of detailed information about a common insect.This book follows after a general insect guide for anyone with curiosity about grasshoppers. Walk through arecently dry filed or lake and have this book in your pocket.

A Must for Insect Collectors

Have you tried to identify a grasshopper or cricket with one of those field guides that covers all insects? Here is the book that makes it possible to identify that orthopteran that you just can't find in the other guides. The pictorial keys and the full color plates are invaluable to amateurs and the experienced collectors alike. The distribution maps, descriptions and illustrations of distinguishing characteristics help you to confirm or refute your identification. This book is in such high demand by my students that I will certainly be buying more copies.

from a Canadian perspective

To add to the comments posted by others who have reviewed this book, here are a few additional notes. As mentioned by everyone above, the colour illustrations of a selection of species are beautiful. Descriptions of species are excellent. The description of habitat for each species (under heading of "Ecology") is quite helpful. As a Canadian naturalist, it's nice to find an insect guide that has range maps and descriptions extending north of the 49th. The section on natural history and anatomy is quite good, although it would have been nice to see more descriptions and illustrations of various nymphs as these seem to confound many people. Aside from that, it's an excellent field guide and would make a good addition to the library of any naturalist interested in entomology.

A Good Introduction to American Orthoptera

Grasshoppers, crickets and kadydids are well-known, but often overlooked by amateur naturalists because of the apparent lack of good guides. Actually Helfer wrote a very good guide to the orthopteroid orders many years ago, which is still available from Dover, but the taxonomy is a bit out of date. John Capinera et al., have now produced a beautiful guide a selection of the U. S. species to the true Orthoptera (minus walkingsticks, mantids, and cockroaches) that will serve as an good introduction. I am surprised at some of their choices, but then one never totally agrees with the authors of books containing selected species descriptions. Those who would like more can get Helfer, which is still very useful, if dated, and is much more complete (it not only includes most of the known grasshopper, katydid, and cricket species, but also the other orders formally placed in the Orthoptera, and the termites and earwigs as a bonus!). However the color illustrations in "Field Guide to Grasshoppers, Katydids, and Crickets of the United States" are reasonably accurate and beautiful. Why not get both books (the Helfer book is still available for less than $15.00) if you really want to identify your fauna of grasshoppers and their relatives? I recommend this book to anyone interested in the fauna beyond their back door. I hope, however, that a revised and updated version of something like Helfer's book will eventually be published.

Small things make the world go round

If you are interested in "the small things that make the world go round', this new field guide is a "keeper". Capinera, Scott, and Walker's user-friendly reference covers most of the common "orthops" in the US. That's about a third of the American grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets known in the lower 48. The book relies on 48 excellent color plates to aid identification. How do you use the book? Well, learning about grasshoppers and their kin is a little different from birding. You've got to have a specimen in hand, dead or alive. So, go check out your car's radiator grill for a grasshopper, or turn on the back porch lights to attract some katydids. Okay, with your dried grasshopper or a cricket in a jar you can begin by using the pictorial key. It will help you to learn what suborder and family your critter belongs to. After you do that a few times you'll be able to distinguish a spur-throated from a banded-wing hopper, or a cone-headed katydid from a hump-winged grig. When you reach this stage, which is a no-brainer, you use the book pretty much like a bird guide. Just compare your specimen with the plates. Wing and hind leg color are key characters for grasshoppers, while more subtle features distinguish katydids and crickets. When you find a good match, go to the species accounts to see if the critter occurs in your state. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't. Go back to the plates and keep looking. A lot of species look alike till you get up close and personal, which is the only way you are going to identify most orthops. It's amazing how quickly you can start to recognize species when you know their key characters. It's also quite satisfying. But very few of your hiking friends will believe you when you start spouting off the names of trailside orthops. I hope that future editions will print the page number of the species account next to the species' picture in the plate. But you can always write the page in, as I do for those species I have identified. Did you ever wonder what makes those chirps and buzzing sounds on a summer night? Well, get out there with your flashlight and a jar and have some fun. There is a wealth of information in this field guide, and it can open up a new world of biological pursuit, whether you're a recreational naturalist or a professional entomologist.