An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America

by Kenneth W. Cummins and Richard W. Merritt

Book Overview

Book by This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0840380070
• ISBN13: 9780840380074
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Kendall Hunt Pub Co
• Weight: 3.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.5" x 1.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

4th Edition M & C

Updates seem to have all been fixed, the new color pics are great, especially to show trichop case diversity. been a long time coming, this edition...well done!

Aquatic Entomology Essential

This book isn't perfect, but the keys are useful and the ecology information is good. If you are interested in aquatic entomology in North America, you are going to buy this book eventually.

Nothing else like it

The 4th edition of an Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America is a great upgrade from the 3rd edition. There is nothing else out there that compares to this book. That being said, there are a number of errors in this book. There are couplets that take you to the wrong place. It is especially prevalent in the Hemiptera family key where it sends you to the Odonata section for the genus keys. It seems like the section was lifted from the 3rd edition and pasted in this one without updated the page numbers. All in all a great book, just needed a better review before being released.

A taxonomist's bible

This is the one book for every aquatic insect taxonomist. Any book like this needs constant updating and the editors do this very well. There is no other taxonomic document as comprehensive as this one for North American Insects.The drawings are a real help in the identification of aquatic insects.

This is a dichotomous key to the American aquatic insects

While designed for the generalist working in the area of macrobenthic taxonomy, "An Introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America" stands as one of the classics in its field. Nine orders of aquatic insects are classified, generally to the level of genus. Some information is provided about collection, preservation, phylogeny, ecology, respiration, and developmental biology in the introductory chapters. Each key to the individual Orders contains additional information specific to that Order. All of the keys are extensively referenced to illustrations. Each section is supported by an extensive bibliography. The section on the Diptera is subdivided to cover the major families individually. The spiral binding allows the book to lie flat while the user manipulates specimens under the microscope - an under-appreciated bonus. Some of the keys are a little buggy, but this is a 'must have' for aquatic entomologists of all levels of expertise.