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Post by achmeineye on Aug 1, 2011 6:20:17 GMT -8
I'm new to this site and to the serious study of entomology itself. I've been fascinated by insects for as long as I can remember; one of my earliest memories involves playing with the bark beetles that lived in my sandbox, and of turning over rocks and stumps to look at all the interesting things under them. I've only very recently begun to study insects in a more formal and scientific light, and I was wondering if anyone could recommend some good beginner's books or websites where I could learn more about insects in general. Most of the books I've found are on very specific aspects of entomology due to the small size of my local library. Any tips at all about learning would be much appreciated.
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Post by starlightcriminal on Aug 1, 2011 8:13:12 GMT -8
The internet is obviously one of the most valuable resources in the world, so long as you learn to check and re-check the information for accuracy. Otherwise, I would say it depends on what kinds of insects you are curious about (a family, a geographic region, etc.). There are lots of butterfly resources so that's easy. Plenty of databases around for ID and distribution and so on. For a well organized site for ID and some other discrete information try BugGuide.net. It's hard to think of a book that deals with insects at large in a quality manner. The reason you see so many specific books is because there are soooooooo many insects it would be impossible to treat them in a single book other than by order. Even then, you can gather that information so quickly from the internet (BugGuide in fact is more than sufficient for order ID) and from experience that such a book would likely be obsolete to you in a very short time. Most people pick a focus and start by getting introductory books with a narrower scope I think. Say, all of the butterflies of North America. Or all of the beetles of a particular family, like Scarabidae (though I think even this would be a lot of information for one book- maybe a bunch of volumes). What kind of start information are you specifically looking for? Id information? Natural History? Morphology and systematic taxonomy? Of course I will say that the *best* website for getting good information about insects is here  Lots of great people with a wide range of experience covering insects of all kinds. Everyone here is very willing to share their information and it's a rare question that doesn't get a quality answer from someone. Here, there tends to be a Lepidoptera-Coleoptera bias as they are the premium orders for collection and to a lesser extent Odonates and a few others. Nothing preserves as well as a beetle or butterfly/moth so they get extra attention here compared to fleas, ticks and other "nasty" insects which would be of more interest on a site where people are primarily concerned with control and thus physiology and natural history. I suspect you belong to the former rather than the latter. |
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Post by achmeineye on Aug 1, 2011 8:30:53 GMT -8
I can definitely understand how a subject as broad and diverse as entomology would be difficult to narrow down. I guess what I'm primarily interested in is the natural history of insects, how they evolve, etc. Also, I've been trying to find maps for specific insect's habitats. I have seen them in field guides but the one I have does not include a map. I have never tried to collect them, but I would definitely be willing to try it. I think I will just read everything I can on here and maybe look for a field guide and just try to absorb as much information as possible. Thank you for making me feel welcome |
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Post by nomihoudai on Aug 1, 2011 8:53:03 GMT -8
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Post by achmeineye on Aug 1, 2011 8:57:14 GMT -8
Yes! thank you, that is precisely what I am looking for |
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