An updated edition of the most complete resource on backyard insects available
This second edition of Garden Insects of North America solidifies its place as the most comprehensive guide to the common insects, mites, and other "bugs" found in the backyards and gardens of the United States and Canada. Featuring 3,300 full-color photos and concise, detailed text, this fully revised book covers the hundreds of species of insects and mites associated with fruits and vegetables, shade trees and shrubs, flowers and ornamental plants, and turfgrass--from aphids and bumble bees to leafhoppers and mealybugs to woollybears and yellowjacket wasps--and much more. This new edition also provides a greatly expanded treatment of common pollinators and flower visitors, the natural enemies of garden pests, and the earthworms, insects, and other arthropods that help with decomposing plant matter in the garden.
Designed to help you easily identify what you find in the garden, the book is organized by where insects are most likely to be seen--on leaves, shoots, flowers, roots, or soil. Photos are included throughout the book, next to detailed descriptions of the insects and their associated plants.
An indispensable guide to the natural microcosm in our backyards, Garden Insects of North America continues to be the definitive resource for amateur gardeners, insect lovers, and professional entomologists.
- Revised and expanded edition covers most of the insects, mites, and other "bugs" one may find in yards or gardens in the United States and Canada--all in one handy volume
- Features more than 3,300 full-color photos, more than twice the illustrations of the first edition
- Concise, informative text organized to help you easily identify insects and the plant injuries that they may cause
Industry Reviews
"An exceptionally well organized and complete text on garden insects... Almost every insect is illustrated, with well over 1,000 full-color photographs showing them in various life cycle stages. Its very simple but complete explanations, diagrams and photographs make this the best reference I have read for diagnosing virtually all insect problems. It will make you the neighborhood entomologist."--Joel M. Lerner, The Washington Post "[Cranshaw is] an entomologist with perhaps a skewed affection for all kinds of bugs, but no one will argue with his desire to demystify insects and their world so that people understand better whether and how to react to a problem, and to enjoy this Lilliputian drama."--Adrian Higgins, The Washington Post "An impressive garden reference that doubles as a field guide. Wherever you live in North America, your insects are included her... The more than 1,400 color pictures of insects and their damage are truly impressive and will be invaluable in helping readers track down the culprits of their plant injury... This wonderful reference will certainly become a classic... Whether you are a professional or a home gardening enthusiast, this is an indispensable reference."--Jeffrey Hahn, The American Gardener "Garden Insects is destined to become the new bible for horticulturalists and home gardeners alike. I've added it to the few books I keep close at hand while I am in the garden. Luckily, Garden Insects is also an exceptionally well-made paperback with water-resistant cover and 656 pages that fall open without cracking the spine and stay open without having to balance a rock on top. At $29.95, it's a bargain."--Patricia Jonas, Plants and Garden News "Insects are the most diverse and widely distributed life-forms on the planet. Gardens, and the diverse gardeners that tend them, are similarly widely distributed. Succinctly capturing this diversity, Cranshaw has constructed a lucid and well-illustrated text to allow gardeners to identify insects they encounter... Breadth of synthesis, high quality, and effective formatting justify this work as a valuable addition to the popular literature."--Choice "A must-have reference for any gardener."--San Francisco Chronicle "Cranshaw has produced a wonderful guide whether the reader is interested in understanding, managing, or just observing theses insects. Identification is the very first step in the process of opening the door of appreciation, and this book is the key."--Biology Digest Praise for the first edition: "If you've ever wondered what's eating your garden besides yourself and the woodchuck, this is the book for you. I know that sometime this summer I will carry a bug of some sort into the house to identify it in this volume. And I know that I'll lose at least an hour looking at photographs of all the other bugs that might lie hidden in the herbage."--Verlyn Klinkenborg, New York Times Book Review Praise for the first edition: "Know thine enemy,' a time-worn caveat lifted from Sun-tzu's treatise, The Art of War, is sage advice for the organic gardener hoping to emerge victorious in the battle of the bugs. Acquiring such knowledge has just become easier with the release of Garden Insects of North America... With detailed, high-quality photographic plates conveniently adjacent to the standardized insect descriptions, identification of suspected insect enemies is straightforward."--Jack Aldridge, San Francisco Chronicle Praise for the first edition: "An exceptionally well organized and complete text on garden insects... Its very simple but complete explanations, diagrams and photographs make this the best reference I have read for diagnosing virtually all insect problems. It will make you the neighborhood entomologist."--Joel M. Lerner, Washington Post
