The 6 Best bug Field Guides (2023 reviews)

If you often find yourself scrambling for good guide, national audubon society bug field guide should be your first option for buying. This book will get you in the ballpark when you try to identifying these animals, but you'll have to use other reference materials if you are serious about taxonomy. The field guides to insects illustrate at most 700 insects. This book would be better for general reference, not to try to look for insects or spiders you saw on your last hike.

This is a very good book to get you on the road to entomology and as a reference after that, one you too will keep a long time. It is useful in getting to know the classification system for insects and arachnids. The photographs are of generally good quality, though no photograph is the equal of a quality illustration. This book also takes on an old-earth evolutionistic standpoint.

Why We Like This:

Identification is easy, learning is fantastic
Very informative like all the audobon guides, and lots of photos, which really helps
One of the new comers and featured product

Best For budding bug enthusiast: ARTHUR V Evans bug Field Guide

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The arthur v evans bug field guide's superior materials makes sure that it ages well with use. If you're fascinated by bugs or curious to know "what kind of bug is that", this is your book. This NWF book is nice because it has more information on individual species than kaufman and provides detailed information and drawings about each order. It even explains the techniques required for collecting the insects and identification. It's easy to use, accurate, and full of pictures for identification.

This is a complete, informative, and handy field guide to insects and spiders of N. America. It gives you a good start in bug identification. It's perfect if you just want one book. The color pictures make it so much easier than a black and white photo and the index helps with simple indentification. It's a good guide and very fun to thumb through.

Why We Like This:

Good for kids to grow into
Great reference manual on insects with excellent quality photographs
Refreshing and colorful new look for a field guide

Best For beginner: Eric R Eaton bug Field Guide

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The eric r eaton bug field guide should be able to handle its purpose and duties with ease. This is definitely the guide beginners will want to acquire, but it should find a place on every naturalist's bookshelf. They follow Kaufman's previous guides (Birds, Butterflies) in using digitally-enhanced photographs. It lists many species with colored photos and gives nice lengthy descriptions for most of them. The pictures are terrific,there are just enough on a page so your eye can easily scan when you are looking for a particular insect.

The Binding is a flexible plastic covering card-stock which does well in a backpack, and is waterproof. It's easy to flip through, and frankly it's visually appealing to browse, too. What it DOES have is enough illustrations so you can find something VERY close if you can't find the exact insect. It is a good choice for an up-to-date compact guide.

Why We Like This:

Wonderful essential for the field guide shelf
Includes many common and less common insects
Delivers what they promise

Best For quick Reference: Borror bug Field Guide

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The borror bug field guide is suitable and reliable and fits well with your regular usage. This field guide is a current must have for any northeasterner interested in amature entomology. It has a dichotomous Key in the covet that helps you get on the right track with your identification. Its construction is durable and it's full of wonderful illustrations and short descriptions that will have you identifying insects in no time. The front and back covers even have a convientent, illustrated dichotomous key that can help you get started by determining the order of your mystery insect.

This was achieved by grouping similar species together on a plate, using clear, two-dimensional illustrations, and pointers to key field marks as well as succinct text, a combination known as the Peterson Identification System. It is easy to read, plenty of pictures also. There are several illustrations of many of the common species including the colored plates. It is really helpful in identifying insects to order level and also useful for recognizing families.

Why We Like This:

Perfect, small, handy book for field work
Great for school, field work, and just hobbiest
Awesome field guide for insect identification

Best For Identification With Great Photos: Dennis Paulson Excellent Field Guide

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate guide. The dennis paulson excellent field guide is exactly that - it's a simple guide that hits all the right notes. If you are an advanced or serious odonater you will want the hardback as a great addition to your library. This guide is most useful for IDing captured specimens. It includes helpful pictures and drawings and pointers for separating similar species. It is perfect for identification with great photos.

For beginners, this book often requires one to turn page by page looking for a match to what one has seen or photographed,and this can take a long time. It reduces the detail of the image. It's great to see such an accomplished naturalist be so encouraging for beginners and non-professionals. The book also contain a lot of general knowledge on odonates about their life cycles, general biology, anatomy and related identification criteria.

Why We Like This:

Contains both common and scientific names
Glossy gorgeous photos, lots of helpful maps, habitat info, etc
Advantages over dunkle's dragonflies through binocs include
Indispensable, well organized book for any casual naturalist or professional entomologist alike

Best For damsels: Dennis Paulson bug Field Guide

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The dennis paulson bug field guide is satisfactory and appropriate and fits well with your daily purpose. This paulson guide has more photos and can be used to fine-tune your findings from the Biggs book, plus you will need this Paulson guide if you live in the west, outside of California. It not only gives the information on identifying select dragonflies and damselflies, it also points out similar insects and helps to choose between them.

This volume is destined to become a classic and "must have" for all odonata enthusiasts from the amateur to the professional. It's thorough and absolutely necessary if you're going to be in the Sierras or the deserts or in other areas where the dragons and damsels are not what you normally see at home.

The lack of a key makes this volume more of a reference manual than a useful field guide. These photographs will be very helpful with the identification of most odonata you encounter.

Why We Like This:

A must have for the serious amateur, and great for photographers
Good solid binding and fine printing
Good maps to determine locations and excellent photography
A must book for any dragonfly enthusiast