The 9 Best bug ID Guides (2023 reviews)

The latest national audubon society bug id guide is an absolute beast in terms of its features, and rightfully takes the top spot with ease. The Audubon has one of the easiest to use methods of finding an insect from any of the insect guides. This is a great reference book with good photos to help in identification. There are plenty of awesome pictures of different bugs and also plenty of facts to learn about them. The photographs are of generally good quality, though no photograph is the equal of a quality illustration.

The booklet contains spiders & insects and goes in-depth for butterflies. These are organized by similiar shape, and color. The photographs are full color, and the descriptions are concise and easy to read. This is the most helpful book out there for entomology event.

Why We Like This:

Contains extremely detailed pics and basic information of the insect
Great book to take on camping trips and hikes
Great gift for those that love bugs
Perfect if you are just starting to learn about insects

Best For carrying On hikes: Kenn Kaufman bug ID Guide

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The kenn kaufman bug id guide gives the top-tier guide a run for their money by offering flagship specs at a much more affordable price. If you’re newer to birdwatching and also interested in the native flora and fauna of Illinois, this is a great start. This guide is great, and will not answer every question you have but is great for identifying more predominant critters and plants/flora and fauna down to family or order. This makes for awkward browsing in the field where only one hand may be available, the other being occupied by a camera, binoculars, walking stick, or whatever.

This guide is an essential reference for nature lovers living in or visiting the midwest. It covers so many things plus matches with a different resource. It includes ranges, photos, and descriptions. This book is good for the very casual naturalist as it only provides the most basic of species.

Why We Like This:

Much easier to identify plants and animals
Color photos and is easy to use
Great little field guide that touches on so many topics

Best For locating decriptions: Cranshaw bug ID Guide

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The cranshaw bug id guide gives the top-tier guide a run for their money by offering flagship specs at a much more affordable price. This really is the 'ultimate' guide to garden insects. This book is very accessible to those who are interested in the secret tiny life that exists off of their back porch, people who don't know where to start and therefore keep pushing it off. It's a nice thick size, with TONS of photos and information on every insect in North America. This reference/field guide will assist all levels of entomologists to identify bugs that are common to the garden.

This is a large, heavy book, not one to carry around. It is a very good book to use for identifying pests and diseases that you find in your garden on your vegetables and flowers. It is fairly large but the quality of paper makes it rather heavy, so the book cannot easily be taken out in the bean patch to identify who is nibbling there.

Why We Like This:

Very comprehensive with great photos and descriptions
Makes it great for troubleshooting a gardening problem and trying to id the culprit
Perfect book for a horticulturalists library

Best For beginner: Eric R Eaton bug ID Guide

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Not everyone likes to purchase guide for their daily usage, but the eric r eaton bug id guide would be an anomoly. This is a great adjunct to the peterson field guide to the insects, a serious bug nut should have them both, the peterson for the text and kaufman for the many excellent photos. They follow Kaufman's previous guides (Birds, Butterflies) in using digitally-enhanced photographs. It's green and it shimmers like gold, not metallic, but like a jewel. It is easy to thumb through to find information and identification, even if you are not an entomologist.

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. It is great for your nature library. This begins with an 'overview' paragraph, and every label from the picture page appears in boldface.

Why We Like This:

One of the essential field guide into the world of insects
Well organized, good quality illustrations, maximum information packed into a small format
Beautiful, great for a backyard entomolgist
Very complete book for the curious about insects

Best For camping: Richard E white bug ID 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 richard e white bug id guide is exactly that - it's a simple guide that hits all the right notes. This little book is just the thing for your walk or trip. It is easy to look up an insect with over 200 common insects of North America inside. It is a great book for common name identification of a wide variety of insects. It is helpful to narrow down the field of suspects to dung beetles vs. ground beetles vs. click beetles. It makes a great gift too, kids or adult will all enjoy this handy little book.

It is perfect for camping or a hike in the woods. The small size makes it easy to pack around when hiking.

Why We Like This:

Great colorful pictures, descriptions, and easy to carry size
Plain and simple language, good illustrations
Great for kids and also adult beginners

Best With Fish: Lynn Frierson Faust bug ID 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 lynn frierson faust bug id guide is exactly that - it's a simple guide that hits all the right notes. This book will draw you into the world of fireflies and make you want to go out into the night to discover and enjoy them for yourself. Lynn's chapters on Survival and Mimicry, and Parasites and Predators, provide an interesting, in-depth look at the complex and often violent lives of these insects.

This attractive field guide will look great on your coffee table. The impeccable research and photos bring light to a fascinating subject. This book will be valuable to anyone interested in fireflies. If nothing else, this book will spark memories of the childhood delight you felt when you caught lightning bugs in a jar.

Why We Like This:

Very user-friendly and easy to assimilate
A must for the nature enthusiast
A thorough, well-researched, and tremendously illustrated book

Best general Guide: Tom Murray bug ID Guide

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Tom Murray is known for creating pragmatic and minimalist guide for people on the go, and its line of tom murray bug id guide definitely falls in line with that reputation. This easily pocketed field guide has many of the species you will meet in new england. It's easily accessible and informative in a way that is familiar, as if an old friend were telling you about each insect. It fits in a coat pocket or a small knapsack. It is also very easy to use and portable.

This book covers an enormous variety of species including everything likely to be seen in the area. It contains many lesser-known insects in addition to the most noticeable ones usually included in field guides. This is worth getting and thoroughly enjoying for those who love gardening and water gardening or the outdoors in general. It is great book for both beginners and more experienced naturalist/entomologists.

Why We Like This:

Great for gardeners, landscapers and bug enthusiasts
Indispensable for people in the coastal northeast
A must have for the curios outdoor adventurer, amazing detail and photos
Very useful guide with beautiful photographs

Best For kids: Jaret C Daniels bug ID Guide

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The jaret c daniels bug id guide's high-end materials makes sure that it ages well with use. It is a highly distinctive and diverse group of moths with more than 100 species found in north america. It gives you great pictures of all the creatures that thrive in your garden or outdoors etc. It actually has the bugs that you can find in your back yard. It has a broad host range, feeding on a wide assortment of different plants and may readily move from one species to another. It is great for kids & adults. It is a great book, similar to a field guide. It is easy to read with interesting facts for any one who loves nature.

Why We Like This:

Lots of pictures with lots of bugs, great for age 3-
Good investment for long term

Best For folks: ARTHUR V Evans bug ID Guide

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The arthur v evans bug id guide is specially designed for your regular usage and has all useful features. If you have a young bug-enthusiast in your family, this book could easily become a great bedtime story book, with its short one-page descriptions. It really has the most basic varieties of insects in it, and not much more. It does cover the most common species, so if you learn these insects, you will have a good start for moving up to a more technical manual with more species.

The descriptions for each species provide interesting and useful information. A visual key to arthropod families appears inside the front cover, while labeled diagrams of insect and spider parts appear inside the back cover. This is a treasure of a book for beginning entomologists, or anyone who wants to learn to tell friendly bugs from pests. The book isn't organized as a field guide to enable you to identify any random insect or spider you may come across.

Why We Like This:

Useful for both adults and kids
One of the new comers and featured product