Invertebrates Books

this book has to be one of the most informative, accurate, and comprehensive book on BOTH corals and fish I could find. There were numerous occasions where we had opportunities to verify firsthand the advice contained herein, and much to our astonishment, the author was truly on point.

It's a good book if your not looking for specific info on a specific fish or invert. This book generalize a family of fish or inverts. It has very indepth info on equipment, but has no recommend setup. This book also include some nice ideas about ridding deritus.

This book does a wonderful job of explaining all the basics of marine fish, and reef keeping. If you want to know what all the gagets are, and what they do, this is the book for you. It gives a good general description of all the equipment and how each item is used. It does not support any one tank set up method. It throws all the information out there and lets the reader sort it out for themselves. It's also a nice quick reference for fish/invert compatibility, tank, and feeding requirements. Great for the beginner!

This book has the same contents as "The Questions & Answers Manual of the Marine Aquarium: Practical and Expert Advice on Keeping Fish and Invertebrates" by the same author but published by Salamander Books Limited (ISBN: 0-86101-861-3).

It covers a good introduction of the various gadgets (filters, protein skimmers, ozonizers, etc.) and explains the purpose of such devices. Tank set-up and care are also covered. Common fishes and invertebrates are covered, each in two or three pages with colorful, good quality photos of the creatures.

Q & A approach makes reading a breeze. Highly recommended for beginners

Easy to understand and utilize, sound information all presented in a clear and articulate manner. Those starting in the hobby will find this a useful tool before graduating to more complex reference books. Well presented photographs are also a added treat. The expert reef keeper however, maybe left wanting something a little more profound.

excellent reference of all sea life in this part of the world. I would highly recommend it.

The book is written from the prospective of the conservator rather than that of the coral reef keeper. However, the information is pertinent to both. The photographs are clear and provide a tool in identifying salt water invertebrates.

I only have positive thoughts about this great reference. It is simply the best book ever written on the invertebrates of the Indian Ocean and especially the Indonesian area. It is like an oversized version of Debelius` field guides,but this one truly rocks!It does not only include 1105 interesting invertebrate species,but also some great information about them. Some species are such new to science that they`ve not even been described. For example,there are 10 undescribed little octopi. If any animal are more strikingly colourfull than reef fishes,these are the ones. I love all animals but I especially like the chapters about flatworms,crustaceans,and molluscs,of which many species are new to me. I already have a great knowledge of animals for beeing such young,and this book gives me much more. When I take a trip to Thailand for the next winter,I`ll bring this book and see how many invertebrates I`ll recognize from it. Over all,this is a great book and would recommend it to any serious scientist,aquarium hobbyist,invertebrate lover,or the one that just likes strong colours. The price is high,but believe me,it`s definitly worth it!

I relied on the previous reviews and brought this book with me on a recent trip to French Polynesia. I should have been more careful. One reviewer, for example, noted the inclusion of ten (though I see eight) "undescribed little octopi." How does he know that they're little? The book doesn't give size information. The first of the eight is described as large, then there is no size information for the next two, and then the fourth is "another small species." How small? How small is a small octopus, anyway? It's not something I know, but it is something I expect a guide to tell me. Also, the one octopus I spent most time watching changed color repeatedly, and I would have liked to have seen something about coloration possibilities.

I'm rating this book harshly became I see what more it could have been. It's also a heavy book, and weight is crucial on inter-island flights. Next time, I'm bringing Allen and Steene's Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide. It has fewer entries and devotes the plurality of its pages to fish, which are better covered elsewhere, but it's lighter weight and gives size information.

Great photos, wide coverage, this book is a very simple and easy guide for any lover of the coral reef animals [even if its not a biological or academic textbook with full description and additional detail]. It gives key for coral reef animals identification and provide enough basic information to assist any non specialist, in particular diver.

I needed this book for my Invertebrate Field Zoology class in college. It has extensive keys, great pictures, and a ton of info. Arrived in great condition and in a timely manner, thanks!

I used this as the textbook for my aquatic invertebrates class, and I loved it. The book has 23 chapters, each of which is devoted to a different phylum of invertebrates, as well as one chapter devoted to aquatic insect ecology. The chapters are all written by experts on the specific phylum, but every chapter follows the same basic outline. There are also many well-labeled diagrams. I wouldn't recommend this book if you just want a casual introduction to invertebrates, because it is written on a graduate-course level. But if you are taking college classes in invertebrates or aquatic biology of any sort, I highly recommend this book.

The other reviewers' descriptions are correct: this is a valuable reference. I would like to like to clarify this a little however. The text is an important tool for taxonomists and ecologists working with aquatic macroinvertebrates. However, its emphasis is clearly on non-insects. If you need to identify insects-the most abundant aquatic macroinvertebrates, you should use Merritt and Cummins (1996) text: An introduction to the Aquatic Insects of North America. If you will be identifying samples for stream bioassessments you will need both of these books-and probably some others-as bench references.

To use these references to identify organisms, you will need access to a laboratory because you will need glassware, forceps, microscopes and other tools and chemicals. Sometimes a dissecting scope is required. Sometimes you will need to mount parts of organisms on microscope slides to view them on a compound scope at high magnification. If you represent a volunteer group and don't have access to (or experience with) this type of equipment, this book may not be for you. You might be better off with Resse Voshell's book: A Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America. His text generally has family-level taxonomy based on characteristics observable in the field. Both books contain interesting ecological information in addition to taxonomic identification.

So yes, this book clearly deserves two "Thumbs Up" but you should consider your experience level, taxonomic need, and how you will use this book before you purchase it. I hope this helps you decide if the book is right for you. Feel free to email me with questions if necessary (brett@thebugguy.org). Best regards.

The second edition of "Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates" has provided aquatic biologists with a powerful tool. The study of freshwater organisms has gained in importance as we see our precious water resources become more scarce and polluted. As water flows downhill it takes with it every chemical and waste product we deposit on the surface. Fresh water (and marine) organisms are a first line of defense alerting us to the destruction. The presence or absence of many of these organisms is often significant in regard to water quality and environmental health.

In addition, there is increased interest in our freshwater systems and their biota, both among professionals and knowledgeable amateurs. The lack of funding and specialists in certain areas for the needed research in aquatic systems may make the role of the latter more important with time, as has already occurred in astronomy and to a lesser degree in other areas of study.

This book is a good summery of aquatic organisms from Protozoa to Arthropoda. Despite a few irritating typos, it compares well with earlier editions of Pennak's "Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States" in coverage (the 4th edition of Pennak drops both the protoctists and the insects, while retaining the non-insect arthropods and including some color illustrations). If one can afford them they are both worth having, but for reasonably up-to-date overall coverage and inclusiveness and at a cheaper price, Thorp and Covich (eds.) book is a good reference for all Canadian and U. S. freshwater invertebrates in the very broad sense.

A retired chemist, I have been using Thorp and Covich in connection with benthic macroinvertebrate surveys related to stream water quality work. The drawings are extremely clear, and the keys are excellent. As an amateur, I particularly appreciate the book's comprehensive glossary. If you find that Voshell's fine but brief Guide to Common Freshwater Invertebrates of North America does not provide you with the level of detail you need, you'll almost certainly find Thorp and Covich very useful. A minor flaw--the page(s) listed in the index for an item are often three pages earlier than the page(s) in the book at which the item actually occurs.

This is a really good book to have on your shelf. I will not be selling this textbook back!

This is a very well organized, beautifully illustrated, comprehensive review of the invertebrates. I wish I had it when I studied biology, but I'm glad I can have it now on my shelf.

This invertebrate text is a mixed bag. Although the date on the Author's Preface is 2002, very few references more recent than 1997 are cited. The treatment is also very uneven. As expected given the authors' interests, the Arthropod treatment is done pretty well, but pretty much all the other major phyla are poorly treated. For example, reading the mollusk section is like entering a time warp; the gastropod systematic treatment is straight out of 1970s and the minor classes are perhaps worse. Within the molluscan overall framework, seminal works such as the Ponder and Lindberg treatment of gastropods are ignored, and the minor molluscan groups far no better; nothing more recent than references in the 1970s have obviously been consulted for the Scaphopods and although more recent references are listed for the Aplacophora and other minor classes the treatment is equally weak.

Similar problems are apparent within other major taxa as well.

Although the authors have tried to include some modern phylogentic analyses, the more recent data (from say, 1998 through at least 2000) that should have been included are totally absent.

Compared to the first edition, the text has many new illustrations; in fact, that seems to be the major positive addition over the earlier addition.

The book seems to have relatively few typographical errors.

Brusca and Brusca's book, INVERTEBRATES, presents a wonderful treatment of this extremely diverse group of animals. The continuous themes of body plan, development, and evolutionary relationships provide a continuous focus for the book.

There is ample material in this book for any most groups of invertebrates. This book would work well for an undergraduate or a graduate level course. The line drawings and BW photos are great. The text is well written, and comprehensive taxonomic information is included.

I hope Brusca and Brusca come out with a 2nd edition, since this book was published ten years ago. If they do, it will be a top candidate for my invert zool course in the future.

5 stars.

This large, comprehensive book is actually very suitable for the general reader. Concepts are explained well. Excellent line drawings accompany the text. The book starts off with general concepts, then covers the protozoa and then the placazoa (Trichoplax). It is suggested, as others have also speculated, that Trichoplax perhaps represents a surviving descendant of a premetazoan ancestor. The book then goes on to cover the sponges, cnidaria, ctenophora, platyhelminthes, pseudocolelomates, numerous chapters on worms, arthropoda, mollusca, etc, and finishes off with the invertebrate deuterostomes (including echinodermata, hemichordata and chordata). This book lacks recent molecular results, but nonetheless remains an excellent reference on the invertebrates.

The book took a little longer then I thought it should take to get to my address, by Mr.Hazen worked with me and I am totally satisfied with him and when I got the book it was in perfect condition. I am very satisfied.
Czara

This is by far the best book I have found on water chemistry. It also has a section on invertibrates, but there are other much better books for this.

This is by no means a novice read. The chemistry in it does require some level of understanding of the elements, and to truly grasp his message you have to keep your head up even through the points where the book may drag slightly. One thing is for sure. If you would ever consider reading something like this, or are at all interested in marine biology or aquariristry, this book is a definite must-have.
The response an uninterested reader would be almost hysterical displeasure with it, as it takes every aspect of the craft very seriously. I myself have picked through it many times on my bookshelf, but only recently actually read it cover to cover. The most impressive think about it would definitely be the highly efficient diagrams, such as figure 20, which displays perfectly levels after a filter change of chemicals like NO2, NO3, NH3, as well as bacteria such as Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacteria, and Heterotropic bacteria. There is another type of bacteria discovered more recently than the publication that would be listed here.
This and other works by Martin A. Moe such as The Marine Aquarium Handbook are mainstays in the marine biology world. It cannot be forgotten to mention his very interesting introduction. He refers to our responsibility as human beings with all that power as the super race has; we must ask ourselves the morals of aquaristry. Is the concept of providing a synthetic or better yet growing an organic ecosystem for a bio loads particular needs right? He states that if this question is at all uncertain in its answer that you not take of this hobby.

THIS IS THE MOST COMPLETE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE FOR THE AVERAGE HOME ENTHUSIAST. I USED THIS BOOK AND ITS DIAGRAMS TO BUILD THE SYSTEM THAT RAN MY TROPICAL FISH STORE.

This book has been widely reported to be one of the classics. I can see why - there's a great deal of detail here, especially on the technical aspects of marine aquarium setup. There are some points of contention here, though, with other literature on the subject - particularly with Deelbeck's Reef Aquarium book, which cites it extensively, but disagrees stongly with several points.

This is a book any serious reefkeeper should own.

As with all the Audubon Field Guides, so too with this one. The color plates are the best in the "field" of field guides; these photos are indispensible for anyone who loves to beachcomb or investigate tidepools.

The durable leatherette cover and heavy duty book binding make this a book that can easily stand up to alot of wear and tear.

The descriptive information is good; where the text starts to show deficiencies is in the Range, Habitat, and Comments sections of each species. The information tends to be vague and merely glosses over critical facts that should be included. I can only assume it's the usual story of the editors not having enough space to include more relevant information.

The index is cross-referenced to the color plates; this is a big plus when out in the field attempting to do identifications. As far as a good tool to increase one's knowledge of the natural world, this field guide is helpful and deserves a place in any naturalist's library.

The Cloud Reckoner

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

I think that all of North Americas sea shore critters can not be described in a single book. Certainly not in a book of this size. The publishers where quite bold in the scope and as such much information has been left out. That said let me tell you what is good about this book. The pictures are GREAT! Much better than looking at technical drawings. However, they are not better for identification. The descriptions of animal groups are excellent. For the person with little biological background this will go a good way toward explaining the complexities of ocean life. The method of identification, sorting by superficial appearance is handy, again for the inexperienced. To sum it up, if you want one book to carry during your first summer of beach combing get this one. If you need a companion for a marine zoology class stay away, unless you already have everything else.

Anyone who has used the National Audubon's Field Guides knows just how great they are. This one is no exception. Great picture plates and acccurate descriptions of organisms. For the biologist to the beach hopper, this book is easy to use and very informative.

I live in North Carolina and catch and keep a lot of Invertebrates we we go to the beach. So far, every Invert that we've caught has been in this book, easy to find and we found out alot about it by reading. Anyone who sees something cool at the beach often should get this book. In fact, it's a Must-Have.
Shredda Out

Perhaps I am going overboard in giving this guide a five star review but even a book with an adequate selection of color photos of marine invertebrates is just so darn beautiful I can't help but cause me to rave and this bok offers a selection that is more than just adequate. There is no way one can include all of the seashore creatures of US into one volume let alone a field guide and Audubon guides are not the best things to use for taxonomy. That being said it is a gorgeous little book and certainly helpful to the average beachcomber. Even if you are a Midwestern landlubber this is a great little volume. If nothing else consider it a mini coffee table book.

Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates: A Guide to the Common Gelatinous Animals, is in large part an ID guide to Pacific coast jellies. The photos are great (there are also some pen and ink illustrations to demonstrate structure). The ID section is prefaced with a discussion of jelly structure and function, ID processes, life history, and collection and photography techniques.

Useful, a bit expensive, but easy to throw into your dry bag or tackle box.

An excellent book. As a Marine Biologist and diver I found this book an excellent complement for both my work and recreational diving. Photographs are very good and descriptions accurate yet simple enough.

A short but helpful well written book. Ever wonder what that funny little blob is lying in the sand as you take your stroll on the beach? If it isn't man made you will wonder no more.Great for both the diver and the beach comber.
Recommended

The ultimate guide containing deep sea jellyfish photography. Providing scientific names only, for the marine biologist and deep ocean explorer. The pelagic jellies covered are mysterious and simply intriguing. There are several enormous surface water jellyfish covered, often in intimidating close up photographs. The mesopelagic species are bioluminescent and by far the most amazing in the entire guide. A few benthic species are covered, but this is a risky exploration, so we mostly view mesopelagic clips. By an author with expertise in the subject, and a deep sea researcher, combines detailed explanations of range, habitat and others. With some more commonly known jellies, such as the sea nettle, botanical names are given along with regular common names. Some photographs are in specialized black and white, since that particular species has not been seen since that photo was taken. The range is variable in many jellies, since some can journey from deep water up to the surface typically. If another company plans to equal this guide in numbers of listings or comprehension, they will have to go through extensive work, even for several years or more. Unequaled in this specific topic.
Since this book has good binding quality and suitable price, it should be quickly referenced by ocean experts or interested marine biologists.

Pacific Coast Pelagic Invertebrates covers the common gelatinous pelagic invertebrates, more commonly thought of as jellyfish, that are encountered on the Pacific coast from Alaska to Baja California. There is really no comparable source for this information and certainly none that is so well written and illustrated.

The beginning of the book provides a description of the advantages of a gelatinous lifestyle, the role of gelatinous animals in marine ecosystems, and the range of habitats in which they occur. This provides the reader with an appreciation for the diverse and successful patterns these animals have evolved to live in a variety of habitats and niches. There is also an excellent section on observing, collecting, and photographing specimens.

Wrobel and Mills have provided a glossary of terms and black and white photographs of each major group identifying various body parts. The description of how to distinguish the major groups gives readers an entree into the descriptions of the species.

Species from four phyla are included: Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Mollusca, and Chordata. The descriptions of the organisms are arranged taxonomically. Information on identification, natural history, range and habitat, and other remarks as appropriate are included in each description. The most striking feature of the book has to be the photographs that accompany each species description. The photographs are truly gorgeous.

This is a text I found invaluable when I was a freshman in a zoology class 60 years ago and my students over my years of teaching zoology have found it equally useful. The most recent revision is even better than the original.. Exceptionally clear explanations and an abundance of marvelously clear photographs and drawings.

As a new teacher of Zoology, this book has become my most valuable resource for the invertebrates. The information is easy to understand and the labeled photos are wonderful. If I could chose a textbook for my students, this would definitely be it. My students have also found it to be a great resource for their studies.

The beginning zoology student has a daunting task before them. There are at least thirty phyla of animals on earth, most with several unique ecologically important sub groups. The arthropods, for example, include almost a million species of terrestrial insects as well as countless aquatic animals ranging in size from the minute copepod to crabs over two meters in width. To get a grasp on all of these requires a good bit of effort, a well organized mind and no small amount of perseverance. While anybody who has tried is no doubt familiar with the several very good invertebrate zoology textbooks available this is the only book on the subject that can be appreciated by the mass market.

The book groups animals by the traditional phyla, and gives critical information on each. Characteristics, development, ecology and diversity are all included. There are many good black and white photographs and a few good line drawings. If I had one complaint about this book it would be unity. I would like to have seen each chapter organized along a set pattern. This would be no easy feat either. I would also have liked to seen more line illustrations. I did like the books treatment of the protozoans as well.

If you are a student of zoology, beginning or PhD, you should try and get your hands on this book. It will help you understand things better than anything single resource I have seen.

I have used the book "Animals Without Backbones" for 5 years now in my Honors Zoology class here in Maryland. This text is great - it is easy to read and understand and the photos are fabulous! The only thing is that all the pictures are black and white, unlike the "fancy" new biology books. It reads at a level lower than my students, which are honors juniors and seniors. I give them additional information to supplement their studies, but I can't say enough about the photos and the labelled diagrams! A great book!

This book is a necessity for anyone interested in the fascinating structure of spineless creatures. As an artist, I find this collection of photographs to be a priceless visual dictionary, and a sumptuous treat for the eyes. The writing is scholarly and dense, absolutely comprehensive. Also important for academes: Where drawing illustrations are necessary for clarity, they are doubled up with the photographic representation.

Entomology and the Law by Greenberg and Kunich was promoted to be "the first comprehensive book on forensic entomology." This book certainly does not live up to that description, though it is a decent book in its own rights. At [the price], the book seems a little thin and incomplete.

The first section of the book, written by Dr. Greenberg, deals with the history, biology, identification, and use of forensically important flies. Dr. Greenberg's knowledge of flies is indeed extensive, and he has included keys to species of adults and larvae (pupae are ignored) of carrion flies from many parts of the world. Note that only flies are covered in this book, and all of the other forensically important insects are ignored. Also there is no mention of insect succession on the corpse outside of the preface to the first section of the book. This aspect alone limits the application of this book to the early postmortem interval.

The second section of the book, written by John Kunich, focuses on the legal applications of forensic entomology. This section deals with the laws behind scientific evidence, the admissibility of insect evidence, and how to optimize the use of such evidence. Placing the legal aspects into the prospective of forensic entomology made this section useful to the scientist who is interested in that aspect of the criminal justice system alone.

This book is far from being comprehensive. Nowhere are the details of the collection of entomological evidence presented, successional patterns of insects are largely ignored, and the temperature information included in the book is incomplete. Though lawyers and entomologists with experience in the field of medicocriminal entomology will benefit from this book, the curious lay person or law enforcement official should save their money and purchase either Catts & Haskell or Byrd & Castner.

This is a superb work of immense scope and brilliance. The authors leave no aspect of forensic entomology a mystery. Splendid for experts, both scientists and lawyers alike.

Bugs are excellent crime solvers. This terrific book explains how and why, in a way everyone can understand. Great for everyone from experts to novices.

This book has it all. If ever a book crossed the lines of genre from a working guide for a professional in his field to an interesting read for the inquisitive mind, this book is it. This book is for the professional who has anything to do with a murder scene or wrongful death situation. This book is for everyone who watches television because "Entomology and the Law" is the marriage of a great murder mystery crossed with an investigatory courtroom drama. This book is for every litigator who wants to effectively use the law of scientific evidence in the courtroom. This book is for the layman who wants to know more. You see, it's about bugs. Gross bugs. Flys actually, and the fact that flys can be accurately used to identify the time and location of death. Interesting? Yes. Easy read? No. Necessary read? DEFINITELY.

ENTOMOLOGY AND THE LAW is the definitive book on forensic entomology we've been asking for. Kunich and Greenberg are an
unbeatable "Dream Team" when it comes to combining the law and the science. Everything anyone might need to know about forensic
entomology is in this book. For the scientists/expert witnesses, the "Father of Forensic Entomology", Dr. Bernard
Greenberg, provides a meticulous, highly detailed, and comprehensive guide to using insect-related evidence to determine the time of death in homicide cases. No one in the world knows more about the science and practice of forensic
entomology than Dr. Greenberg, and he has memorialized his decades of research and experience in this volume, the crowning achievement of his unsurpassed career. And for the attorneys who litigate these difficult cases, and who must either prepare or cross-examine the expert witnesses, Law Professor and Harvard Law School graduate John Kunich spells out all of the intricacies of the law of scientific evidence, use of expert witnesses, and specific strengths and weaknesses of forensic entomology evidence in court. ETOMOLOGY AND THE LAW will be indispensable for litigators and scientists all over the world, because of the information it contains on admissibility of scientific evidence in nations other than the United States. Even laypersons will enjoy this book, especially the millions of viewers of the hit television show "C.S.I. (Crime Scene Investigation)," which often features forensic entomology in its dramas. What a rare and sublime union of law and science this book is!

The following comments were written by graduate and undergraduate members of an advanced class in insect physiology taught Spring Semester 2000.

Chapman's book is interesting and covers a variety of topics. It is interesting for learning about how much insects differ between orders. Chapman gives many examples of different phenomena in insects. As a student, though, all the examples and different phenomena make studying from the book difficult and overwhelming. It is useful as a reference, a book to read to clarify topics discussed in lecture. But it is very specific with the examples.

Chapman's textbook is comprehensive. It covers all aspects of insect physiology. It has full and updated literature citations for each chapter, which is very helpful for further reading. The language is simple and precise. But it is a little bit conservative and has slight coverage of some hot topics. The coverage favors insect structure and morphology.

For me as a student the Chapman text was very helpful, because it is clearly structured and it covers nearly all important fields of insect physiology and structure. The new edition is very up-to-date and gives good examples from recent investigations. It is a bit too focused on research conducted in the US, but this probably reflects the fact that most of the important research is conducted there. The illustrations are very clear and helpful.

I used this textbook in an advanced insect physiology class. To be perfectly honest, this book was a minor part of the class for me. I skimmed through it, used it for references, and as a sort of entomology handbook. From my perspective, it was a very complete source of information. At times it was a bit heavy on detail, but the information I needed was all there and clearly stated.

This book is not one that is useful to read from front to back. It is an excellent reference book that should be owned by all entomologists. Three or more specific examples are given for each topic instead of a generic example for all insects. This is useful because it gives you the range of known physiology of insects that can be compared to the reader's "insect of choice."

Chapman gives all the details an entomologist needs to know about insects. It may be a bit confusing due to the vast number of insects, but it is a good resource to own and keep. Chapman is very thorough.

One of the strengths of Chapman's new edition of Insects, Structure and Function is the wealth of examples. Every section of the book has examples from just about all of the orders of insects, although grasshoppers seem to rule disproportionately. A weakness with all of these wonderful examples is the cumbersome way Chapman places a list of them at the beginning of a section. He intends them to be as authoritative fleet of representatives who give some scale and scope to the subject being presented. They unfortunately end up as a heavy flotilla that diverts the reader's attention from the information sought. There are places in the book where subjects that are usually treated together or that work as a whole system are poorly integrated. Digestion and nutrition are so separately treated (they are in different chapters) that the reader finds herself having to cross reference from section to section to make cogent sense of what nutrients have to do with digestion. Strangely, when Chapman presents the great variety of insect form and function one has a sense of cacophony. Instead of giving us a unity, or even the illusion of unity, of how form and function interact we are presented with vignettes of research. But these vignettes do not provide us with the pretty and easy to get to views that we find on the Internet. We find ourselves lost somewhere in a tome that is more intent on directing our attention to variation than to presenting us with direct descriptions. But then again, how do you argue with the only author in English who has been brave enough to try to make a synthetic analysis of the most diverse group of animals on earth?

This is a solid text on the structure and physiology of insects. It has been used in two of my graduate level entomology classes, and none of the instructors have said "I wish Chapman had done ... differently".

If you have Wiggleswort's Insect Physilology, Borror's Introduction to Entonology and Chapman's Insects Structure and Function, you have the best basic Entomology sources. Yes, is a little expensive but, It is not the life expensive too?. Buy it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapman's book is a comprehensive and well-written entomology text. Not only does he cover all the basic topics in entomology, he does so in depth. This text may be too detailed and overwhelming for begining entomology students but is great for more advanced students. The one problem I have with this book is that Chapman often uses jargon without defining or explaining it, leaving the reader to look it up or remain confused.