500 Insects: A Visual Reference (Firefly Visual Reference) Hardcover – Illustrated, August 15, 2008

High quality printing, stunning photos and lots of useful information

Not only does this book have many photos that are beautiful and clear, the information it imparts is helpful, too.

"500 Insects: A Visual Reference" by Stephen A. Marshall, Firefly Books (U.S.) Inc., 2008, NY. ISBN-13: 978-1-55407-345-0, HC 528 Pgs. in 6 1/2" x 6 ¼" x 1 ½" format on high quality glossy media to accommodate over 500 hundred full paged exacting, colored photographic images, each accompanied by a short but highly informative detailed paragraph providing commentary on site organism photographed, mating habits, highlighting identification markings and societal predatory habitation, etc. There are 10 chapters and an invaluable Glossary and 5 Page Index. Contents divide insects into 22 Orders with brief descriptions of their taxonomic names as Genus species, common names, families, etc.: And we are informed that of 1.7 million named species of fauna, 1.0 million are insects, phylum Arthropoda, that have 6 legs.Stephen Marshall, both as author and photographer, is associated with the Guelph Univ., Ontario, Canada; and he gratefully acknowledged the financial support provided by the Government of Canada for publication costs. He also authored "Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity", Firefly Books, 736 pages, 2006. Herein, Stephen Marshall provides an overly brief & succinct summary of taxonomic nomenclature, basic bug structure, insect distribution, and notes on collecting and photographing insects. Especially disappointing to me was not finding a reference scale for specimen sizing, nor is the book's binding conducive to its use as a field manual, but it would be difficult to surpass as a masterful visual reference guide.An outstanding feature of "500 Insects: A Visual Reference" is the superb quality of the macro photographic images in sharpness, color and depiction of insects in their native environments. The author stated he used both conventional halide film and the larger digital SLR camera bodies with flash units for his photography, nearly all of which was done in the field with live specimens. This book is recommended for anyone interested in insects (bugs), their diversity, nomenclature, surface markings and colorations - especially with the availability of inexpensive hand-held digital field microscopes for around $100.finis

Great little book. Nice pictures, with small description. Good way to be able to flip through, find an insect and then be able to do further research.

This is a fabulous quick reference for any parent to look at with their kids, for writers, for others just interested in bugs. I like the writer's voice in it and the fun details he gives about how he found each bug.

This is a beautiful book. There isn't a lot of information on the insects, just simple pictures. Even with that information I'd suggest it to all bug lovers.

book is a good guide for info on common pest that may be around

This book is awesome. I purchased this for my future-entomologist, curious one. She is always using this as a reference when she finds or sees something outside.

Very good book to start off if you are interested in bugs/entomology.Very good to show kids and also to understand what they look like. It's a visual atlas.Not good for much else though, so if you want a hard entomology book, don't get this.

I bought this book to get my 9 year old son interested into the insect world, and we where all riveted by the pictures and also the text rises interest in different facts of insect life. Stunning photos, yes it is most costa rican but the same families of insects also live in Europa.

This book is the best of any insect book I have seen. It is so comprehensive and the colour photos are wonderful. I have a young microbiologist in the making, who collects all types of insects and keeps them at home as part of the family--- she loves this book. My thoughts on this book are buy it.. 100%.. you wont regret it for a second. If you are at all interested in any aspect of insect life, and want to understand their world, this book will take you there. Adult book but usable and enjoyed by all ages.

Not the clarity of images I’d hoped for. Most of these blend into the background.. ideal if you’re a bug looking to camouflage yourself from predators.. not so great if you’ve bought the book to paint from!

This is a great book to introduce anyone to insects. Beautiful pictures taken by S.A. Marshall and great tid-bit of information to go along with those pictures. Would recommend getting it for the kids.