The Wild Silk Moths Of North America

The Saturniidae are among the largest and showiest moths in North America. This comprehensive work covers the life history and taxonomy of a hundred species and subspecies. The adults and larvae of all species are illustrated in thirty color plates, which are supplemented by line drawings of cocoons, photographs of behavior, and distribution maps. More than a natural history, this book includes chapters on population biology, life history strategies, disease and parasitoids, and the importance of silk moths to human culture. The systematic account emphasizes genetic differences among populations and the process of speciation and presents new information on experimental hybridization and life histories. For the student, researcher, and naturalist practical information is offered on collecting, rearing, and conducting original research. The entire text is referenced to an extensive bibliography.

The memoir of a scientist and the wild silk moths he studiesBiologist Michael Collins has been studying wild silk moths since he was a boy. This family — which includes the largest and most colorful of the North American moths — led Collins into a long career as a scientist, and has provided him with significant insights into the process by which new species evolve. Moth Catcher is Collins’s engaging account of his development as a scientist and of his groundbreaking research. The canyon and pass environments of the American West offer a setting in which, since the last Ice Age, organisms have adapted to new surroundings and where many have formed new species. Collins has discovered in the Sierra Nevada that geneticists call a “hybrid zone” where two species interbreed. This hybrid zone is unusual because both sexes are fertile, unlike lab-bred hybrids between the same silk moth species. Collins explains how such hybrid populations serve as laboratories in nature where the process of speciation can be observed and studied. This book offers a fascinating view into the work of a field scientist and the ways that evolution continues to operate around us. Collins’s colorful accounts of his fieldwork will delight any reader who loves the outdoors and is captivated by the diversity and interrelations of the life forms found there. And his passion for his research and the fragile, exquisite creatures that he studies will inspire a new appreciation of the wonders of the natural world and the myriad life forms that occupy it.

“No matter the size or shape of your growing area, this will guide you through creating a butterfly-friendly space.” —Mother Earth News Welcome the world’s most exquisite visitors to your garden! Gardening for Butterflies, by the experts at the Xerces Society, introduces you to a variety of butterflies who need our help, and shows you how to design a habitat where they will thrive. This optimistic call to arms is packed with everything you need to create a beautiful, pollinator-friendly garden. You will learn why butterflies matter, why they are in danger, and what simple steps we can take to make a difference. You'll also learn how to choose the right plants and how to create a garden that flutters and flourishes with life.

The most spectacular wild silkmoths live in tropical and subtropical forests and include the elegant moon moths with delicate pale green wings and long tails, the atlas moths with snake patterns embroidered on the edges of their wings, and "bulls-eye" moths with brightly-coloured eye-spots that resemble the eyes of owls. The interplay of wing colour and design, behaviour, and ecology in the evolution of these extraordinary insects is explored in a lively text by award-winning author Philip Howse accompanied by the magnificent photographs of Kirby Wolfe. The fascinating natural history of the silkmoths and the manner in which they protect themselves are featured in this book in such a way as to enthrall scientists, students, artists and all those interested in wildlife and photography.

While day-flying butterflies have long captured the attention of nature enthusiasts, moth species outnumber butterfly species by about fifteen to one, with many being overlooked due to their mostly nocturnal habits. Although they are far less noticeable to us, moths are essential to many other species, including the plants they pollinate and the animals they nourish. In their caterpillar or larval form they provide a primary source of sustenance for birds, and as adults they feed everything from tiny bats to large mammals. Native plants are of utmost importance for moths, as they evolved alongside them, and they are the principal factor for dictating moth species range and distribution. Like butterflies, moths require native plant species they recognize in order to lay their eggs. This user-friendly, heavily illustrated follow-up to Lynne and Jim Weber’s highly successful Native Host Plants for Texas Butterflies describes over 100 native, larval host plants for moths in Texas. More than 150 moth species are illustrated in the book, both larval and adult phases, with one to two species for each of the larval host plants. Today there are about 4,700 species of moths recognized in Texas, with new species and their host plant associations still being discovered. Native Host Plants for Texas Moths will prove to be an informative introduction to this less widely known world of moths and their host plants, providing a better understanding of how to discover, support, and protect these important insects.

Where the eastern and western currents of American life merge as smoothly as one river flows into another is a place called Nebraska. There we find the Platte, a river that gave sustenance to the countless migrants who once trudged westward along the Mormon and Oregon trails. We find the Sandhills, a vast region of sandy grassland that represents the largest area of dunes and the grandest and least disturbed region of mixed-grass prairies in all the Western Hemisphere. And, below it all, we find the Ogallala aquifer, the largest potential source of unpolluted water anywhere. ø These ecological treasures are all part of the nature of Nebraska. With characteristic clarity, energy, and charm, Paul A. Johnsgard guides us through Nebraska?s incredible biodiversity, introducing us to each ecosystem and the flora and fauna it sustains and inviting us to contemplate the purpose and secrets of the natural world as we consider our own roles and responsibilities in our connection with it.

Offering a complete accounting of the insects of North America, this handbook is an up-dated edition of the first handbook ever compiled in the history of American entomology.By using American Insects, A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico, Second Edition, readers can quickly determine the taxonomic position of any species, genus, or