Damselflies of the Northeast
A guide to the species of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States
By Ed Lam – (2004)
96 pages; matt art paper, with 13 colour photographs, 4 plates of 32 monochrome microscopic photo images, 265 colour illustrations (including front cover), 179 monochrome illustrations, 1 explanatory map & 1 table.
Soft Cover: 21.5cm x 14cm.
ISBN: 0-9754015-0-5
Biodiversity Books, New York.
It is not often one is left in awe at the artistic ability of an author and all I can say about this book initially is, “wow what a book”! It expertly illustrates 65 species and 1 subspecies on individual colour plates. The quality of these drawings is outstanding and they have an almost ‘3D’ style of their own.
The species are presented in families then genera. With the beginning of each family an excellent colour photo of a representative species is provided along with notes on the families’ ecology and indications of global distribution. Similar introductory notes for each genus and a photo of a representative species are also delivered. Each species has its common name, scientific name, measurements in millimeters, a physical description and summaries on habitat, behavior and hints on separating similar species. These notes are enhanced by the stunning illustrations that accompany them. The indication of distribution is restricted to the books designated area, with known distribution of that area shown via a small colour coded map – notes of distribution further afield are not given.
The illustrations in this book really are outstanding and they have to be seen firsthand to appreciate how good they really are! Not only is this book superbly illustrated as a field guide for eastern Canada and the northeastern United States – it is further very instructional in explaining and illustrating the anatomy of damselflies and generally makes an excellent tool of education for any odonate enthusiast or students of biology and entomology. That aside, the excellent if not amazing colour and monochrome illustrations make this book worth buying whether you live in North America or not.
Rod Rice
Principal Reviewer
Nature & Travel Books