Garden Insects of North America: The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs

Garden Insects of North America is the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to the common insects and mites affecting yard and garden plants in North America. In a manner no previous book has come close to achieving, through full-color photos and concise, clear, scientifically accurate text, it describes the vast majority of species associated with shade trees and shrubs, turfgrass, flowers and ornamental plants, vegetables, and fruits--1,420 of them, including crickets, katydids, fruit flies, mealybugs, moths, maggots, borers, aphids, ants, bees, and many, many more. For particularly abundant bugs adept at damaging garden plants, management tips are also included. Covering all of the continental United States and Canada, this is the definitive one-volume resource for amateur gardeners, insect lovers, and professional entomologists alike.


To ease identification, the book is organized by plant area affected (e.g., foliage, flowers, stems) and within that, by taxa. Close to a third of the species are primarily leaf chewers, with about the same number of sap suckers. Multiple photos of various life stages and typical plant symptoms are included for key species. The text, on the facing page, provides basic information on host plants, characteristic damage caused to plants, distribution, life history, habits, and, where necessary, how to keep "pests" in check--in short, the essentials to better understanding, appreciating, and tolerating these creatures.


Whether managing, studying, or simply observing insects, identification is the first step--and this book is the key. With it in hand, the marvelous microcosm right outside the house finally comes fully into view.

• Describes more than 1,400 species--twice as many as in any other field guide


• Full-color photos for most species--more than five times the number in most comparable guides


• Up-to-date pest management tips


• Organized by plant area affected and by taxa for easy identification


• Covers the continental United States and Canada


• Provides species level treatment of all insects and mites important to gardens


• Illustrates all life stages of key garden insects and commonly associated plant injuries


• Concise, clear, scientifically accurate text


• Comprehensive and user-friendly

Whitney Cranshaw is Professor and Extension Specialist at Colorado State University, responsible for developing pest management programs for insect pests of horticultural crops. He is the author of two popular books, Pests of the West and Bagging Big Bugs.