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Rating: 
Summary: A must have for beetle enthusiasts
Review: A great companion to the Peterson Field Guide to the Insects. Lots of great illustrations. Many picture examples from each family of beetles. Great descriptions of each beetle. A MUST have for collectors of Coleoptera. Good for layman, also.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good.
Review: For the price this book is very good, but certainly not complete. For the low price one could not really expect much more information. I recommend it as a guide in purchasing further more expensive books on beetles.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good.
Review: For the price this book is very good, but certainly not complete. For the low price one could not really expect much more information. I recommend it as a guide in purchasing further more expensive books on beetles.
Rating:
Summary: greatly informative
Review: I was so impressed with the information provided in this book. I am A 34 YR Old female going back to school,in the Fall to study Forensic Entomology, and I am doing my own research from home at this time. I found the book to be very informative on the description of the certain beetles and to where they can be found. I was so impressed that I bought the insect book by the same Author as well.
Rating:
Summary: A good addition to my bookshelf
Review: Really, when considering whether or not this book is any good, you've got to consider what you want out of it. If you want a field guide that you can use to easily identify beetles that you find, this really isn't the best choice. If you want a book with lots of nice photos or illustrations, again, this isn't the one you're looking for.
If, on the other hand, you're looking for a book that will give you a slightly more in-depth information on beetles than you generally get in a general insect field guide, then this may be what you're looking for. That's my two cents, anyway.
Rating:
Summary: disappointing flaw in otherwise solid field guide
Review: There are approximately one million species of animals on our planet; about three quarters are insects; and approximately 40% of those are beetles. There are 30,000 kinds of beetle in North America. They are plentiful and varied -- a real joy to observe or collect. This Peterson field guide begins with two chapters on collecting and preserving beetles, and then delves into their identification. An anatomical flow chart on the endpages directs you to the various beetle families, and there you will find a physical description, similar families, and information about numbers, range, habits, collecting methods and examples. There are about 600 line drawings and 65 color plates.This is a solid field guide, but the meager percentage of color pictures is problematic. Beetles are quite colorful and that should be the most salient identifying characteristic, but neither the black & white drawings nor the often color-free descriptions help in that regard -- a real weakness for a guide to these beautiful insects. I would rather pay more for an all-color guide.
Rating:
Summary: disappointing flaw in otherwise solid field guide
Review: There are approximately one million species of animals on our planet; about three quarters are insects; and approximately 40% of those are beetles. There are 30,000 kinds of beetle in North America. They are plentiful and varied -- a real joy to observe or collect. This Peterson field guide begins with two chapters on collecting and preserving beetles, and then delves into their identification. An anatomical flow chart on the endpages directs you to the various beetle families, and there you will find a physical description, similar families, and information about numbers, range, habits, collecting methods and examples. There are about 600 line drawings and 65 color plates. This is a solid field guide, but the meager percentage of color pictures is problematic. Beetles are quite colorful and that should be the most salient identifying characteristic, but neither the black & white drawings nor the often color-free descriptions help in that regard -- a real weakness for a guide to these beautiful insects. I would rather pay more for an all-color guide.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent little beetle book
Review: This book is a spendid combination of text and pictures that is at once informative and inspiring. The text clearly points out critical information about North America's beetle families and specific examples of each, while maintaining brevity and readability for any backyard naturalist. The pictures, both b&w (predominantly) and colour, very nicely further the text by showing the overall appearance of major types of beetles, and by pointing out important features for the identification of each.
The book effectively accomplishes what any field guide sets out to do: quick and accurate in-field identification of major beetle families, with further examples of the most common subfamilies. This book would make an excellent addition to any home or classroom where interest in insects, and beetles in particular, exists.
For those wanting to identify Canadian/US beetles beyond backyard interest, consider Arnett's AMERICAN BEETLES.
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