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Rating: 
Summary: I discovered moths!
Review: As an avid butterfly watcher and birder, I couldn't help but notice the occasional moth while on my forays. I always found them interesting, and even picked up an old field guide to begin to learn them. While doing an internet search for moths, I discovered Mr. Himmelman's book and ordered it. It arrived in the morning and by early evening I had read it cover to cover! Good thing it was a Saturday - Wow! While the topic is of moths, Himmelman could have been writing about any creature. His curiosity is contageous and he is a comfortable, and often humorous, guide to have accompany you through this topic. I feel like I know him. I also love the line drawings sprinkled generously throughout (one shows godzilla going after mothra) and his beautiful photos! To the best of my knowledge there is no other book out there (I looked) that treats the "nightime jewels" with such passion, humor, and out and out information. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in nature.
Rating:
Summary: I discovered moths!
Review: As an avid butterfly watcher and birder, I couldn't help but notice the occasional moth while on my forays. I always found them interesting, and even picked up an old field guide to begin to learn them. While doing an internet search for moths, I discovered Mr. Himmelman's book and ordered it. It arrived in the morning and by early evening I had read it cover to cover! Good thing it was a Saturday - Wow! While the topic is of moths, Himmelman could have been writing about any creature. His curiosity is contageous and he is a comfortable, and often humorous, guide to have accompany you through this topic. I feel like I know him. I also love the line drawings sprinkled generously throughout (one shows godzilla going after mothra) and his beautiful photos! To the best of my knowledge there is no other book out there (I looked) that treats the "nightime jewels" with such passion, humor, and out and out information. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in nature.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic overview
Review: I'm new to learning about moths and was overwhelmed by some ofthe more techical id books - this one gives a terrific overview of the different families with beautiful pictures and drawings. There's even some moth poetry sprinkled in. There are chapters on moths through the seasons, history of moth study/people who have been key in id, moths during the day versus night, raising moths, and more. I just love it - just the intro I needed to be able to approach some of the other books with more of a grounding. The writing is very straightfoward, easy and fun to read.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic overview
Review: I'm new to learning about moths and was overwhelmed by some ofthe more techical id books - this one gives a terrific overview of the different families with beautiful pictures and drawings. There's even some moth poetry sprinkled in. There are chapters on moths through the seasons, history of moth study/people who have been key in id, moths during the day versus night, raising moths, and more. I just love it - just the intro I needed to be able to approach some of the other books with more of a grounding. The writing is very straightfoward, easy and fun to read.
Rating:
Summary: The Jewels of the Night
Review: Moths generally get bad press. We think of clothes moths, tomato hornworm moths, cutworms, armyworms, bollworms, codling moths and the like before we think of io moths, luna moths, underwings or tiger moths. Butterflies, their daytime cousins (although as Himmelman points out there are a fair number of day-flying moths) are much more loved and studied. John Himmelman, in writing "Discovering Moths: Nighttime Jewels in Your Own Backyard," has done much to redress this imbalance. His drawings and excellent photographs make this book a work of aesthetic beauty as well as a fascinating read. Himmelman also discusses an interesting trend- the study of living insects, such as butterflies and dragonflies, has started to become at least as popular as collecting the same insects (in butterflies more so!). He sees a similar trend (but much slower) for moths. The last chapter of his book is in fact one of the better discussions of the ethics of taking of insect life for science or pleasure that I've ever read. While he does not like collecting himself, he understands the impulse, as well as the scientific interest. Unlike many butterflies (except skippers and some lycaenids - I know this from much experience as I am a participant and also an editor for the 4th of July Butterfly Count of the North American Butterfly Association), it is often difficult to identify moths (although it can be done to a degree). This is partly because of the shear number of species involved (11,000 species of moths in North America as opposed to about 700 or so butterflies), partly because of the similarity of many closely related moth species and partly because not all moths are yet known. Thus judicious collecting has its place. Still I have always thought in my more reflective moods that collecting should be only a prelude to study of the living insect. Like Himmelman I cannot condemn collecting (I am currently curating a collection of over 100,000 specimens at a state university and I was at one time an avid tiger beetle collector) but I do think that observation has a place and that place should be more exulted than it often is, without putting down the continuing contribution of the collector and taxonomist. This is a great book for the entomologist and especially for those who like to explore new areas within the subject. There are unfortunately few books on moths. We are still awaiting a guide to western moths to match the Peterson Field Guide to the eastern species, and the Moth Book, by Holland, is way out of date- although still charming. Himmelman has gone a long ways down this road and I only hope more books like this will appear in the near future!
Rating:
Summary: The Jewels of the Night
Review: Moths generally get bad press. We think of clothes moths, tomato hornworm moths, cutworms, armyworms, bollworms, codling moths and the like before we think of io moths, luna moths, underwings or tiger moths. Butterflies, their daytime cousins (although as Himmelman points out there are a fair number of day-flying moths) are much more loved and studied. John Himmelman, in writing "Discovering Moths: Nighttime Jewels in Your Own Backyard," has done much to redress this imbalance. His drawings and excellent photographs make this book a work of aesthetic beauty as well as a fascinating read. Himmelman also discusses an interesting trend- the study of living insects, such as butterflies and dragonflies, has started to become at least as popular as collecting the same insects (in butterflies more so!). He sees a similar trend (but much slower) for moths. The last chapter of his book is in fact one of the better discussions of the ethics of taking of insect life for science or pleasure that I've ever read. While he does not like collecting himself, he understands the impulse, as well as the scientific interest. Unlike many butterflies (except skippers and some lycaenids - I know this from much experience as I am a participant and also an editor for the 4th of July Butterfly Count of the North American Butterfly Association), it is often difficult to identify moths (although it can be done to a degree). This is partly because of the shear number of species involved (11,000 species of moths in North America as opposed to about 700 or so butterflies), partly because of the similarity of many closely related moth species and partly because not all moths are yet known. Thus judicious collecting has its place. Still I have always thought in my more reflective moods that collecting should be only a prelude to study of the living insect. Like Himmelman I cannot condemn collecting (I am currently curating a collection of over 100,000 specimens at a state university and I was at one time an avid tiger beetle collector) but I do think that observation has a place and that place should be more exulted than it often is, without putting down the continuing contribution of the collector and taxonomist. This is a great book for the entomologist and especially for those who like to explore new areas within the subject. There are unfortunately few books on moths. We are still awaiting a guide to western moths to match the Peterson Field Guide to the eastern species, and the Moth Book, by Holland, is way out of date- although still charming. Himmelman has gone a long ways down this road and I only hope more books like this will appear in the near future!
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