Dragonflies and Damselflies
of Texas and the South-Central United States
John C. Abbott
Princeton University Press
Princeton, NJ
2005, 424 pp.
Price: $35.00, Paperbound,
ISBN: 0-691-11364-5
$79.50, Clothbound, ISBN:
0-691-11363-7
Ten years ago, Minter Westfall
and I finally published The Damselflies of North America, a
project to which he had by then devoted 40 years (Westfall and May
1996). At the time, except for small volumes on Florida (Dunkle 1989,
1990) and Cape Cod (Carpenter 1991), no up-to-date and easily accessible
treatment of the Odonata of North America was available. In the
subsequent decade, a veritable flowering of interest and information has
burst on the scene—a result, probably, of the growing number of bird
watchers and butterfly enthusiasts who came to realize that there are
more things to watch and marvel at than had previously been dreamt of in
their philosophy. Whether our rather wordy and academic tome gave any
impetus to this phenomenon, I won’t presume to say, but certainly a
bounty of references, many sumptuously illustrated and intended at least
in part to aid field identification, now exists. Some notable examples
include Dunkle (2000), Curry (2001), Glotzhober and McShaffrey (2002),
Manolis (2003), Nikula et al. (2003), and Lam (2004).
One might suppose that by now,
all that could be said about Odonata has been said, but this new volume
fills an important gap in the literature. The south-central states, as
delimited here encompass a very large area, much of which has received
comparatively little attention from odonatologists until quite recently.
It includes parts of 10 biotic provinces, extending from the swamps and
marshes of the Mississippi Delta to the Rocky Mountains in northern New
Mexico. Its long southern border with Mexico includes most of the Rio
Grande and reaches almost to the Sonoran Desert in southwestern New
Mexico. Consequently, the odonate fauna in this book includes elements
from the Southeast, the Great Plains, and the Far West, and it is
enriched by a substantial list of Mexican species that is almost unique
within previous volumes on the Odonata. This scope presents Abbott with
the challenge and opportunity to guide the novice through a thicket of
female forktails (Ischnura sp.) and introduce even the
experienced entomologist to what are likely to be many unfamiliar taxa.
This book clearly rises to the
challenge. It is part of the well-regarded Princeton Field Guides series
and is nicely produced, with few typographical or editorial errors. Like
most “field guides,” it is actually a bit large for optimal field use,
but nevertheless it slips easily into a small backpack. My paperback
copy appears durable, although I’m not sure how it would withstand an
accidental dive into a muddy river. The layout is pleasing and readable,
and the reproduction of graphics, including line art, halftones, and
color, is excellent. The last is particularly important, because the
color photographs will undoubtedly be the portion of the book that many
readers turn to first, as an identification aid and for sheer enjoyment.
A few flaws exist, of course.
Females of Zygoptera and Anisoptera often pose greater identification
problems than males. The mesostigmal plates of Zygoptera are extensively
illustrated, but in one or two cases, the drawings give a slightly
misleading impression of their three-dimensional structure (the
representation of which is a difficult task, to be sure). For the
Anisoptera suborder, more extensive illustration of the vulvar laminae
of Gomphidae, Corduliidae, and Libellulidae would have been helpful;
although often not visible in the field, these structures can be
essential to proper identification in faded preserved specimens.
Finally, as noted by Donnelly (2005), the species of Stylogomphus
found in the area of coverage is not S. albistylus, but
the recently described S. sigmastylus.
The
organization of the work is conventional but appropriate, with a short,
well illustrated introduction that covers the general biology,
biogeography, essential morphological features, and methods of study of
odonates. The great bulk of the text, some 280 pages, is devoted to
fairly detailed treatment of each of the 243 species known from the
region, along with brief introductory remarks, emphasizing the regional
fauna, about each family and genus. Each species account includes
sections giving dimensions, regional and general distribution, flight
season in the region, identification features and a comparison with
similar species, very brief habitat notes, a short discussion of
behavior and notable biological features, and a list of three or four
pertinent references. One might wish that the treatment of habitat and
behavior were more detailed, but for many species little more of
substance is known. In a few cases, the morphological descriptions seem
a bit more extensive than the aim of the book requires, but in general,
these are succinct and to the point.
Three other features
accompanying the descriptions deserve special mention. First, simplified
keys to families, genera, and species supplement the descriptions and
pictures. Second, line drawings of most crucial features, including the
male terminalia, are abundant and clear. Despite the features that allow
recognition of many Odonata on the wing, many species require closer
examination in the hand for reliable identification, and the keys and
figures provide the wherewithal. Third, small but detailed and yet quite
readable maps indicate distributions within the region to the level of
county. The verbal treatment of regional distribution supplements this
by listing biotic provinces and watersheds, maps of which are provided
in the introduction. Together, these complementary presentations of
distribution effectively provide detailed, visually accessible, and
biologically meaningful information.
Another strength of this
volume, as I mentioned earlier, is the abundance of very good color
photographs. Nearly all species are represented, many by multiple
pictures to show sexual and chromatic differences, except for four
species discovered while the book was in press, which are given only
brief accounts. One consequence of the number of photos and the page
format is that each picture is rather small, but the choice of pictures,
judicious cropping, and excellent production values have resulted in
clear and usable, often beautiful, images. In conjunction with the other
aids provided, these images will allow for ready identification of the
vast majority of specimens encountered. Overall, Abbott has produced an
outstanding contribution that will be an important addition to the
libraries of amateur and professional entomologists interested in
Odonata.
References Cited
Curry, J. R. 2001.
Dragonflies of Indiana. Indiana Academy of Science, Indianapolis.
Carpenter, V. 1991.
Dragonflies and
Damselflies of Cape Cod. Cape Cod. Museum of Natural History, Series 4,
Brewster, MA.
Donnelly, T. W. 2005.
Book review: Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central
States. Argia 17(2): 18–19.
Dunkle, S. W. 1989.
Dragonflies of the Florida peninsula, Bermuda, and the Bahamas. Nature
Guide 1. Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, FL.
Dunkle, S. W. 1990.
Damselflies of Florida, Bermuda, and the Bahamas. Nature Guide 3.
Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, FL.
Dunkle, S. W. 2000.
Dragonflies through binoculars, a field guide to dragonflies of North
America. Oxford University Press, New York.
Glotzhober, R. C., and D.
McShaffrey. 2002.
The dragonflies and damselflies of Ohio. Ohio Biological Survey,
Columbus.
Lam, E. 2004.
Damselflies of the Northeast. Biodiversity Books, Forest Hills, NY.
Manolis, T. 2003.
Dragonflies and damselflies of California. University of California
Press, Berkeley.
Nikula, B., J. L. Loose,
and M. R. Burne. 2003.
A field guide to dragonflies and damselflies of Massachusetts. Natural
Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Massachusetts Division of
Fisheries and Wildlife, Boston.
Westfall, M. J., and M. L.
May. 1996.
Damselflies of North America. Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, FL.
Michael May
Department of Entomology
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8524
E-mail: mimay@rci.rutgers.edu
American Entomologist
Vol. 52, No.4, Winter 2006 |
