Dragonflies and Damselflies of California: Volume 72

Tim Manolis has written a great book about dragons and damsels, and you can feel his passion for the subjects if you really read the book rather than use it as a field guide. However, as Tim himself has said, distinguishing between various damsels and dragons can be very difficult. In fact, he often states that you have to catch the darn things to actually see the difference from one to another. My hobby is nature photography, and it's difficult to put photos up on my Web site without some titles or classification. When it came to dragonflies and damselflies, I first turned to Tim's book, then to Tim. The book contains some very good illustrations and, while I understand and appreciate the cost, I wish that photographs had been used, at least for the most common California bugs. These are small insects with minor variations between males, but major differences and variations among females. Tim was gracious enough to answer my first three questions about classifications and, not wanting to bug him so to speak, I turned to [...]. Though Tim has the Pacific or California Forktail in the book, I could not match the three photos that I took with any illustrations in the book. That is not the author's fault. Again, I don't know how one can know so much about these insects (and this author doesn't "specialize" just in insects). I'll give it four stars because of the quality of writing and the number of illustrations. I'll take off one star because it's almost overwhelming, while the other reviews and even the book gives the impression that this will be easier than it is. Actually, I'll take off half a star because the covers of the book are made in such a way that when open, they cut into the inside of your thumbs. Minor, but not on a long hot day sitting by a pond with the book. Don't let any of this deter you from buying the book. If you really want to know about damsels and dragons in California, this is the best.

This is a really neat and very reasonably priced book on dragonflies and damselflies. I liked it from the first time I saw it. The color illustrations are great and with the short descriptions are very helpful for identifying the families, genera and species. The size of the book is also just right for transport into the field.I checked the book against our list for New Mexico and found that close to 1/2 of our dragonflies and damselflies are described! The handbook should thus be useful in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and northwestern Mexico, as well as the target- California.For the price and quality the dragonfly and damselfly enthusiast in the Southwest could not find a better field reference!

Anyone in California (or visiting California) who has ever shown any interest in dragonflies and/or damselflies should own this wonderful new book! It not only contains traditional keys to the insect families of both adults and larvae, but also a well-written narrative about the behavior and life cycle of these ancient and most interesting creatures. If you are one who prefers to "picture key" your way to an identification, that is possible, as well, thanks to Tim Manolis's beautiful color illustrations. If you are looking at this book, don't hesitate...buy it...you won't be sorry!

Tim has done for Odes what Roger Tory Peterson did for birds!!! This is a must have for the Odesters in California.....