Peterson First Guide to Caterpillars of North America

This small reference book has been a great help to the kindergarten teachers at out school. When studying caterpillars, the children bring them in for observation. We need to know what to feed them and what type of enviroment they prefer. This knowledge has allowed us to observe butterflies and moths emerge from the cocoon or chyrsallis.

Our childrens librarian recommended this book to us and it has been so helpful. We are always finding caterpillars, cocoons, butterflies and have found the illustrations in this book very helpful in identifying them. My son is five and the illustrations are good enough so that he can identify the caterpillars and butterflies even though he can't read yet. I would highly recommend this guide!

If you've been looking for a book to help you identify caterpillars, you may have noticed that field guides for butterflies and moths are nearly useless in this regard. Entomologists don't seem to be nearly as fascinated with the larvae of these creatures as they are with the adults. But this is the guide you've been looking for! Although the First Guides are written for children, this book is suitable for adults as well and is by no means remedial. The book is made to take along at 3 3/4x7 1/4 inches in size and 128 pages long. It begins with an introduction to caterpillars which explains their structure, life cycle, protective mechanisms, and gives brief instructions for attracting and caring for caterpillars. This is followed by pictures and descriptions of 120 caterpillars. Each caterpillar is clearly illustrated for easy identification. Illustrations of the adult moths and butterflies are included, so you will know what the little critter will turn into. (All illustrations are drawings.) There is a description of each caterpillar which includes details of its appearance, size, diet, and where it is found. A few caterpillars that are dangerous to handle are marked with don't-handle signs. (They won't kill you; they cause skin irritation, pain, and rashes, at worst.)Recommended for everyone who would like to know just what those caterpillars are and what they will become. A great gift for kids who like the outdoors. The book's only real shortcoming is that it is not comprehensive. We can always hope that the publisher will add more species in a later edition. In the meantime, this guide will enable you to identify most common species of caterpillar.

As far as I know, this is the only caterpillar book available. We use it at our nature center on a daily basis. Not only does it have excellent illustrations, but it also lists the various host plants of each caterpillar. Next time a child brings you a caterpillar you can ID it and tell the child what it will need to eat to become a moth or butterfly. We couldn't live without it!

Although this is supposed to be a children's book, the reference material on caterpillars is far more comprehensive than any adult book on the market, including the food plants of each species and illustrations of each caterpillar, its butterfly or moth stage, and often the egg and the chrysalis, as well. 120 species are included.