Stokes Beginner's Guide to Dragonflies

by Blair Nikula, Jackie Sones, Donald W. Stokes

A pocket-size, brilliantly colorful, simple-to-use guide to dragonflies, containing dozens of full-color photographs that enable readers of all ages to identify the most common species; range maps; tips on attracting dragonflies, information on habitat needs, life cycle, food preferences; and much more.

Genres: Nature, Field Guides, Reference

159 pages, Paperback

First published April 29, 2002

Reviews

[GoldGato]

This handy book has been a tremendous help in my journey to learn more about the insects who keep me company throughout the garden, my magical partners, the Dragonflies (really, they are immediately cool with a name like that). Long-term inhabitants of this planet (250 million years), they mesmerize and dazzle with their aerodynamics, reminding me of helicopters. Or fairies. Long have I been firm in my belief that these insects, these elfin wing-whirrers, belong to the little people who surely live around my pond. Given their tightly maintained airspace, I know that there must some little flight tower in my bushes, where Brownies with headgear keep the Dragonflies out of the flight paths of the maniacal hummingbirds and airhead butterflies. Of course they do.

Book Season = Summer (colours galore)

[Oreotalpa]

A nice beginner's guide, useful for common dragonflies of the eastern half of the U.S. I also like the introductory material, which has charts showing characteristics like rest posture and eye shape and position that can be used to narrow down possible taxa. However, I have not found this guide to be as helpful for common dragonflies of the western half of the U.S. Also, while the title does not specify "...to Dragonflies of the U.S.", anyone outside North America (and I'm not sure how useful it would be for Canada) is not going to find this book very helpful.

For what it is, it's a nice introductory guide, and the photographs are lovely.

[Mark Nenadov]

This is a great little field guide for dragonfly/damselfly (order: Odonata) beginners. It gives a good introduction, has nice and helpful photos, and gives good identification tips. Eventually, though, if you are serious about Odonata, you may find that it doesn't have enough species (only about 100 out of the approximately 400 species in North America).

[Art]

Great mini field guide about Odonota.

Educated me on the differences between dragonflies and damselflies. Dragonflies are bigger and stronger fliers. Damselflies four wings are simimlarly shaped while on dragonflies the fore and aft wings are quite different. Dragonflies rest with their wings fully deployed while damsels are closed or only partially open. And other stuff.....

[Robbin Dengler]

A great summary for a start. Dragonflies are so amazing. The first flying predator is just the start!

[John]

Good guide for beginners, but it lacks a lot of species.