I remember quite clearly as a young child enjoying spiders in the home, and becoming firm friends with them! My sentiments about spiders have never changed and to this day I find these creatures inordinately fascinating and quite beautiful.
There are in excess of 49,000 species of spider in the world, and around 4,000 species in North America, so even the most dedicated and skilled arachnologist is not going to know them all, let alone the amateur spider enthusiast. This excellent field guide contributes in a major way, however, to enabling diligent observers to identify the five hundred most familiar species in North America, and facilitates identification of others down to guild level at minimum.
Most people are familiar with field guides for birds, and this book follows the same pattern, even using the term 'spidering' to describe the activity of searching out and identifying species, in the same way that 'birding' is used by the ornithological fraternity.
The introductory sections are splendidly written, and while aimed at the lay person or citizen scientist, trained professionals should not give it short shrift. The information provided is succinctly and accurately done with excellent photographs accompanying the text. You will learn how to expertly and safely capture a spider, with instructions on how to label specimens. The segment on spider life history is informative without being overburdened with arcane language, and is wonderfully illustrated.
Spiders are broken down by guild and by families and species within that guild. A typical example would be the Sensing Web Weaver Guild with keys to the families within that guild, and then species within each family. Knowing the guild and the key features of a given family enables the observer to quickly narrow down identification to the family level, and then on to the genus and ultimately the species. Distribution maps are provided for each species.
The guilds are sensing web weaver, sheet web weaver, orb web weaver, space web weaver, ambush hunter, ground active hunter, other active hunter, and spider hunter. I suspect that many of us could recall a familiar spider and immediately assign it to the correct guild.
The book is fabulously illustrated from cover to cover with photographs taken by the author and a large number of skilled photographers.
An excellent illustrated glossary is provided, and a significant list of references for further study.
If your birthday is coming up, let everyone know what you would like - and Christmas is not that far away, is it?
Spiders of North America
Sarah Rose
Softcover - US$35.00 - ISBN 9780691175614
624 pages - 2,830 colour illustrations - 506 maps
5.5 x 8.5 inches (13.75 x 21.25 cm)
Publication date: 28 June 2022
Another great book review David! Thanks for sharing. Take care and enjoy your day, have a great new week!!
ReplyDeleteSo many spiders on the earth.
ReplyDeleteOn our sailboat they nest between and on the ropes :)
They sail with us on our boat :)
Sometimes there is a very fat one, which makes me a bit creepy :(
Nice review!
Not as creepy as the fat man in the White House made me feel!
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ReplyDeleteSpiders always scare me. Such a book is definitely needed to get to know these amazing creatures.
...I enjoy their webs, but that's about all!
ReplyDeleteHari Om
ReplyDeleteI'll add it to my wishlist then! And you get top prize for the earliest mention of the end of year festival!!! YAM xx
I have never harboured any benign thoughts or fear of spiders, but all of our spiders are harmless. I wonder if some of the fears engenered by spiders are as a result of upbringing? May be a terrified parent passes their fears to the children.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that many influences are acquired by children from their parents, many of which are far more sinister than a fear of spiders.
DeleteI just can't bring myself to like spiders...the web is a work of art though.
ReplyDeleteSans doute un très bon guide et la couverture est jolie. Quand j'ai acheté mes livres d'occasion j'ai regardé si il y'avait des livres sur les araignées, les insectes, les serpents... Mais rien.
ReplyDeleteBonne journée
I hadn't heard of the term guild used with spiders or knew there were so many. I actually find spiders interesting, and I leave them in the house to help out with any rogue insects. The one behind my dish drying rack has caught lots of ants that we seem to be in constant battle with this summer. And much safer for the environment than any spray for certain. Happy new week David. Hope it's a good one. hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteSounds like a really good read! I had no idea there were that many spiders. I'm not bothered by them and I find them very fascinating. In the previous city we lived in, I found a Argiope aurantia (black and yellow garden spider) in our garden. It was one of the most beautiful little creatures I've ever seen. One hasn't visited our present flower beds yet but I hope to come across one at some point. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!
ReplyDeleteIt's great that Princeton chose to publish this guide featuring these critters that play such a necessary role in Nature. Moreover, many of them are quite beautiful, such as the one on the cover.
ReplyDeleteSeguro que es un buen libro amigo pero de las arañas solo me gusta lo bien que saben tejer . Ellas nada.
ReplyDeleteOs deseo una buena semana David.
Un abrazo.
Dear David,
ReplyDeleteToday you will get a summary comment from me, because unfortunately I was too busy this week to leave multiple comments.
In any case, there are some innovations at Blogger - and whenever something is changed in the system, we also feel problems with blogging. I was also unable to comment on two blogs. However, the comments did not disappear, instead the comment field was not opened at all. My husband then found that changing my blog settings helped, after which I was able to comment there as well. I also got recently some "anonymous" comments from old blogging friends. A little patience often helps until Blogger has fixed the problems again...
As well as my husband gets along with computers, he unfortunately doesn't get along well with spiders. Before he met me, he just killed them. He hasn't been allowed to do that for decades now ;-) and he has learned to gently bring spiders out of the house with a drinking glass and a postcard. I'm not a spider expert oder spider-"lover" myself, but there are beautiful specimens (and also beautiful spider webs) that invite you to take pictures. And it is clear that these "predators" are also important building blocks in nature.
I especially liked your trip to the north shore of Lake Ontario! (Have I ever told you that my older brother was a student in Ontario? He made some extra money in Tilsonburg harvesting tobacco. He also took the opportunity to see the surrounding area, including Lake Ontario. I was a child , but I was already very impressed by his descriptions and I hope to see the Great Lakes with my own eyes one fine day.
But back to your trip:
I can so well imagine how exciting this trip must have been for Meher! Especially feeding the nuthatches, black-capped tit and chipmunks - but I think she learned a lot in general - in a more exciting way than at school. I would also like to have Mehers animal-attracting pheromone ;-))
Unfortunately, there are always sad things to be experienced in nature - such as with the animals that were injured (by fishermen, for example). It is the same with fishermen and hunters as with all other people who set foot in nature - some are responsible, others unfortunately are not...
As far as red-eared slider turtles are concerned - these animals are often abandoned by irresponsible animal owners here in Central Europe, too, and are now native to our biotopes... In some cases, however, this is a problem for the native pond turtles and other aquatic creatures... Sigh!
All the best,
Traude
https://rostrose.blogspot.com/2022/07/farbtupfer-und-weitere-juni-impressionen.html
The copy on the cover looks huge!
ReplyDeleteI love spiders!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful book review, David. I've only seen the small spiders never any as the nice one on the cover.
ReplyDeleteIt is Argiope aurantia, Bill, and is quite common around here - and very beautiful.
DeleteGood evening, David.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is very afraid of spiders. I'm not afraid of them, but many are afraid of them. Nice book review!
Hugs and kisses, Marit
Please let me know when 'Spiders of UK' is available, David - I'll buy it immediately!
ReplyDeleteBeest wishes - - - Richard
Hi Richard: Here is the link to my review of "Britain's Spiders" from January last year: https://travelswithbirds.blogspot.com/2021/01/book-review-britains-spiders-princeton.html
DeleteOh dear - I AM getting old! I'd totally forgotten that review - and the fact that I've got the book !!!
DeleteSpiders can be fascinating as I recall from my youth. Then there were the Black Widows about which I had to educate my little daughter when we lived in Arizona since we encountered so many anxious to make their web on our patio furniture. She was impressed to the point when her kindergarten class was asked to draw a picture on the handmade note cards they were making to gift their parents, she drew a black widow on them.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story. I hope she retained her good relationship with spiders.
DeleteMany thanks for your excellent review.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Your review is excellent, but I will not be asking for a book about spiders for Christmas. You can have all the spiders as your friends; they are my enemies.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I can understand not liking them, but an enemy?
DeleteNot one of my favourite subject, spiders. We have a few or more not so nice ones in this part of the world. Nice review though.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure any arachnophobes among your readers will be horrified to hear that there are 49,000 kinds of spider. Most children seem to find them fascinating till they become infected with fear from the adults around them.
ReplyDeleteThe book must be very interesting...but I'm not a fan of spiders ;)
ReplyDeleteHave a nice day !
Anna
Very interesting!!! Spiders are fascinating animals-when you understand them there is less to fear. Thanks for sharing this with us.
ReplyDeleteVelva
Thanks for stopping by my blog, Velva.
DeleteBuenas tardes, amigo David, gran reseña de este maravilloso libro de campo. No soy ni he sido muy amigo de ellas, de siempre me han dado un gran respeto. Lo que no podía imaginar es la cantidad de especies de 49.000, ni tan siquiera podía imaginarlo. No cabe duda que debe ser una gran guía muy importante para todos aquellos que se dedican a comprender y examinar ese fabuloso mundo de los aracnólogos.
ReplyDeleteUn fuerte abrazo querido amigo y compadre.
No me gustaría que me cayera laguna encima. Las suelo ver aluna vez, a una prudencial distancia.
ReplyDeleteNo me imaginaba que hubiera tantas especies.
Hi David - I suspect I'm way too old to start learning about 49,000 spiders! Growing up we used to sing 'There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Spider' - still around in this old lady's mind! When we went out in the Okavango Delta in the mokoros we had to, when necessary, break the huge spiders' webs that criss-crossed the waterways and reed beds ...wonderful area. Spider silk is quite extraordinary too ... I'd like to learn more about that ... I'd also like to see the book - sounds very interesting - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteWe have plenty of spiders around here, in and out of the house. Can't seem to get the daddy long legs out of the house, usually have a couple lurking around. Currently a golden orb weaver has set up housekeeping behind the pink angel trumpet and I'm seeing shield backed spiders around. Haven't had a big garden spider for a couple of years. When we lived in the city a wolf spider set up in the corner of the dining room window. I just let her be since she was catching flies and mosquitos.
ReplyDeleteUn libro muy interesante para mí, me gustan las arañas ( en el jardín hay bastantes ).... ¿ pero podría encontrarlo en español ? ( castellano ) La araña de la portada también la hay por aquí. Abrazos amigo David.
ReplyDeleteI like spiders and am not afraid of them, like you I think they are fascinating creatures and not much is more beautiful than an artfully constructed spiderweb. However, I know next to nothing about spiders - maybe I should start "spidering" and to begin with get this useful guide.
ReplyDeleteI know someone who's terrified of them. I don't mind them.
ReplyDeleteMust admit that spiders scare me, although I love photographing their webs.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting book for you to review. I've never been afraid of spiders - we have several resident daddy long legs and some other smaller spiders I haven't been able to identify in our house. My cleaner is not sure whether or not I'm a little crazy but I see them as useful insect control.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing crazy about you, Helen. That's an enlightened attitude.
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