A Dazzle of Dragonflies
From fossils and folklore to life cycles and the latest in digital imaging techniques, A Dazzle of Dragonflies will take you into the far-reaching and sometimes secret world of one of our most beneficial insects. The guides are two of the most experienced and ardent fans of the “mosquitohawk,” and your journey will include encounters with poets and prehistoric giants; peeks into hidden, watery universes; side trips to garden ponds and scientific laboratories; and much more.\ Pioneers in the...
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"Creatures of the sunlight that pirouette on sparkling wings in plain view of all who take the time to look, dragonflies are nonetheless among the most elusive of insects. Few people get a close look at these ever-vigilant aerial predators, and fewer still know what they are seeing."—from the IntroductionFrom fossils and folklore to life cycles and the latest in digital imaging techniques, A Dazzle of Dragonflies will take you into the far-reaching and sometimes secret world of one of our most beneficial insects. The guides are two of the most experienced and ardent fans of the "mosquitohawk," and your journey will include encounters with poets and prehistoric giants; peeks into hidden, watery universes; side trips to garden ponds and scientific laboratories; and much more. Pioneers in the electronic imaging of insects and creators of the award-winning website Digital Dragonflies, the authors share their spectacular scans of live dragonflies, enhanced with beautiful photographs that showcase them in their natural environment. Imparting a lifelong passion for these remarkable creatures, the authors also ask us to join them in some hands-on activities to increase our awareness of and interaction with dragonflies—from tips on creating a dragonfly garden to instructions for catching, photographing, and scanning them. Get ready to have your eyes opened by this true education about all things "dragonfly." Visit Digital Dragonflies at www.dragonflies.com. Author BiographyS: FORREST L. MITCHELL is an associate professor at Texas A&M University and a research entomologist at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Stephenville, Texas, where he joins Senior Research Associate JAMES L. LASSWELL in the pursuit and study of dragonflies. American Scientist "The volume was designed to delight and inform amateur enthusiasts, and the remarkably detailed photographs do just that."
\ John and Gloria Tveten"The digital scans of living dragonflies offer an unparalleled view of these beautiful insects. . . Authors Mitchell and Lasswell have assembled an enormous amount of useful and interesting information on dragonflies as well as offering practical advise for field and laboratory work"—John and Gloria Tveten, authors of Our Life with Birds: A Nature Trails Book\ \ \ \ \ Great Plains Research"The book's primary impact is its attractive design, with 130 large, color images laid out in all their detail and glory. It is worth the reasonable purchase price simply to feast the eyes on these spectacular pictures. But there is much more . . . This is a marvelous production. Get it, absorb the pictures, read it, and go out and enjoy the dazzling world of dragonflies." -- November 2006\ \ \ texasnature.blogspot.com". . . a large, beautiful book that contains well-written information about dragonfly natural history, prehistory, and folklore."\ \ \ \ \ Booklist"This is a passionate look at a ubiquitous group of insects."\ \ \ \ \ American Scientist"The volume was designed to delight and inform amateur enthusiasts, and the remarkably detailed photographs do just that."\ \ \ \ \ Bloomsbury Review"Who knows what twists of fate kept this wonderful book from becoming a field guide or reference title? Not that the subject isn't worthy of either. Instead, the dazzling appearance of these insects is treated in a grander manner, yielding a small coffee-table title that aptly shows off their natural beauty. The authors, entomologists clearly enamored of their subject, provide us with the information, background, and perspective that other treatments might have missed, while entertaining us with spectacular close-up photographs of diverse species. . . . Too large to lug into the field, A Dazzle of Dragonflies will nevertheless provoke curiosity, inspiring more people to watch and wonder at these amazing insects."\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalDragonflies and damselflies (order Odonata) have intrigued humankind since ancient times. Their common names speak to the fear they inspired: "devil's darning needle," "snake doctor," "mosquitohawk." Their colorful, sparkling beauty; oddness (the wings stick out horizontally and don't fold over the back); and habit of perching at eye-level in open, easily accessible areas attract naturalists everywhere. Never as popular as birds, wildflowers, or butterflies, dragonflies are nevertheless the subjects of more than 100 field guides, checklists, and catalogs worldwide. Mitchell and Lasswell, both with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, offer an introduction to dragonfly biology, natural history, behavior, migration, gardening, photography, collection, fossil record, and lore. The material is illustrated with stunning color photographs, many of which were created with the authors' color xerography technique, described in the book and on their web site, www.dragonflies.org. The idea of combining a book with an updatable, ever-expanding, photographic online database is new and will one day soon will make species identification easy. The excellent bibliography includes local field guides, basic references, and five pertinent web sites. For naturalists of every knowledge level.-Annette Aiello, Smithsonian Tropical Research Inst., Panama Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \
